Meat mains
Beef, asparagus and green bean stir fry with orange, honey and sesame
The asparagus season is very short. We start off with our Spanish growers, then move to the UK crop after 3-4 weeks. As well as simply steamed and served with butter and lemon, it makes a good addition to pastas, risottos and also spicier dishes like this quick, simple but tasty stir-fry.
Cook's notes
In this stir-fry we're using tamari in the sauce, which is a gluten-free soy. It's quite salty, so add half to start with, then the rest to your own taste.
Ingredients
- 150g jasmine rice
- 1 orange
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tbsp tamari soy sauce
- 250g asparagus
- 125g flat green beans
- piece fresh ginger
- 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves
- 1 chilli
- 2 spring onions
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- oil for frying to a high temp e.g. sunflower or coconut
- 300g beef stir-fry strips
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Rinse the rice in a sieve. Transfer it to a pan with a lid. Add 500ml water and a good pinch of salt. Bring to a low boil, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Once the rice has boiled for 10 minutes, remove it from the heat.
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Step 2
Keep it covered and leave it to steam for a further 10 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the stir fry ingredients. Juice half the orange. Mix it in a small bowl with the honey and half the tamari. Wash the asparagus. Bend each stalk until they snap.
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Step 3
Discard the bottom, tougher part. Chop the rest into 3-4cm lengths. Wash the green beans, trim off any stalk tops and slice on the diagonal into 1-2cm pieces. Peel and finely grate the ginger. Peel and finely chop or crush 1 large or 2 small garlic cloves.
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Step 4
Halve, deseed and finely slice the chilli. Trim and chop the spring onions into thin pieces, at an angle. Put the sesame seeds in a wok or large frying pan. Heat them gently, stirring often, until toasted, 1-2 minutes. Transfer to a small plate or bowl. Keep to one side.
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Step 5
Once the rice has boiled and steamed for 10 minutes each (20 minutes in total), you're ready to stir-fry. Season the beef with a little salt and pepper. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok or large frying pan. When hot, add the beef. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the asparagus and beans.
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Step 6
Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the spring onions, chilli, garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the orange and honey mixture, with 3 tablespoons or so of water to make a little sauce. Stir-fry for 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
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Step 7
Taste and add a little more orange juice or tamari to taste, a little extra salt too if you like. Serve the stir-fry with the sticky rice, sprinkled with the toasted sesame seeds.