- ¾ – 1 pound flank steak (skirt or flatiron steak work well, too*)
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) low-sodium soy sauce or tamari (use GF option if needed)
- 1 tablespoon (20g) honey
- ½ tablespoon chili paste**
- 2 – 3 teaspoons olive, avocado, or other neutral-flavored oil
Asian Steak Bites
Yield: 2 - 4 servings, depending on appetite and precise amount of steak used
Thanks to the easy prep and a lightning fast cook time, these juicy bites might just become a regular on the weekly dinner rotation. The flavor belies their utter ease and they truly need no adornment. But if you'd like to get fancy, a dusting of toasted sesame seeds or sliced scallions is lovely.
Ingredients
Instructions
Prepare the meat: Slice the steak across the grain into ½-inch wide strips. Cut each strip into bite-size pieces, approximately ½” – ¾” in size. Place the chunks of beef into a medium size bowl.
For the sauce: In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce, honey, and chili paste. Pour over the beef and stir to coat well. If possible, let the meat marinate for a minimum of 20-30 minutes or up to several hours.
Quick cooking: Heat a 12-inch skillet (I like cast iron) or wok over medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil and swirl to coat. You want just enough oil to lightly coat the pan. Add the meat to the pan in a single layer. Let it cook for about a minute, or until the meat has browned. (It won’t take long.) Flip the meat with tongs or a spatula and cook for an additional minute or two, or until the pieces are just barely cooked through the center. Immediately remove the meat to a plate to limit the residual heat that will continue to cook it. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
*Because of the brief cook time, stew meat would likely produce tougher steak bites. Leaner flank steak and the specified substitutes cook quickly and are ideal here.
**I’ve been using harissa lately because that’s what I have on hand. Other options are Sambal Oelek or something simply labeled roasted red chili paste, like the Thai Kitchen option that is widely available. You want paste preferably, not sauce, although in a pinch you could try sriracha sauce.
A few more things:
• If you’d like to double the recipe, cook it in two batches so that the meat sears rather than steams.
• If the pan begins to smoke, it’s too hot. In this case, reduce the heat slightly and continue cooking.
• Technique tips: I use tongs to transfer the beef pieces from the bowl to the pan, and once I have flipped them to the second side, I pour the residual marinade into the pan. That way, the beef gets a good sear going and the remaining marinade can cook down as the beef finishes cooking – and it can be left to simmer in the pan after the beef is removed if you want to thicken it further, like a glaze, and then toss with the cooked beef. That said, I’ve also dumped the entire contents of the bowl into the pan (there really isn’t that much liquid, although there tends to be more if the beef has marinated for several hours) and it still ends up tasting great. To ensure juicy, tender meat, just be sure not to overcook.