Orange Tempura Beef

This meal really hit the spot a couple of nights ago when we had it for dinner at our house. I make it with good cut of steak and sometimes even use it as a "leftover rescue recipe" when leftovers are availabe from a steak dinner, especially if that steak is still on the rare side. The kids love this one too. We mostly serve it on a bed of plain brown rice but I like it with linguine pasta as well.

1 ½ pounds steak, cut in thin slices ( Striploin, rib eye or even tenderloin are good choices.)

Tempura Batter
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 large egg

Whisk together until just combined. Lumps are okay; even preferable. Set aside for 10 minutes

Orange Sauce

In a medium saucepan, heat

2 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil

Cook for one minute to soften the garlic then add

1 ½ cups orange juice
3 tbsp brown sugar
Zest of one orange
½ tsp Chinese five spice powder
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp chili flakes (optional if you don’t like spicy heat)

Simmer to reduce the volume by about 1/3 then thicken the sauce with
1 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in an ounce or two of orange juice.
Finish the sauce at the end by adding and stirring in

2 tablespoon of butter

Preheat canola oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees F. Dip the slices of steak into the tempura batter and drop them into the hot oil. Fry for only a few minutes until crispy golden brown. Drain on a metal rack over a cookie sheet and keep warm in the oven between batches.

While you fry the steak, sauté in olive oil

1 julienned red pepper
1 small julienned red onion

Finally toss the peppers, onions, tempura steak and the sauce all together lightly and garnish with some toasted almonds and orange sections.