Meat mains
Beef, asparagus and green bean stir fry
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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.