Beef Teriyaki

John found this recipe for beef teriyaki in The Best 30-Minute Recipe cookbook & decided to give it a shot. He made it tonight & it was DELISH! It tasted just like beef teriyaki! Highly recommend this recipe.

Beef Teriyaki
Serves 4

If you cannot find blade steaks, substitute 1 1/2 lbs of flank steak sliced thin against the grain. Do not season the meat with salt because the sauce is plenty salty. For the best flavor, be sure to get the skillet smoking hot, & cook the beef in a single layer so that all the pieces brown properly. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds & serve with plenty of steamed white rice.

2 lbs top blade steak, sliced thin
Ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp mirin, sherry, or white wine
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
2 scallions, sliced thin

MAKING THE MINUTES COUNT:
Prep the sauce ingredients & assemble the sauce while the beef browns.

1. BROWN MEAT: Pat steak dry with paper towels & season with pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in 12" nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown half of steak on both sides, about 5 minutes total. Transfer steak to clean bowl. Repeat with remaining tbsp oil & remaining steak, then transfer to bowl.

2. ASSEMBLE & SIMMER SAUCE: While steak cooks, whisk soy sauce, sugar, mirin, cornstarch, ginger, garlic, & red pepper flakes together. Add sauce to skillet, return to medium-high heat, & simmer, scraping up any browned bits, until thickened, about 2 minutes.

3. SIMMER MEAT WITH SAUCE: Add steak & any accumulated juices to skillet & continue to simmer until steak is heated through & sauce has thickened, about 1 minute. Transfer to serving platter & sprinkle with scallions. Serve.

KIM'S NOTES: John picked up the sushi at Trader Joe's. I was leery, but it was actually good. I think it was a spicy California roll. It even came with little wasabi & ginger packets. We couldn't find the blade steak anywhere, so we ended up buying flank steak. I can't imagine there's a huge difference. For the rice, we buy frozen Trader Joe's jasmine rice & we really like it. You just pull a pack out of the box & microwave it for 3 minutes.

Go forth & teriyaki!