Beef Satay
Meat on a stick. Anything beefy that can be eaten with your fingers and dragged through tangy-spicy peanut sauce I’m on board with.
This is what happened recently when I dug through the deep freeze in search of something that could be cooked quickly. Occasionally I have a flash of insight, picking up beef when it’s on sale and quickly hacking it up and freezing it in a bag of marinade while we unload the groceries. A marinade can be anything, really – often I just go to town with an open fridge, pouring in OJ, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger and garlic, something sweet like honey or brown sugar, something acidic like lime juice or balsamic. Plain yogurt that needs using up makes a good vehicle for flavours and spices, even a lob of curry paste. I try to convince myself it’s a good idea to label before tossing it in the freezer to marinate while in stasis, and the resulting package lies in wait for one of those days when we need some real food fast.
Bonus: the marinade protects the meat from freezer burn, and since it’s already in pieces, it thaws much more quickly than a big chunk. I often put it in a bowl of warm water to expedite the process. Satay also cooks quickly – you only need about 10 minutes. And peanut sauce takes just a few minutes to shake together – and keeps in the fridge for a week or so.
Beef Satay
AuthorJulie
In a class or plastic bowl or container, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, honey or brown sugar, grated ginger, garlic cloves and green onion. Add the beef and toss around with your hands to coat the meat well, cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.
When you're ready to cook, soak a small handful of bamboo skewers in water for 15 minutes. Thread pieces of beef onto each skewer, winding back and forth in an S shape if it's in strips, and pushing the meat down to make it uniform. Fill the pointy end about halfway, leaving the dull end as a handle. Grill or roast on a baking sheet in a 425F oven for 10 minutes, or just until cooked through. Serve hot or at room temperature, with peanut sauce for dipping. Serves 4.
Ingredients
Directions
In a class or plastic bowl or container, combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, honey or brown sugar, grated ginger, garlic cloves and green onion. Add the beef and toss around with your hands to coat the meat well, cover and refrigerate for an hour or overnight.
When you're ready to cook, soak a small handful of bamboo skewers in water for 15 minutes. Thread pieces of beef onto each skewer, winding back and forth in an S shape if it's in strips, and pushing the meat down to make it uniform. Fill the pointy end about halfway, leaving the dull end as a handle. Grill or roast on a baking sheet in a 425F oven for 10 minutes, or just until cooked through. Serve hot or at room temperature, with peanut sauce for dipping. Serves 4.
I’m curious. I 100% agree about ‘tangy-spicy peanuts’ but there are no peanuts in this recipe? Can it be called a satay sauce without them or was that an error?
Oops! Nice catch! Sorry, I was referring to the peanut sauce, which I realize now I didn’t include…
We buy flank beef and toss it in the freezer all the time I can’t believe I’ve never thought to add a quick marinade as well! Thanks for the awesome idea!
Glad to have planted the seed! 🙂