Tangerine Beef Stir Fry with Green Beans and Sweet Red Peppers

Instructions

1. If you have an exhaust fan above your stove that vents to the outside, count your blessings. If you don’t, close your bedroom and bathroom doors. The stir-fry cooks at a high temperature and the smoke from that can permeate your Downy-fresh towels. And who wants to dry themselves off with beef smoked towels before work the next morning?
2. In a medium bowl, combine the ingredients for the marinade and beef and toss well to make sure all the beef gets coated. Marinate for at least 10 minutes or up to an hour, stirring once or twice during the marinating time.
3. While the meat is marinating, get everything ready. Chop your green beans, baby corn, and red peppers. Cut your green onions and set aside separately.
4. Cook rice according to package directions. I like to add about a 1/2 teaspoon salt to the water while cooking, but that’s up to you. When done, cover and set aside to keep warm.
5. In a small bowl, combine the garlic, ginger, black bean sauce, tangerine zest, red pepper flakes, and 1 teaspoon of the canola oil. Set aside.
6. In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the sauce (tangerine juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch) and set aside.
7. Drain beef and discard the marinade. Heat 1 teaspoon of the vegetable/canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add one-third of beef in a single layer (like you would when making bacon), break up any clumps, and cook, without stirring, for 1 minute. Flip beef and continue to cook until browned, 1-2 minutes. Transfer beef to clean plate or bowl. Repeat with 1 teaspoon oil and another layer of beef. Continue this process until all beef is cooked. (You may only need to cook 2 batches. I made mine in 3 batches. You don’t want the beef touching each other because it will cause it to steam and you want that crisp coating.)
8. In a new, clean non-stick skillet (or you may clean the one you used for beef, rinse, and dry), add 1 tablespoon oil to skillet and heat until just smoking. Add green beans, baby corn, and sliced red pepper. Stir frequently, until it begins to brown, about 4-6 minutes.
9. Add green onions and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
10. Add water and cook until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 1 minute.
11. Get ready to move quickly. Move vegetables to the outer edges of skillet to make a clearing in the center, add garlic/ginger mixture to the center, mashing into pan until fragrant, 15-20 seconds, then stir the garlic mixture into the vegetables, making sure it is well combined (about another 15 seconds). Immediately add beef and any accumulated juices to skillet and stir to combine.
12. Quickly whisk the sauce you set aside previously and add to skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened (about 30 seconds). Remove from heat.
13. Serve with white rice.
14. Pray your towels don’t smell like beef stir-fry and, if they do, realize that this dish is so delicious that it’s totally worth it.