1/2 pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced
1 egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water
3 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 tablespoon chili oil or sweet chili sauce
salt and pepper

1. Season beef with salt and pepper. Combine egg and sesame oil, then dunk individual slices of beef into the egg mixture, then the cornstarch, shaking off excess. Set aside.
2. Bring water, orange zest and red pepper flakes to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce by half, then strain and reserve water.
3. Return water to the saucepan, along with brown sugar, sesame oil, vinegar and soy sauce. Bring to a boil.
4. Combine cornstarch and cold water and gradually whisk into the sauce. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in the sesame seeds and reduce heat to low.
5. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and dry fry the beef until cooked through.
6. Combine with prepared sauce and drizzle with hot chili oil. Serve over white rice.

Makes 4 servings

I accidentally threw out Shannon's lunch. It had been sitting in the fridge for a week, so I figured she wasn't going to eat it. It was leftover Sesame Beef that she had bought take out. I tried to duplicate the recipe as best as I could by comprising what I could find on the internet and what I remember it tasting like. She said it turned out better than the stuff she'd bought, except there was no gooey caramelized bits. I made enough so that she had some to take for lunch on Monday. My dinner is actually what I'm posting for Tomorrow and now I'm finally caught up on updates again. If luck would have it, there's no way I can possibly fall behind again with only two weeks remaining.

I thought this recipe would be kind of like Ginger Beef, because the flavor is sort of similar, but it's actually quite different. I really like the basis of the sauce starting from the orange zest and chili flakes, it definitely adds a lot of flavor to the dish. This will be taking place of the ginger beef recipe in my repertoire, for whenever Shannon wants me to make it. I served it just over some white rice. For some reason, the sweetness and orange zest reminds me of date squares and now I'm really craving one. I may have to whip up a batch for Christmas baking before the year is done. Despite not being able to come up with dinner ideas, I sure have a lot of dessert ones now churning in my head.