Name: Chinese Beef in Orange Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 26 min
Yield: 6 (4-6)
Ingredients: 500 g (1.1lb) quick cook beef (see above); 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (or other flavourless oil); 1 Tbsp rice wine or dry sherry; 1 Tbsp sichuan peppercorns (dry roasted for 2 minutes and pounded); 5 cm (2") fresh ginger, grated or pounded; rind from 2 oranges (not the bitter white part); 2 dried Sichuan chillies (or 2 fresh any red chillies of your choice); 3 spring onions (scallions) (sliced, white and green parts separated); 125 ml ½ cup water; 1 tsp toasted sesame oil; 125 ml (½ cup) fresh orange juice (roughly, from 2 oranges); 2 Tbsp light soy sauce; 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce; 2 Tbsp honey; 2 tsp toasted sesame oil; 2 tsp cornflour ((cornstarch in the US)); ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

A super tasty and quick recipe for Chinese Orange Beef with Sichuan peppercorns. Made in less than 30 minutes!

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Here’s another classic: Chinese Beef in Orange Sauce. ~~Chinese New Year is just around the corner, only 3 days to go, so I thought I’d squeeze in another recipe that~~ This would be perfect if you’re planning a Chinese New Year menu or if you just fancy some Chinese this weekend!

I think it’s one of my late husband’s favourite Chinese recipes, but don’t quote me on that! I love making this Chinese Beef in Orange Sauce because it satisfies all of one’s cravings – its orange flavoured sauce is rich, a little sweet, sour and salty, epitomising, in my opinion, Sichuan cuisine.

On top of that, the orange peel adds just a hint of bitterness, the merest of suggestions, to add yet another layer of flavour to the dish. And then, we have the Sichuan peppercorns, adding one more dimension, this time giving you a slight tingling sensation on the tongue as you savour every mouthful! If you like, you can even add red chillies to make it spicy which I sometimes do and have given as an option here.

Sichuan Peppercorns

Their claim to fame is their mouth numbing characteristic; you get a tingling sensation on your tongue which sets the stage for the typically spicy dishes found in Sichuan cuisine.

Click here to read more about them.

Dried or Fresh Chillies?

Dried chillies impart a deeper, earthier flavour, so they work better here, in keeping with the depth of the sauce. If you want your dish to be spicy, cut up or slice your chillies but if you’d like just a hint of heat, leave them whole as the heat of the chillies is found within the chilli, on the white part, the membrane.

This is a really quick and easy recipe, even getting the ingredients together doesn’t take long. You start of with marinating the beef for 20-30 minutes, then it’s just a 5 minute job of cooking the beef. That means the cut of beef is important; we need something that will cook quickly.

What cut for Beef in Orange Sauce?

Because the cooking time is very brief, we need tender cuts of beef that require minimum cooking. Tender cuts come from the middle – the rib and loin – as these are support muscles that have less connective tissue because they get less exercise.

What’s perfect for this recipe?

Sirloin – lean and boneless, great for all quick cooking, my favourite but maybe not for stir-fries, what a waste to mess with greatness!
Rib Eye – probably with the most flavour but fattier
Fillet Steaks – very lean and tender
Rump Steaks – firmer but full of flavour
Feather Steaks – taken from the blade, not as well known and are relatively inexpensive. I quite like these, you get flavour without the price tag

How to Serve Beef in Orange Sauce?

With plain steamed white rice. As is. Unadorned. The white rice absorbs and highlights the multifaceted constitution of this recipe the best.

But, if you like your egg fried rice, by all means, that’ll work too! It makes the perfect side dish in any Chinese meal or even mixed with Thai or Vietnamese dishes.

More Chinese Recipes on LinsFood

Head on over to the Chinese page and the Singapore/Malaysian page for more Chinese recipes like the following:

Bak Chor Mee, Singapore Noodles recipe — Bak Chor Mee, Singapore Chinese Noodles recipe

Roast Chicken with Sichuan Peppercorns — Bak Chor Mee, Singapore Chinese Noodles recipe

♥ If you like the recipe, don’t forget to leave me a comment and that all important, 5-star rating! 😉 Thank you! ♥

And if you make the recipe, share it on any platform and tag me @azlinbloor, and hashtag it #linsfood

Lin xx