RECIPE: Slow Cooker Asian Ginger Beef and Spicy Sesame Asian Green Beans

Written by Flora Caputo

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April 30, 2017

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Last night was Asian night at our house. It was cold, wet and dreary outside, which kept us all inside all day. Not what we had planned at all, but we had a really rough week so hubby helped me get over my laziness guilt by telling me I deserved a bit of a break. So it was a perfect day for throwing a deeply savory and spicy beef concoction in the slow cooker and let it simmer all day while we huddle under blankets and putzed around the house.

This sauce is pretty thick when finished-and a must ladled over the rice and beef, but it also will have a thick layer of grease on top. Use a defatter or skim the fat by hand before serving the sauce over it.

We made a giant bowl of asian sesame green beans to go with this dish. The flavors compliment each other with the spice, soy and ginger. You’ll have plenty of left over for lunch the next day!

Slow Cooker Asian Ginger Beef
adapted from The little Epicurean
Ingredients:

3-4 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes, excess fat trimmed
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. Chinese five spice
3 Tbsp. peanut oil
5 garlic cloves, minced
2-inch piece of ginger, minced
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 1/2 tsp. lemongrass paste (from a tube)
1 cup beef broth
1/2 cup  soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 Tbsp. Sriracha sauce

1/8 cup toasted sesame seeds
Cooked rice for serving
Directions:

 

In a small bowl whisk together flour, salt, Chinese five spice and pepper. Dredge cut beef into flour mixture. Shake off any excess flour. Set aside. In a medium sized skillet, add oil and heat over medium heat. Brown beef in batches. Place seared beef in slow cooker. Turn slow cooker on to the heat you want.

In the same pan you cooked the beef, add minced garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant. Add lemongrass, red pepper flakes and beef broth. Stir while scraping the bottom of the pan to get the brown bits up. Transfer mixture to slow cooker.

In a bowl, whisk together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, and Sriracha. Add to slow cooker. 

Cover slow cooker. Cook for 4-5 hours on high heat, or 6-8 hours on low heat. When beef is fork tender, it’s ready. Pull out beef transferring it into a serving bowl, and top with sesame seeds. Skim the fat off the top of the gravy, then pour into a separate bowl to serve with the beef. Serve with rice.

Spicy Sesame Asian Green Beans

Ingredients:

2 lbs green beans, trimmed
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
4 garlic cloves, minced

1″ piece of fresh, peeled ginger, minced
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. white sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. corn starch
2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

In a small bowl mix together soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, water, corn starch, salt, and pepper; set aside.

In a large skillet, add oil; let heat over medium high heat for 30 seconds. Add garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes. Stir fry quickly, for about 30 seconds. Add green beans and stir constantly until they are almost fully cooked, about 3 minutes (should turn deep green with light searing on the sides). 
  
Push green beans to the side, pour sauce into pan, stir to distribute sauce to bottom of pan. Cook for 30 seconds over medium high heat; allow to come to a boil (shouldn’t take long), reduce heat to low, stir to coat green beans with sauce. Cook for 30 more seconds. The sauce will thicken and boil quickly. Toss with sesame seeds, serve and enjoy.

Flora Caputo
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