This post is sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef® brand in conjunction with a social media campaign through Sunday Supper LLC. All opinions are my own. Enjoy this recipe for Marinated Flank Steak Rice Bowls made with Certified Angus Beef®.
The week before Spring Break turned out to be even busier than usual with events every evening. Monday was a potluck to say goodbye to the French exchange student that we had been hosting for a week followed by a band concert Tuesday night followed by a Wednesday home water polo game and capped off with the water polo team dinner on Thursday. Whew! I definitely am going to need that vacation next week.
As you probably noticed, there is a lot of water polo going on in our house right now, which means that my daughter is ravenous all the time. She comes home from practice and wants to eat immediately. I don’t blame her. Have you ever seen a water polo game? The players are straight-up treading water and swimming back and forth across the pool for four quarters. It’s a heck of a workout.
I knew that Zuzu would want dinner as soon as possible after Wednesday night’s game – her team won 5-3, by the way – and that she would want meat. This girl needs her protein and she is a true carnivore! So I planned ahead and made these rice bowls, which – with quick-cooking flank steak – were ready in just minutes after walking in the door. A fitting reward for the player who scored the first goal of the game,
Flank steak is among my favorite cuts of Certified Angus Beef® because it is lean, flavorful and cooks quickly. Did I mention that it is also economical? Because all Certified Angus Beef® brand surpasses the USDA’s stringent Prime standards and meets ten quality specifications, even inexpensive cuts of meat taste great. It’s just important to cook them correctly for best results. (For recipes, cooking tips and more, be sure to join the Certified Angus Beef® Kitchen Facebook group.)
During the summer, I love to grill whole flank steak. To cook it on the stove top, however, I recommend slicing the flank steak across the grain into thin slices and marinating it. The marinade will tenderize the meat and then it will cook in a matter of minutes in a super-hot skillet or wok.
For this recipe, I sliced and marinated the meat in the morning but you could even do it the night before. For the marinade, I went with Korean flavors, including soy sauce, rice wine vinegar and gochujang – a spicy red chili paste that is a a staple in the Korean pantry – because I love the flavor of Korean beef dishes like bulgogi. The day-long soak in this umami-laden marinade gave the flank steak tons of flavor and because I sliced it thinly against the grain, it was super-tender.
To round out the rice bowls, all you need is some thinly sliced cucumber and scallions. But if you have more time, you can get really creative. Carrots, pea pods, asparagus and even sauteed greens would all be delicious. Need even more protein? Add a fried egg on top. I imagine many cooks might add sesame seeds to a bowl like this one – and they would be right – but because my water polo player has a sesame allergy I skipped them.
These easy marinated flank steak rice bowl are the perfect, crowd-pleasing dinner for a busy weeknight when dinner needs to be table in the time it takes a water polo player to shower. I hope you give them a try!
Ingredients
- 5 TB soy sauce
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- 2 TB brown sugar
- 2 TB rice wine vinegar or mirin
- 1 TB gochujang or other chili paste
- 1 TB minced garlic
- 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
- 1/4 cup neutral oil such as canola or grapeseed
- 2 lbs flank steak, sliced thinly across the grain
- 2 cups rice
- 1 bunch scallions, white and light green parts only, sliced
- 1 English or hothouse cucumber, sliced
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, orange juice, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, gochujang, garlic and ginger.
- While whisking, slowly pour in half (2 TB) of the oil.
- Add the sliced flank steak to the marinade and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
- Cook rice according to your preferred method (stovetop or Instant Pot).
- Heat remaining oil over high heat in a large deeop skillet or wok. Add the beef and spread out in a single layer. Cook, tossing occasionally until no longer pink - approximately 3 minutes.
- Remove beef with a slotted spoon. Bring liquid left in skillet to a boil and boil one minute.
- Assemble rice bowls by diving rice among four bowls, topping each with beef, sliced cucmber and scallion. Drizzle liquid from the skillet on top of each bowl.
- Serve immediately.
