Sweet Ginger Beef

So, to start off our first real week in Virginia, I wanted to make a special dinner-- a Back-to-Work dinner for Sam, of sorts. And when I was in California, at the beginning of September, my sister Amy made this fantastic dish I've been dreaming about ever since, so I knew exactly what I wanted to make.

Sam usually doesn't go for heavily flavored beef dishes, particularly Asian-style. He is a red meat man, and he doesn't like that beefy goodness to get covered up with other stuff. (I, on the other hand, need lots of flavor to distract me from the fact that I am eating animal flesh.) But Sam was very pleasantly surprised by this dish. Both times I have had this, I find myself eating more and more and more past the point of fullness almost to the point of tears. It's that good.


Sweet Ginger Beef
from Amy Allebest

1 big beef tri-tip (I got mine from Costco)

1 c soy sauce

1 ½ c sugar (I did half white, half brown)

A medium size chunk of freshly grated ginger

3 cloves fresh pressed garlic

Bake the tri tip on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees until done. When you remove it from the oven, let it rest for 10-15 minutes, then slice very thinly against the grain.

Combine sauce ingredients into a sauce pan. Bring to low-heat boil until it thickens. (Amy adds: I always add something else too, just depending on my mood. Squeeze some orange juice in for orange beef, add some hot red pepper flakes for some zing, pineapple juice for a Hawaiian feel, a touch of sesame oil if you like, etc.)

Serve over rice (Jasmine or Japanese) and with some vegetable. I did broccoli this time, and my sister served it with fresh green beans.