I got on a bit of a peanut butter kick following a delicious Thai pizza featuring peanut sauce. I’m part of a Cooking with Friends group I launched (more on that another time), and we’d done a Pizza Throw-down. A friend, who’s a professional chef, made the peanut sauce and like a lot of chefs…is a bit stingy with “sharing the wealth” of her delicious sauce. Closest I could come was taking leftovers home to try and recreate it myself.
I dug around on my favorite recipe spot, Pinterest, and then played with what I thought might go into a good peanut sauce. Bingo! I came up with something that I really love. Even my husband liked the flavor, and he’s not much of a Thai guy. Truth be told…I don’t know if this is actually Thai or not….it could simply be another Irish (me) version of another culture’s sauce! Hmmmm…An Irish Woman’s Thai Peanut Sauce….sounds a bit like my Irish Woman’s Red Sauce. Maybe I’m onto something.
Once I figured out my peanut sauce I was really tempted, but it probably wouldn’t look good if I just ate it with a soup spoon. Here’s what I made instead. It has a couple steps, but boy, they’re so worth it. So….here goes nuttin’…. Enjoy!
Thai Beef & Broccoli with Peanut Sauce
Ingredients
Flank Steak Marinade
- 2 pounds flank steak sliced against the grain to 1/8” to ¼” thickness
- ¼ C Tamari or low sodium soy sauce
- ¼ C brown sugar
- 2 T fish sauce
- 2 T Siracha
- 1 T rice wine vinegar
- 2 T fresh ginger grated
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 T dried basil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Peanut Sauce
- ½ C peanut butter – creamy or crunchy
- 3 T Tamari or low sodium soy sauce
- 1 T brown sugar or honey
- 2 tsp chili paste or Siracha
- 1 T fresh lime juice
- 2 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 T fresh ginger grated
- 1 tsp salt
- Hot water
Additional Ingredients
- 1 T canola or peanut oil plus 1 tsp
- 1 head of broccoli stems trimmed and cut to bit-size
- 1 pound linguini pasta
- 2 green onions sliced – tops & whites
Instructions
Marinade
- Combine all ingredients except beef in a zip bag or bowl, mixing well. Add beef. Close bag, and massage beef to ensure all is covered with marinade. If using a bowl, flip beef in the marinade several times to make sure it’s covered with marinade, then cover bowl with plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator and marinate at least 3 hours, up to 24 hours. Remove from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.
Peanut Sauce
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Add hot water a bit at a time until you achieve your desired thickness.
Pulling it Together
- In a stock pot, cook linguini according to package instructions. Drain, reserving ¼ C of starchy water, and keep warm.
- In a wok or large skillet, heat 1 T canola or peanut oil on high. When the oil begins to smoke, add a portion of the beef and stir quickly, cooking to medium rare. Do not over-crowd pan or your beef will just steam. Remove from pan to a holding plate. Repeat with remaining beef. When all beef is done, cover holding plate with foil to maintain heat.
- Next, add 1 tsp of canola or peanut oil to hot wok and add broccoli. Toss to cook until crisp-tender. When broccoli is done, add beef, linguini and peanut sauce to hot wok. Toss all ingredients until well-coated. If you’d like the sauce a bit looser, add a bit of the pasta water. Serve immediately with a sprinkle of green onions.
