Try this lovely beef peanut curry next time you want some quick yet delicious meal. It comes with fresh zucchini, spicy curry paste, peanuts, coconut milk and some sweet mandarins. Also, it pairs beautifully with rice.
Time for some red meat. The beef was my boyfriend’s wish. We were searching for ideas and he said: Beef! And so it started, he said beef, I said zucchini, he said rice, I said coconut milk. Like that, we wrote down a whole bunch of ingredients. But in the end, we picked the ones that we liked the most.
Beef is a wonderful meat. It’s rich in proteins, iron and vitamins. And, as such helps muscle growth, increases immune system strength and gives your body an energy boost.
Additionally, you need to prepare the beef stripes 20 minutes before you start cooking. Dusting them with baking powder helps to make them tender. This is a special method, which I used for the first time. And, it works. Wink
For some more beef recipes, check these out: a lovely spicy carrot beef, a healthy beef pho, a slow-cooked date beef tajine, the super quick beef asparagus rolls, a comforting Flemish beef and beer stew or a warm beef aubergine goulash. I am sure you’ll love them.
Besides fresh vegetables and some creamy coconut milk, I also used peanuts for the crunch and curry paste for the spiciness. You can use fresh chili, too.
Why to use citrus fruits
Furthermore, one of the special ingredients was also mandarin. I love this small sweet fruit. This small citrussy fruit has an amazing aroma. Also, it’s packed with vitamins (A, B, C) and keeps your skin and hair beautiful and healthy. Not only the fruit itself but also the zest comes with plenty of healthy benefits. Just like lemon (by the way, check this lemon risotto). Wink.
Moreover, when cooking with citruses, the important thing is to remove the white part of the skin. This thin membrane tastes very bitter and it would only ruin the dish.
Cut the mandarins
How to cut the mandarins? It’s quite easy. Take a sharp knife. Trim the ends (thin slice so that you expose the flesh) and place the fruit on the flat part. Cut the peel off following the fruit’s shape. Workaround the mandarin, so that you get all the surface “cleaned”. The slices should be thin because mandarins don’t have a thick skin anyway.
Once you remove all of the white skin and the hard parts hold the fruit in your hand and start slicing along the membrane (you will see a thin white line). Cut out each of the wedges, cutting almost to the core.
At the end when all the wedges are in a bowl squeeze the remaining part on top of them. Cutting the fruit like this will make you look cooler. If it is too complicated you can still buy the wedges in a can. But they won’t be so tasty.
Ingredients for 2-3 portions of beef peanut curry :
- 250 g beef (strips)
- 3 cloves of garlic (sliced)
- 1 red onion (sliced)
- 2 tsp curry paste
- 1 zucchini (cut in strips)
- 300 ml of coconut milk (100 ml for the rice)
- 150 ml white wine (or veggie stock)
- 150 g peanuts (plus some for garnish)
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 2 mandarins (zest and flesh, without the white membrane)
- 100 g rice
- 2 Tsp olive oil
- salt and pepper
Start with preparing the meat. In order to get tender strips of beef, dust them with baking powder for 20 minutes, then wash it off and tap-dry the strips.
In the meantime, make the peanut butter. Simply put the peanuts, one spoon of coconut milk, soy sauce and a splash of warm water in a blender and blend until you reach the desired consistency. You might add a small spoon of olive oil, too.
In a pan heat the olive oil and brown the beef strips. Once they turn dark golden-brown, remove them from the pan and keep them on aside. Then, in the same pan, add the onion, mandarin zest and garlic. After 2 minutes add the curry paste and stir for another minute.
At this point, stir in the coconut milk and after a couple of minutes the wine or vegetable stock. Cover it and cook for 5 minutes, with occasional stirring.
In the meantime, cook the rice in water and coconut milk (it should take around 10-15 minutes). Season it with a pinch of salt, a little of peanut butter, a teaspoon of butter and some pepper.
At the very end, add the zucchini, the mandarins and the beef strips. Stir, cover and cook on medium heat for another 7-10 minutes.
Beef peanut curry tastes amazing with some white rice. It’s an amazing midweek dinner, lunch to go or a delicious Sunday family lunch. Top it with the rest of peanut butter and some fresh herbs, such as cilantro, mint or basil, for example, or some fresh chili.
Enjoy!
PS
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
