Homemade Chinese - Beef Teriyaki

Beef Teriyaki on a stick is always the favorite in our house when we get Chinese take out. It seems like there are never enough and we fight over who gets them. Adam and I fight, that is. The boys are too mature to resort to fighting over beef on a stick. I made plenty of these for our Christmas Eve dinner so no fights would break out, and they were delicious. The key to making beef teriyaki is a properly cut flank steak. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of the step by step but I will try to explain it so you can make these bad boys at home too.

Beef Teriyaki

Ingredients:
1 lb to 1 1/2 lb flank steak
1 cup Kikkoman teriyaki sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
8 inch wooden skewers

Directions:
Flank steak is a great cut of beef for cooking Chinese. It can be expensive so I wait until I see a good sale and buy a couple for the freezer. Flank steak can be tough if it is cut improperly. You have to cut AGAINST the grain. You will see a natural grain (or lines) in the meat - do not cut in the same direction as the grain (or the lines). Cutting against the grain (opposite of the lines) will ensure the most tenderness. I like to cut my flank steak very thinly against the grain, at a diagonal, for making beef teriyaki. Cut with a sharp knife, almost filleting the pieces you are cutting, that is how thin you want them to be. You want these to be about 4 inches in length and about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. If your steak is too long you can cut it in half to make the pieces closer to 4 inches (these are just approximate sizes, feel free to make these any size you like). Place all the cut pieces in a big ziplock bag.

Mix the teriyaki sauce, brown sugar, honey, garlic and ginger together well. Pour the marinade over the meat in the ziplock bag. Marinating flank steak also tenderizes the meat. Prepare your flank steak the night before, so it has plenty of time to marinade and soak up that teriyaki flavor. If you aren't able to do it the night before, allow at least 6 hours for the meat to marinade during the day.

Soak the skewers in a pan of water for about 1 hour before you are ready to cook the beef teriyaki.

Preheat the oven's broiler and place rack at top of oven.

Remove the beef from the marinade and gently pat dry to soak up any excess marinade. Thread the beef onto the pre-soaked wooden skewers and place on broiler pan or baking sheet. Broil for about 5-6 minutes on each side and you see some nice crispy edges.

Enjoy your beef on a stick, and don't fight, this recipe makes about 25 pieces.

Click here for a short video on cutting flank steak properly by Epicurious.