Tangerine Beef is a great way to spice up your weeknight dinners and can be made at home faster than going out for take-out!

Asian style cooking comes down to understanding a few basic techniques and having the right ingredients on hand. It’s not difficult and although a wok will help make your culinary adventure for fun, it isn’t necessary.
Looking for some more beef dishes? Try my delicious beef tenderloin recipe.
What do I need to make Tangerine Beef?
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make Tangerine Beef In Chef Speak this is called the Mise en Place which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
If you can’t find tangerine juice, orange juice is a good substitute.
The marinade is really easy to make and the only thing you need to remember about cutting the flank steak (as with any beef) is to go against the grain.
Once the marinade is ready and the beef sliced, place it into a zip-lock bag. Mix it thoroughly in the bag, then remove the air, seal the bag and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours up to 6 hours.
Chef Dennis Tip:
*Remember to place the bag zipper up and on a plate in case it leaks.
After the beef has marinated we can gather the rest of our ingredients for this delicious dish!
Dredging the beef in corn starch gives it a crunch appearance. While the beef is draining, start your sauce.
Living in the Orlando area I could go out to eat every day of my life and never try all of the restaurants in the area. And while that might fun to do, it can also be very expensive. The other problem with eating out is losing control over ingredients that are used in your meal. Cooking at home can be fun, save you money and gives you control over the ingredients you use.
My Tangerine Beef was a great way to incorporate the taste of Florida into the Asian style dish. Of course, if your grocery store doesn’t carry Tangerine Juice, you can substitute orange juice.
Serve this delicious beef with jasmine rice or your favorite Asian Noodle and be prepared for rave reviews!
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Tangerine Beef
Ingredients
- 16 ounces flank steak
- ½ cup corn starch (for dredging beef before frying)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil for frying beef
Marinade
- ¼ cup soy sauce low sodium
- ¼ cup rice wine
- ¼ cup tangerine juice
- 2 tablespoons tangerine zest grated
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Tangerine Beef
- 1 clove garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon chopped ginger
- 3 tablespoons tangerine juice
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 1 ½ tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon tangerine juice
- 2 scallions sliced for garnish
- tangerine segments for garnish
- finely chopped cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- Trim any excess fat or membrane from beef
- Thinly slice meat across the grain into ¼-inch-thick slices.
- Place beef in a large resealable plastic bag set in a shallow dish.
Marinade
- Combine soy sauce, rice wine, tangerine juice, ½ of the tangerine zest, sesame oil, cornstarch, garlic and crushed red pepper in a small bowl and whisk to mix.
- Pour marinade over beef in bag; seal bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours (or longer)
Beef
- Remove beef from marinade, discarding the marinade.
- Dredge the pieces of meat individually in of cornstarch until lightly coated,
- Heat oil in a clean wok or saute pan over high heat.
- Just before the oil starts to smoke, spread the flank steak pieces evenly in the wok, and let sear for 1 minute.
- Flip the steak over and let the other side sear for another 30 seconds, then transfer to a sheet pan, tilting it slightly to let the oil drain. The beef should have a crusty coating.
- Drain most of the oil from the pan. leaving about 1 tablespoon in the pan.
- Heat over medium-high.
- Add ginger and garlic to pan stir frying for about 15 seconds.
- Add the soy sauce, tangerine juice, water and brown sugar. Bring the sauce to a simmer, stirring occasionally.
- Let the sauce simmer for 1 minute, then slowly stir in the cornstarch slurry mixture–until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Add the beef and tangerine segments
- Toss everything for another 30 seconds until all of the beef is well-coated.
- There should be almost no liquid, as the sauce should be clinging to the beef.
- If the sauce is too thick, add a little bit of hot water to thin it out.
- Serve over Jasmine Rice or your favorite Asian Noodles
- Garnish with scallions and cilantro.
Song Bird says
Delicious.. tastes just like the Chinese restaurant.. soooo good!! will make it again!
Taleen | Just As Tasty says
We are totally missing take-out right now, so I’ll definitely be making this for my husband soon! He’s going to love it!
Jocelyn Mallory says
I can’t wait to try this. The tangerine juice ..get by juicing tangerines?
Chef Dennis Littley says
a lot of stores carry tangerine juice, its just not something you usually look for. If not you can sub orange juice or squeeze tangerines
Ann says
Can this be prepared ahead for a party?
Kimberly Button says
This looks so yummy!
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks Kimberly!
Simply St. Augustine says
Chef Dennis, this looks AMAZING! I can’t wait to try it!
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks Allie, It turned out better than expected!
Chef Michael says
Another great share and “Kudos or Cheers” bro and thank you Chef Dennis ;)P
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thank you Michael!
Dawn @ Words Of Deliciousness says
Wow, this tangerine beef sounds yummy. I love cooking and baking citrus.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thank for stopping by Dawn, I do love my tangerines!
Dawn Lopez says
This recipe sounds absolutely incredible, I can’t wait to try it out! Great way to beat dinner monotony!
Chef Dennis Littley says
It certainly does spice things up a bit! Thanks so much for stopping by Dawn!
Dawn Lopez says
My pleasure 😉 Always love to see what you have cooking!
Liz says
A lovely recipe. Thank you Chef Dennis.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Thanks Liz, it truly was delicious!
Katie @ Recipe for Perfection says
That looks just wonderful! I love the idea of tangerine juice to add flavor here.
Chef Dennis Littley says
Between drinking this delicious juice and cooking with it, I just can’t keep enough in the house! Thanks for stopping by Katie