Beef and Ginger Stir-Fry

Want to become 1,000 percent more efficient in the kitchen? Take a cue from restaurant chefs and set up all of your mise en place - that would be your ingredients, sliced and measured out - before you start cooking. You’ll go from raw ingredients to a glossy stir-fry in the time it takes to make a pot of rice. How convenient.

1 lb skirt steak, trimmed, sliced against the grain into ¼" thick strips, patted dry
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tsp. + 1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sea salt
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium sweet onion, sliced into ½"-thick rounds
1 (3") piece ginger, peeled, very thinly sliced
black pepper, freshly ground
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 Tbsp. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

To Serve:
cooked rice

Toss steak in a medium bowl with sugar, sesame oil, 1 tsp. soy sauce, and 1 tsp. salt to coat and let sit 20 minutes.

Place a large skillet over high heat. Pour in vegetable oil and swirl to coat bottom of pan. The oil should be shimmering and you should see some wisps of smoke - if it’s not hot enough, the meat will steam instead of getting deeply browned.

Add steak to skillet in an even layer (it’s okay to crowd it a bit) and cook, undisturbed, until brown around the edges, about 2 minutes. Turn steak over and add onion, ginger, lots of pepper, and ⅓ cup water. Cook, tossing often, until onion is just tender and ginger is softened, about 2 minutes.

Remove skillet from heat and add butter, lemon juice, and remaining 1 Tbsp. soy sauce. Toss until butter is melted and coats steak. Taste and season with more salt if needed.

Divide rice among bowls and top with beef stir-fry.

Makes 4 servings.