Asparagus Beef Sauté

The year ends. 2020, the year that took everything and gave nothing back — except the vaccine, which is coming, which is the one gift this year has produced, the one candle in the darkness, the one piece of evidence that the human species can solve its own problems when sufficiently motivated. I am not sentimental about years. A year is a calendar unit, not a personality. But this year — this particular year — has a personality, and the personality is cruel, and I am ready for it to leave.

New Year's Eve. Marvin fell asleep at eight-thirty. I sat in the kitchen with a glass of wine and the radio — NPR's year-in-review programming, which I listened to with the masochistic attention of a woman who lived through every event they're describing and does not need them described back to her but who is listening anyway because the alternative is silence, and silence on New Year's Eve is lonelier than news. I thought about what this year took: the classroom, the grandchildren's hugs, the family table, the card games, the visits, the normalcy. I thought about what it didn't take: Marvin (still here), the cooking (still happening), the writing (still going), the teaching (still going, differently). The year took the form of my life and left the substance. I will rebuild the form. The substance is intact.

I made a brisket for New Year's Day, as I always do. The brisket is the constant. The brisket is the thing I can point to and say: this did not change. The year changed everything around the brisket — the guests, the table, the method of delivery — but the brisket itself, the six hours at low heat, the onions and the tomatoes and the garlic and the broth, the recipe that is Sylvia's and mine and whoever comes next — the brisket is unchanged. The brisket endures. I endure. We enter 2021 with the brisket and the hope and the stubbornness and the prayer: let this year be better. Let the year be better. Let the oil last.

Sylvia’s brisket will always be the anchor—six hours, low heat, unchanged—but on the nights when I needed something that moved faster than grief, I turned to this asparagus beef sauté: the same honesty of beef and garlic, the same faith that a hot pan and good ingredients can hold a person together, ready in the time it takes to finish a glass of wine. It is not the brisket. Nothing is the brisket. But it carries the same stubborn, quiet insistence that the cooking goes on.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 lb beef sirloin or flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain
1 lb fresh asparagus, tough ends trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons low-sodium beef broth or water

Instructions

Marinate the beef. In a medium bowl, combine soy sauce, cornstarch, and black pepper. Add the sliced beef and toss well to coat. Set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes while you prep the vegetables.
Heat the pan. Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat until very hot. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and swirl to coat.
Sauté the asparagus. Add the asparagus pieces and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, tossing frequently, until bright green and crisp-tender. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Sear the beef. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the hot pan. Add the marinated beef in as close to a single layer as possible and let it sear undisturbed for 1 minute before stirring. Continue cooking 1 to 2 minutes more until just browned through. Do not overcrowd or the beef will steam rather than sear.
Add aromatics. Push the beef to the edges of the pan. Add the garlic and ginger to the center and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Finish and combine. Return the asparagus to the pan. Add the oyster sauce and broth, then toss everything together over high heat for 1 minute until the sauce coats the beef and asparagus. Remove from heat and drizzle with sesame oil. Serve immediately over steamed rice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Asparagus Beef Sauté — When the Brisket Endures, So Do You