Ginger Beef

With… pickled watermelon?

I might be reading that wrong. I’m a bit out of practice and the handwriting is tricky. But it wouldn’t be the only time odd ingredients showed up in ginger beef. Consider this raisin-enhanced recipe from the September 1, 1971 edition of the Chicago Suburbanite Economist:

Ginger beef with raisin sauce

1-1/2 pounds tender beef steak
2 Tablespoons flour
1-1/2 teaspoons powdered ginger
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon seasoned or garlic salt
3 Tablespoons oil
One-third cup dark or golden raisins
2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 teaspoon soy sauce
3 Tablespoons catsup
1/2 cup bouillon or water

Cut the steak into thin strips. Dredge in flour mixed with ginger, paprika and salt. Brown quickly in heated oil, remove meat from pan and keep hot.

Add remaining ingredients to pan in which meat was cooked. Stir to gather up all the rich brown pan drippings. Bring to a boil; simmer 2 to 3 minutes.

Add steak strips and heat briefly. Serve with rice.

Makes 4-6 servings.

From a box sold in Lyndhurst, New Jersey.

Ginger Beef (Good Housekeeping)

2 onions
3 cloves garlic
1-1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. dried chili peppers (optional)
5 tsp. powdered ginger (or 2 in. piece fresh ginger, chopped)
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1-1/4 lb. flank steak, cut diagonally across grain into thin slices or 2 in. by 1/2 in. strips
3 tsp. salad oil
1 (1 lb. 3 oz.) can tomatoes
1 (10-1/2 oz.) can condensed onion soup, undiluted
4 to 6 c. hot cooked rice
pickled watermelon

  1. On chopping board, combine onion, garlic, turmeric, ginger, and salt; chop fine.
  2. Add flank steak slices or strips and toss together. Let stand to [something?] in refrigerator [something?] 15 minutes to 3 hours, depending on your schedule.
  3. Then, in Dutch oven, heat oil. Add flank steak and onion mixture; brown lightly. Add tomatoes; then cook, uncovered, over high heat, 10 minutes.
  4. Add soup; cover and simmer 1 hour, if steak is sliced, or 1-1/2 to 2 hours if it’s in strips, or until steak is tinder.
  5. To serve, measure [hot?] rice into oval vegetable dish; place cookie sheet on top of it; press down well; then remove cookie sheet and unfold rice in center of oval platter.
  6. Over rice, spoon a few pieces of cut steak, then spoon rest of mixture around it. Garnish [something…?] and pickled watermelon.

Makes 4 or 5 servings.



2 Comments

  1. Renee

    I see: Garnish with “red wine?” pickled watermelon possibly.

  2. Connie

    I think it reads:
    “Garnish it with and with pickled watermelon.”
    It appears that the writer left out a word or got distracted.

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