Steak for one recipe

If you let the sauce remain thin, you can drink it from the bowl at the end of the meal

(Image credit: Kim Lightbody)

published 22 November 2025

I learnt to love Chinese food while living in London in the mid-1980s, said Stephen Harris. I’d go to Poon’s on Lisle Street, and watch Ken Hom on the TV. Today, I still crave the flavours of Chinese food, but find that most takeaways don’t hit the spot. So I buy some basic ingredients and make myself this simple recipe. Although 1980s Ken Hom would probably tell me to thicken the sauce with cornflour, I’m happy to leave it a bit thin, and drink it from the bowl at the end.

Ingredients (serves one)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 high-quality rib-eye steak, seasoned in advance
knob of fresh ginger root, finely grated
1 large garlic clove, bruised and finely grated
1 chilli, finely chopped (use whatever suits your preferred heat levels – I use a jalapeño)
1 bunch of spring onions, green and white parts, chopped separately (lose the top green bits as they are tough)
25ml/generous 1½ tbsp mirin
juice of 1 satsuma
25ml/generous 1½ tbsp light soy sauce
1 small bunch of coriander, chopped
squeeze of lime juice

Method

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat, then place the steak in the pan on its side so that the fat renders. You may have to hold the steak in place. Cook until the fat is well browned and some of the fat has rendered into the pan.
Now fry the steak on one side until nicely browned (I use a light weight like a saucepan to keep the steak in contact with the pan) for 4-5 minutes, then flip and cook for 1 minute on the other side. Remove the steak to a plate.
Without reducing the heat, add the ginger, garlic, chilli and the green parts of the spring onion to the pan and fry them in the steak fat for about 1 minute, keeping the contents moving by shimmying the pan. Add the mirin and bring to the boil, then add the satsuma juice and again bring to the boil.
Add the soy sauce and cook everything together for just a minute, then remove the pan from the heat.
Slice the steak as thickly or thinly as you like, then add the juices from the plate to the pan along with the white parts of the spring onions and the coriander. Stir everything together and add the lime juice.
Serve the steak with the sauce.

Taken from “The Sportsman at Home: Flavoursome Recipes for Nostalgic Eating” by Stephen Harris.

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