Five Spice Rump Steak with Stir Fried Vegetables

This is the perfect midweek dinner for two – it that takes barely any time at all and is fairly healthy too but packed full of flavour.

You only need one 250g(ish) rump steak, and you can of course use a different cut, this just works quite well.

I served here with some instant noodles that take less than three minutes to cook but you can just add more vegetables to the stir fry if you prefer.

The Chinese Five Spice marinade works really well with the steak and is aromatic and warming rather than overly spicy.

Here’s how:

• 1 rump steak (250g)
• 1 carrot
• 1 pepper (I used green but any colour is fine)
• 1 red onion
• 100g beansprouts
• 1 small gem lettuce
• 1 red chilli
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp rapeseed or vegetable oil
• 2 tsp Chinese five spice
• Handful of cashew nuts
• 1 lime

Firstly marinade the steak in the rapeseed or vegetable oil and the Chinese five spice. I combine the two in a bowl then pop in the steak and leave for five-ten minutes while you prepare the vegetables and nuts.

Mince the garlic and roughly slice the onion and chilli and set aside – this will flavour the oil when you begin cooking shortly.

Now slice the pepper, lettuce and peel, then finely slice the carrot or use a peeler to make ribbons.

Pop your wok or pan on a medium heat and gently toast the cashews – this will only take a minute or two, until the colour changes subtly. Then remove from the heat and place into a sandwich bag or wrap is some cling wrap and bash with a rolling pin or mallet to crush a little bit.

Now extract the oil from the steak and pour into the wok and place back on a medium heat. Once hot, place the steak in and cook for two minutes exactly on each side for blushingly rare (recommended) – or slightly longer as you prefer. Time this, as overcooked steak is not a thing of deliciousness. Once the four minutes (or longer) is up, remove the steak and place onto a plate with a bowl over the top to keep the heat.

Immediately pop the onion, garlic and chilli into the oil and add the sesame oil and soy to the equation too. Cook until the onions are softened – probably 1-2 minutes.

Next add the peppers and carrot and cook for a further three minutes.

Finally add the beansprouts and lettuce to the pan – these both take less than a minute to cook – and will turn to mush if overdone so don’t be tempted to cook for longer.

During this final moment of cooking, slice the rump steak thinly.



Dish up the stir fry, with noodles or rice if this is how you’re having it, then add the strips of steak on top, scatter over the cashew nuts and give a squeeze of lime. Enjoy!