Nutrition
| Per 100 g | Per 1 oz (28 g) | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 426 kcal | 121 kcal |
| Protein | 53 g | 15 g |
| Fat | 19.1 g | 5.4 g |
| saturated | 5.6 g | 1.6 g |
| Carbohydrate | 7 g | 2 g |
| sugars | 6.6 g | 1.9 g |
| Fibre | 1.1 g | 0.3 g |
| Sodium | 364 mg | 103 mg |
Estimated from the ingredients, for the finished dried product. Actual values vary with the produce you use and how far you dry it.
Ingredients
- 1.7 kg lean beef, trimmed of all fat and sliced into strips 1/8 inches -3/8 inches (3-9 mm) thick
- 4 oranges, (2 peeled and juiced, and 1 zested)
- 3 3/4 tablespoons soy sauce
- 3 3/4 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 3/4 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 3/4 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Asian chilli-garlic paste
- 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated
Instructions
- Trim the beef hard before slicing — every scrap of fat, every silver seam. This marinade is sweet, and sugar plus fat is what turns a jar of jerky sour in a fortnight.
- Blend the orange flesh and juice, zest, soy, rice vinegar, sugar, both sesame oils, chilli-garlic paste and ginger to a smooth marinade. Fibres of orange pith left whole will cling to the strips and burn dark.
- Marinate the strips overnight in the fridge and no longer. Orange juice and rice vinegar together are acidic enough to start cooking the surface, and beef left two nights in this comes out grey and mealy.
- Drain the strips in a colander and pat each one dry. The toasted sesame oil will not dry off, so whatever you leave on the surface stays on it.
- Let the meat lose its fridge chill before it goes in. Cold strips put into a warm machine sweat, and that first half-hour of condensation is time the fan spends drying the tray instead of the beef.
- Space the strips on mesh so no two overlap and dehydrate at 67 °C for 8 hours. Rotate the trays once during the run, because the sugar in this marinade will lacquer and darken wherever the air is hottest.
- Take a strip out, let it cool, and fold it. It should crack along the bend and show pale fibres without tearing apart; if it folds over soft, the batch needs another hour or two.
- Keep it in a sealed container in the fridge for a month or the freezer for six. The sesame oil is what limits it — at room temperature this one picks up a stale, painty smell faster than a plain soy jerky does.
