Seared Ponzu Beef Skirt Steak with Charred Shishito Peppers

Skirt steak is a weeknight secret weapon: thin, fast-cooking, and packed with beefy flavour when seared hard in a screaming-hot pan. Here it gets sliced thin before cooking so it cooks through in minutes, then finished with a punchy, low-fat ponzu-style sauce built from citrus, soy and a touch of ginger instead of butter or cream. Blistered shishito peppers bring smoky char and a little gentle heat, plus extra fibre and volume to the plate without adding much in the way of carbs. This dinner is built around a generous portion of lean beef for sustained protein, with the sauce doing all the flavour heavy lifting through acid, umami and aromatics rather than fat. The whole thing comes together in one pan in under twenty minutes, with modest, satisfying portions that won't sit heavy. It's a great example of how a steakhouse-style plate can be quick, light on grease, and still deliver serious flavour.

Ingredients

• 340 gSkirt steak, trimmed of excess fat, sliced thin against the grain
• 170 gShishito peppers, whole, stems on
• 1.5 tbspAvocado oil, divided, for searing
• 3 tbspgluten-free soy sauce or tamari
• 2 tbspfresh lime juice
• 1 tbspfresh lemon juice
• 1 tbsprice vinegar
• 1 tspfresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 clovegarlic, finely minced
• 0.5 tspGranulated allulose or monk fruit sweetener, optional, to round out the sauce
• 0.5 tspflaky sea salt, for finishing the peppers, plus more to season steak
• 0.25 tspblack pepper, freshly ground
• 1 pieceScallion, thinly sliced, for garnish
• 1 tspsesame seeds, optional garnish

Method

1. Pat the skirt steak dry, then slice thin against the grain into strips about 1/2 cm thick. Season lightly with salt and black pepper.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, lime juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar, grated ginger, minced garlic and sweetener to make the ponzu-style sauce. Set aside.
3. Heat a cast iron skillet over high heat until very hot, about 2 minutes. Add half the avocado oil, then add the shishito peppers in a single layer. Char, tossing occasionally, until blistered and blackened in spots, 4-5 minutes. 5:00
4. Transfer the peppers to a plate and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Wipe the skillet clean if needed and return to high heat.
5. Add the remaining avocado oil to the hot skillet. Add the sliced steak in a single layer and sear hard, undisturbed, for 60-90 seconds per side, until deeply browned but still juicy. 2:30
6. Remove the steak from the pan and let it rest for 2 minutes off the heat to keep it juicy. 2:00
7. Divide the steak between two plates, drizzle generously with the ponzu-style sauce, and pile the charred shishito peppers alongside. Garnish with sliced scallion and sesame seeds, if using.