Sautéed flank steak beef strips in a honey-orange-spice sauce

I bought a pack of frozen pierogies on the recommendation of a neighbor who took us grocery shopping as we don't have a car of our own yet. Sweet right? Pierogies are of Polish origin and are something similar to Raviolis, a dough covered dumpling, and the filling would be predominantly mashed potatoes. Other variants would include sautéed onions, cheese with the potatoes. More info on wikipedia: Pierogi.
I bought the one with potatoes and onions. As the flavour would be on the blander side, I wanted to make a side that would complement it with a good kick!

 So I made these sautéed flank steak beef strips in a honey-orange-spice sauce with onions, cabbage and red pepper. I know it sounds like a lot of ingredients but its easy to make. It was inspired by a show I watched long ago on the travel channel, called Everyday Exotic. It was an episode devoted to the spice Star Anise, and it was used with beef strips and had a honey orange sauce. But my version is totally different.

Ingredients:

Beef steak cut into thin strips (similar to the cut in Philly Cheese Steaks) - use flank or sandwich steak

To Marinate:

Garlic - 1 tbsp, chopped
Ground black pepper - 1 tsp
Star anise - ground - a pinch
Garam masala - 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder - 1 tsp
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Other Ingredients:

Orange juice - from one clementine
Honey - 2 tbsp
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
Ginger - 1 inch (optional)
Onions - 1, sliced
Red pepper - sliced lengthwise (same length as beef flanks)
Shredded cabbage - 1/2 cup.
Cheese - grated (optional)
Butter - 2 tbsp
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) - 2 tbsp

A box of Mrs T's Pierogies.

Method:

Mix the beef strips with the marinade ingredients and leave for an hour.
In a bowl, mix soy sauce, honey and orange juice. Heat a frying pan and add a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of EVOO.
Add the beef strips until its just  cooked. Dont mix it around too much if you want a nice carmelization to happen. Add the orange juice mixture into the pan. This is called deglazing. Allow the sauce to thicken and dry up a little. Keep aside.
In the same pan, add another tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of EVOO. Saute thinly sliced onions with a bit of salt till its light brown and caramelized. Now add red peppers, chopped ginger (if using) and shredded cabbage and sprinkle freshly ground black pepper. When its cooked, add the beef strips and combine well.

Pierogies can be boiled in hot water, or baked, or sautéed in oil or butter.
I boiled it as per the instructions on the box, then added gave it a quick toss in the same frying pan the beef was cooked, to get its edges browned a little.

All in all, it was fun!