How to make Crispy Beijing Beef at home

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As far as history goes, Crispy Beijing Beef seems to be pioneered by Panda Express. Although I’ve had it at multiple Chinese/Asian restaurants so far, the dish itself seems to originate from Panda express. It involves cornstarch coated beef, fried until crispy, mixed with bell peppers, and coated in a sauce to serve. It has a pre-dominantly garlicky, spicy sourish taste. Like other classic Chinese dishes on the blog, namely, the dragon chicken, chicken chow mein or Asian meatballs, this is also a crowd pleaser and if you are planning an Asian Menu for your next party, Crispy Beef should definitely be on your list!

Lets dig right into the basic steps of the recipe. 

STEP 1 – PREPPING THE BEEF STRIPS

The first step is going to be to cut the beef steak into thin strips and marinate it into a mixture of salt, pepper, lemon juice, cornflour, all purpose flour and ice cold water. Ideally, any stir fried beef recipe calls for beef flank steak cuts which are either used for steaks or are also known as undercut beef cut.

Keep the marinated beef for half an hour or so and fry at high flame until they turn golden brown. Remove the beef from the oil and set aside.

STEP 2 – STIR FRYING BELL PEPPERS

Next up are the bell peppers. Some versions of this recipe also add sliced onions in their recipe, but I prefer just the colorful bell-peppers for my version. Simply stir fry the bell peppers at high flame in a little oil. I love using assorted colorful bell peppers, but by all means, use whichever ones you have at hand. Set the veggies aside with the beef and proceed with the last step.

STEP 3 – PREPARING THE SAUCE AND ASSEMBLING

In a cup or a bowl, add all the sauces (listed in the recipe card below) and mix them well so that they form a nice homogeneous mixture. Set this sauce aside and get back to the wok.

Add a little oil in the wok (I am not using a cast iron pan). I personally like using Chili Oil for this step and for stir frying bell peppers as well. Alternatively, you can use regular oil too, if you don’t have any chili oil at hand.

The garlic needs to be sauteed and turned golden brown. Once the garlic turns golden brown, add the sauce mixture and let it cook for a good 4 to 5 minutes. This is a good time to taste the sauce and check if you want to adjust the salt levels.

The beef needs to stay a little crispy so make sure your wok and sauce are bubbling hot when you add the veggies and beef in it. Once you add the beef, don’t cook for a longer duration. Just give it a good saute for 2 to 3 minutes and dish it out. 

RECIPE ALTERATIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS

If you don’t have beef steak in the house, we can also tweak the recipe to use any boneless beef you have at hand. Remove the bone from the beef, cut the beef into strips. And boil the beef strips in water for 30 to 40 minutes along with a little bit of salt, pepper and garlic ginger paste. Proceed with the all the steps as listed above in the same way. 

Crispy Beijing Beef Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Marination time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour

Cornstarch coated beef strips, deep fried until crispy, covered in delicious brown sauce along with stir fried bell peppers.

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Ingredients

BEEF MARINADE

• 1/2 kg flank beef steak or skirt steak (or undercut beef) cut into thin strips
• 1 tbsp garlic ginger paste or powder
• 1 large egg
• 3 tbsp cornflour
• 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp lemon juice (or juice of 1 lemon)
• 1/2 cup ice cold water
• 1 tsp salt or to taste
• 1 tsp black pepper

SAUCE & VEGGIE

• 4 tbsp oil
• 3 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Hot sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp Vinegar
• 4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp cornflour

Other ingredients

• Oil for frying
• 2 cup sliced bell peppers (assorted)
• handful of chopped green onions

Instructions

MARINADE AND FRYING

1. Mix all the ingredients for the beef marinade and add the beef strips to it. Marinate the beef for about half an hour in the fridge.
2. In a wok or frying pan, deep fry the beef strips at high flame until they turn golden brown. Set the fried beef aside
3. In a wok or frying pan, add 2 tbsp of oil and stir fry all the sliced bell peppers at high flame for 2 to 3 mins.
4. Remove the bell pepper from wok and set aside.

SAUCE AND ASSEMBLY

1. In a bowl, add all the ingredients for the sauce (except oil and garlic) and form a homogeneous mixture
2. Add another 2 tbsp of oil in the wok and saute chopped garlic at medium flame until they turn golden brown.
3. Add the sauce mixture in the wok and cook for 4 to 5 minutes at medium to high flame.
4. Add the fried beef and bell peppers in the sauce and saute for another minute or 2.
5. Serve the dish hot, garnished with chopped green onions.
6. Eaten best with noodles or rice.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving:Calories: 520 Total Fat: 43g Saturated Fat: 12g Trans Fat: 0g Unsaturated Fat: 27g Cholesterol: 180mg Sodium: 2035mg Carbohydrates: 27g Fiber: 2g Sugar: 13g Protein: 42g