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How To Make Crispy Shredded Chilli Beef In Just 30 Minutes
This honey and chilli crispy beef recipe is way better than takeout. You’re going to be so shocked when you find out how easy it is to make this tasty meal in just 30 minutes! Jump to the bottom for the recipe measurements or keep reading to see how I make it.
It’s time to ditch the Chinese takeaway because you can make this deliciously crispy honey and chilli beef fakeaway at home. Not only is this crispy beef recipe so easy to make but it’s also a quick meal you can make in 30 minutes.
I really do love eating takeaway and Chinese shredded crispy beef is one of my favourites! Full of flavour the sauce is packed with a combination of ingredients such as garlic, ginger, honey and soy sauce. Doesn’t crispy beef tossed in a sweet and chilli sauce sound amazing to you? There’s no secret to this recipe and you can make this dish in 6 simple steps.
Chinese Crispy Beef Recipe Ingredients
Most of the ingredients you need to make this crispy beef recipe you might have in your house already, others you can easily buy in a supermarket or an Asian grocery store. I like to have sprinkled sesame seeds on my crispy beef and mixed-in tenderstem broccoli but this is optional.
- Cornstarch: The key and only ingredient to creating your crispy beef batter and crunchy texture. When frying small pieces of beef, it browns quickly and prevents the overcooking of the outside layers of meat. Don’t be tempted to use plain flour, it’s not recommended as the gluten found in the flour can soften.
- Tenderstem Broccoli: You can add tenderstem broccoli to the crispy beef sauce (step 6) or serve it as a side. It makes a great side for many dishes, have you ever tried roasted tenderstem broccoli.
- Marinade: The marinade adds so much flavour to the meat and also helps to tenderise the uncooked pieces of shredded beef. Majority of steak cuts work well in this recipe like flank steak or sirloin cut into thin strips. Dark soy sauce makes a great marinade, it adds flavour, colour and is slightly sweeter than light soy sauce.
- Honey and Chilli Crispy Beef Sauce: The stir-fry sauce ingredients are made up of dark soy sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine, honey, vinegar, chilli flakes and hoisin sauce. You can get these ingredients online or in your local supermarkets, I usually use Blue Dragon hoisin sauce but there are so many options avaliable.
This dish makes a great meal prep idea and can be served with rice or noodles. The beef will not maintain its crispiness overnight but will be more of a chewy texture – which also tastes great too! Our teriyaki chicken with rice and broccoli also makes a great fakeaway meal prep idea for lunch or dinner.
Tips To Getting Your Beef Extra Crispy
Below are three tips I use every time to make sure my beef is always nice and crispy.
- Make sure the beef is evenly coated in cornflour. To ensure a crisp in every bite make sure no patch goes uncovered.
- Your oil needs to be hot before putting your beef inside. Put a small piece of beef inside the oil, if the oil is hot enough it will start to sizzle instantly.
- Don’t be tempted to fry all your beef at once, the oil temperature will drop resulting in soggy beef and we don’t want that! I like to cook 3 to 4 at a time, though you can add more or less depending on the size of your wok or deep fryer.
How To Make Honey & Chilli Chinese Crispy Beef With Broccoli
Prep Time 5 minutes : Cooking Time 30 minutes
Step One
Mix the beef strips with dark soy sauce, garlic, ginger and black pepper. (Bring to a boil a pan with water for step 3, if you want to boil your broccoli). I love to have small pieces of garlic and ginger in my marinade, so when the beef is deep fried you’ll end up with lovely bits of crispy garlic and ginger too! If you prefer, you could use a garlic and ginger press to avoid getting chunks and for a smooth texture.
Step Two
Put half the beef into a bowl of cornflour and toss around till evenly coated. Do the same to the remaining half of the beef then leave the beef to sit for 5 minutes.
Step Three
In the meantime, it’s time to boil or steam your broccoli for 4-5 minutes.
Step Four
Fill your wok or saucepan with vegetable oil until it reaches 1/3 of capacity. Wait until your oil is hot, you can put a small piece of beef inside the oil to see if it’s hot. If the oil starts sizzling, then it’s ready.
Step Five
Take a couple of beef strips and put them in the oil and cook for 2-3 minutes and repeat until all the beef has been fried. Drain the beef in a paper towel to remove any excess oil.
Step Six
Time to make the lovely sauce! With a clean wok or saucepan over a medium heat add the dark soy sauce, vinegar, honey, chilli flakes, Shaoxing wine and hoisin sauce and simmer for 3 minutes or until you can see that the sauce has thickened. You can add the ingredients into a mixing bowl first or straight into the wok.
Now it’s time to add the crispy beef into the sauce and mix until evenly coated. Once mixed, I like to add in my broccoli to the mixture though you can serve the broccoli as a side. Don’t forget to sprinkle your sesame seeds and spring onions on top!
What To Serve With This Chinese Crispy Beef Recipe?
Normally when I make this, I serve it with rice or occasionally noodles.
If you’re looking to cut back on the carbs you can serve this crispy beef recipe with a salad. Alongside broccoli you can add ribbon shaved cucumber, carrots, lettuce and chillies for an extra kick. You wouldn’t have to cook this salad and you could prepare it a day before or earlier to save time.
If you want a hot meal, then you can rustle up a quick vegetable stir fry with this crispy beef. This would make a lovely lunch or dinner idea!
Is This Recipe Gluten-Free
This Chinese crispy beef recipe is gluten-free! Cornflour is used to make the beef crispy instead of flour. Double check the ingredients in the cornflour before buying.
How Do I Reheat Crispy Shredded Beef?
You can reheat crispy beef but if the sauce has already been mixed into the beef then it will lose it’s crispiness. To avoid this, store the meat and sauce separately.
Preheat the oven at 190°C – 200°C and reheat the beef in the oven for 10 minutes. You’ll want to make sure that the beef is heated throughout. Warm the sauce for 5 minutes or until hot in the microwave and mix with the beef. This is the best way to warm up Chinese crispy beef without it going soggy.
Can I Freeze This Recipe?
It is not recommended to freeze crispy chilli beef because the beef will go soggy when reheating.
How Long Can I Keep This In The Fridge?
It can be kept in the fridge for around 2 to 3 days. Ideally it is best eaten within a few hours of being cooked. If you do plan to store in the fridge, make sure it has cooled down first and kept in a closed container.
Honey & Chilli Crispy Beef Recipe
Ingredients
- 375 g Beef Strips
- 64 g Cornflour
- 169 g Tendersstem Broccoli
- 2 tbsp Spring Onion
- 1 tbsp Sesame Seeds
- Vegetable Oil
Marinade Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 3 Garlic Gloves
- 4-5 Ginger Slices
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
Stir-Fry Sauce Ingredients
- 4 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine
- 43 g Honey
- 2 tbsp Vinegar
- To taste Chilli flakes or Chilli Powder
Instructions
- Mix the beef strips with dark soy sauce, garlic, ginger and black pepper.
- Put half the beef into a bowl of cornflour and toss around till evenly coated. Do the same to the remaining half of the beef then leave the beef to sit for 5 minutes.
- In the meantime, you can steam your broccoli for 4-5 minutes.
- Fill your wok or saucepan with vegetable oil until it reaches 1/3 of capacity. Wait until your oil is hot, you can put a small piece of beef inside the oil to see if it's hot. If the oil starts sizzling, then it's ready.
- Take a couple of beef strips and put them in the oil and cook for 2-3 minutes and repeat until all the beef has been fried. Drain the beef in a paper towel to remove any excess oil.
- Time to make the lovely sauce! With a clean wok or saucepan over a medium heat add the dark soy sauce, vinegar, honey, chilli flakes, Shaoxing wine and hoisin sauce and simmer for 3 minutes or until you can see that the sauce has thickened. Now it's time to mix in the crispy beef until the sauce has coated it. Once mixed, I like to add in my broccoli to the mixture though you can serve the broccoli as a side.
- Sprinkle your sesame seeds and spring onions on top.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe? Let me know in the comments below and tag me on Instagram @MyMorningMocha, I would love to see it! That’s how to make crispy beef, enjoy!
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