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How To Make Crispy Shredded Chilli Beef
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!
It’s time to ditch the Chinese takeaway because you can make this deliciously crispy honey and chilli shredded beef at home. Not only is it so easy to make, but this crispy beef recipe is also a quick meal that you can make in only 30 minutes.
I really love eating Chinese takeaway and shredded crispy beef is one of my favourites! It’s full of so much flavour and the sauce is packed with a combination of tasty ingredients such as garlic, ginger, honey and soy sauce.
What’s not to love? 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 5 simple steps. Here I reveal EVERYTHING!
Why You’ll Like This Recipe
- This recipe is super quick, easy and the taste is out of this world
- The meat texture is crispy on the outside but moist and tender in the middle
- You’ll learn how to make crispy shredded beef like the Chinese takeaways near you!
Watch How To Make Chinese Crispy Beef
Recipe Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed for this recipe:
- Beef: To make this dish you can use the majority of steak cuts; flank steak or sirloin cut into thin strips are great to use. You can also buy beef pre-diced into strips at the majority of supermarkets. I personally like using sirloin as it has a nice beefy taste and the texture always comes out tender.
- Cornstarch: The key and only ingredient to creating your crispy beef batter and crunchy texture. Don’t be tempted to use plain flour, it’s not recommended as the gluten found in the flour can soften.
- Marinade: The marinade adds so much flavour to the meat and helps to tenderise the uncooked pieces of shredded beef. 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 available.
You can add tenderstem broccoli to the crispy beef sauce (step 5) or serve it as a side. It makes a great side for many dishes, just like my roasted tenderstem broccoli recipe.
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 texture 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 Chinese Honey & Chilli Crispy Beef
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make this Chinese crispy beef coated in a sweet honey chilli sauce. Full recipe instructions are on the recipe card:
Step One
Mix the beef strips with the marinade ingredients (dark soy sauce, garlic and ginger paste and black pepper).
Step Two
Put half the beef into a bowl of cornflour and toss it around until evenly coated. Do the same to the remaining half of the beef then leave the beef to sit for 5 minutes.
Step Three
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.
Step Four
Time to make the lovely sauce! With a clean wok or saucepan heated 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.
Note: You can add the ingredients into a mixing bowl first or straight into the wok.
Step Five
Now it’s time to add the crispy beef into the sauce and mix until evenly coated.
Once mixed, I like to add broccoli to the mixture or serve it as a side. You can also sprinkle spring onions and sesame seeds on top!
What To Serve With This Chinese Crispy Beef Recipe?
Normally when I make this, I serve it with rice or occasionally noodles. Sesame prawn toast and king prawn fried rice will go so well with this dish!
You can also 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!
Sauce Variations
Double The Sauce Ingredients: This recipe makes just enough sauce to coat the crispy beef. If you want more sauce, double the sauce ingredients (dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine, honey, vinegar and chilli flakes). I always double sauce ingredients when pouring this dish over noodles or rice.
Adjust Flavours To Taste: Feel free to play around with the ratio of sauce ingredients to create the perfect taste for you. Adding more soy sauce and hoisin sauce will add a salty flavour whilst honey and Shaoxing wine will bring extra sweetness.
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 its 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.
If the beef and sauce have already been mixed together, simply reheat in the microwave until piping hot throughout.
How Long Can I Keep This In The Fridge?
It can be kept in the fridge for around 2 to 3 days. Ideally it’s best eaten within a few hours of being cooked. If you do plan to store it in the fridge, make sure it has cooled down first and kept in a closed container.
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! Plus, if you love this then you’ll love my crispy chilli chicken too!
More Chinese Fakeaway Recipes
- Beef With Ginger And Spring Onion
- Plain Chow Mein
- Sweet And Sour Chicken
- Chicken Chow Mein
- Chinese Beef Curry
Honey & Chilli Crispy Beef Recipe
Ingredients
- 375 g Beef Strips
- 64 g Cornflour
- 2 tbsp Spring Onion
- Vegetable Oil
Marinade Ingredients
- 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Garlic And Ginger Paste
- 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 Approximately 3 tbsp
- 2 tbsp Vinegar
- To taste Chilli flakes or Chilli Powder
Instructions
- Mix the beef strips with the marinade ingredients (dark soy sauce, garlic and ginger paste and black pepper).375 g Beef Strips, 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce, 2 tbsp Garlic And Ginger Paste, 1 tsp Black Pepper
- Put half the beef into a bowl of cornflour and toss it around until evenly coated. Do the same to the remaining half of the beef then leave the beef to sit for 5 minutes.64 g Cornflour
- 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.Vegetable Oil
- 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 heated 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.4 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce, 1 tbsp Hoisin Sauce, 2 tbsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine, 43 g Honey, 2 tbsp Vinegar, To taste Chilli flakes
- Add the crispy beef into the sauce and mix until evenly coated. You can also sprinkle spring onions and sesame seeds on top!2 tbsp Spring Onion
Video
Notes
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.Can I Freeze This Recipe?
It is not recommended to freeze crispy chilli beef because the beef will go soggy when reheating.Recipe Variations
I sometimes 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 if you can’t find the paste.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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Beth
Good recipe. But really….using grams as your measurement ?
Michelle
Hi Beth, I’m glad you like the recipe.
I use grams as this is the measurement we use in the UK. You can switch the measurements to cups by clicking ‘US Customary’ on the recipe card.
Sam
Grams are the most sensible thing to use. Would you prefer fractions of a lb? That would seem a bit more difficult.
You’re actually going to comment sarcastically on someone using the most commonly used system for measuring weight? Metric system makes a lot more sense than using imperial measurements such as ounces and pounds.
Wendy
Super easy and quick to do. Tasted fab. Would definitely recommend.
Michelle
Thanks Wendy!