Beijing Beef
The sauce in this combines sweetness, spiciness, and a hint of saltiness, while the beef achieves the perfect balance of crispiness and tenderness. It’s a guaranteed hit!
Beijing Beef
Ingredients
Beef
Vegetables
Sauce
Cornstarch Slurry
Instructions
-
Slice steak against the grain and marinate with baking soda, white pepper, soy sauce, cornstarch and egg white for 30 minutes in the fridge.Baking soda is the KEY ingredient to super tender beef. The reason is that it neutralises acid and raises the pH level, which causes the meat to become more alkaline. This means the proteins inside the meat will have more trouble tightening up which means if the proteins can’t tighten up, the meat ends up much more tender when cooked and not become tough to eat!
-
Cut pepper and onions into quarter size pieces. Chop 2 cloves of garlic and set aside.
-
Mix together soy sauce, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, sriracha, and ketchup to form your sauce.If you are sensitive to spice, I would recommend adjusting the amount of sriracha in the recipe!
-
Dust marinated beef in cornstarch then fry at 350F in neutral oil for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown.Cornstarch is a key ingredient in Chinese cooking because it is used for velveting the meat. Velveting is a Chinese technique where protein is marinated in cornstarch and cooked quickly in hot oil, resulting in the meat becoming tender and silky. You’ll see this technique in a lot of my recipes because it’s one of my favorite ways to guarantee moist, tender protein!
-
Sauté vegetables over high heat for 2 minutes in 2 tbsp neutral oil over high heat then add beef and sauce.
-
Mix until combined then add vinegar, mix, then add cornstarch slurry. Stir for a minute to thicken. Serve with rice & enjoy!
Note
FLANK STEAK
Make sure you are slicing against the grain. You’ll know which direction the grain is when you look at the meat – the lines will be running in one direction (the lines are the muscle fibers). Slicing against the grain is an easy way to ensure your meat will be tender. (Remember, the lines are the muscle fibers – cutting against the lines means you’re cutting the long fibers, so they don’t get tough when cooked!)
NEUTRAL OIL
You can also use canola or vegetable oil. I don’t recommend using olive oil when cooking Chinese food for the following reasons - it has a low burning point and the flavor profile does not usually go with the dish.
