Chinese crispy chilli beef

As I may have mentioned before in a previous blog my wife and I spent our childhood in Hong Kong (we then met up 15 years later!) and Chinese food is something that we both adore. Trying to find an authentic Chinese takeaway has been a bit hit and miss until recently one opened up near us and it's the best yet! (Noble House in Amesbury) My wife had crispy chilli beef and I had sweet and sour pork (Hong Kong style, not battered) and Singapore noodles. The next day I finished off what my wife didn't eat not knowing that she planned to have it for her dinner. Needless to say she was a bit annoyed that I ate her dinner so I had to make it up to her! Below is the recipe I used and she loved it, phew!

Ingredients serves 4
400g rump or sirloin steak cut into strips
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp cornflour
oil for deep frying
1 carrot finely sliced
2 spring onions finely sliced
1 garlic clove finely chopped
2 red chillies finely chopped
Thumb sized piece of root ginger finely sliced
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp red/rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp Chinese 5 spice

Method

Get all the ingredients ready before you start cooking. When cooking stir fry dishes like this it's important to have everything ready as the cooking process is quick and you want everything cooked the same.

Mix the eggs, salt and cornflour then coat the beef with the batter and mix well. Fill a wok quarter full with oil, heat the oil until a piece of bread fries golden brown in 15 seconds. Cook the beef for 3-4 minutes, stirring to separate, the remove and drain on kitchen paper. Cook the carrot for 1 1/2 minutes then remove and drain. Pour the oil from the wok leaving 1 tbsp. Reheat the reserved oil over a high heat until very hot and stir fry the spring onion, garlic and chilli for a few seconds. Add all the other ingredients and stir to combine and ENJOY! Good luck!

Crispy chilli beef