The ginger beef recipe is far superior to delivery. Serve it with plain or homemade fried rice. Simply add additional chili pepper flakes if you prefer things hot.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 5 |
Ingredients
- ¾ cup cornstarch
- ½ cup water
- 2 large eggs
- 1 pound flank steak, cut into thin strips
- ½ cup canola oil, or as needed
- 1 large carrot, cut into matchstick-size pieces
- 1 green bell pepper, cut into matchstick-size pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, cut into matchstick-size pieces
- 3 green onions, chopped
- ¼ cup minced fresh ginger root
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ cup white sugar
- ¼ cup rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
Instructions
- Place cornstarch in a large bowl; gradually whisk in water until smooth. Whisk eggs into cornstarch mixture; toss steak strips in mixture to coat.
- Pour canola oil into a wok, 1-inch deep; heat oil over high heat until hot but not smoking. Place 1/4 of the beef strips into hot oil; separate strips with a fork. Cook, stirring frequently, until coating is crisp and golden, about 3 minutes. Remove beef to drain on paper towels; repeat with remaining beef.
- Drain off all but 1 tablespoon oil; cook and stir carrot, bell peppers, green onions, ginger, and garlic over high heat until lightly browned but still crisp, about 3 minutes.
- Whisk sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes together in a small bowl. Pour sauce mixture over vegetables in wok; bring mixture to a boil. Stir beef back into vegetable mixture; cook and stir just until heated through, about 3 minutes.
- This is the original recipe but I like to add about 1/4 cup of teriyaki sauce as a variation. I also like to add sesame oil to the oil when I fry the beef.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of the coating ingredients. The actual amount of the coating consumed will vary. We have determined the nutritional value of oil for frying based on a retention value of 10% after cooking. The exact amount will vary depending on cooking time and temperature, ingredient density, and the specific type of oil used.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 364 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 45 g |
| Cholesterol | 103 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 614 mg |
| Sugars | 23 g |
| Fat | 14 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Absolutely fantastic, a real flavor punch. I used different veggies and a little less sugar for the sauce. I served it over jasmin rice and it turned out great. I will absolutely be making this recipe again.
I have made this recipe a number of times. It is always a crowd pleaser.
I followed another reviewer’s suggestion to “velvet” the meat, and this recipe turned out amazing!! It was very, very close to the ginger beef we get in takeout. I let the meat soak in the velveting mixture overnight and it seemed to work great. The only other tweak I did was to greatly reduce the amount of red pepper flakes since it was being served to family who can’t handle much heat at all. Made it once last week and I’ve already got the ingredients prepped to make it again today. Definitely adding this to our regular meal rotation!
I found the SECRET to having the batter stick to the beef while frying!!! Have you ever heard of “velveting” the meat?! It is the dunking of the meat in a slurry of: 1TBSP Corn starch, 1TBSP Soy sauce & 1TBSP Sesame oil (or other light oil) for 30 mins. This is the secret that chinese food restsurants use. “Velveting” tenderizes the meat, as well as making an even, protective coating that browns meat evenly, seals in juices & improves sauce adhesion. I also dredged the beef in Corn starch again afterwards, and this made it fry up perfectly! (See picture). I snuck a pinch of ginger powder to said slurry). It also becomes even more important to “not” add a slurry to the sauce (as so many have); all the corn starch you’ll ever need was fried on and is stuck to your beef already. Add the fried beef to the flavourful liquid-y sauce and give it a few minutes to soak into all of the beef, inside and out of the coating. Look, this recipe is seriously good all on its own and will turn out regardless, but it is its own perfection to let the sauce soak in and thicken up the way it was meant to. I turn heat to Super low and let it mix& mingle, sometimes for an hour. I tried 6 different techniques in cooking this dish (from yt videos), and “velveting” the meat turned out closest to takeout or delivery. But seriously, every version was just delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe OP!! I loved it! PS – I needed to make more of the sauce in a hurry. I had run out of rice vinegar & brown sugar and so substituted white vinegar and honey in instead. Don’t do it! If you’re already springing for good steak, ya gotta treat it with the right ingredients. It wasn’t inedible, but neither was it any good. Also – here in Mexico 1Tbsp of Red pepper chile flakes is plenty. You will want to lower it if not used to spicy!
I have made this recipe as is, about 8 times, we love it!
I also added celery. Just a couple of tablespoons of corn starch to coat the meat. turned out great. Thank you.
I tried this recipe and i definitely enjoy the outcome. Personal issues i ran into was frying the beef to get it crispy.i also dont think i had enough ginger. Issue i found with the recipe was that the batter was runny and if i used only 1 egg instead of 2 it would probably have made it thicker and more prone to sticking to the beef strips. But i will note the isse could have came from the inconsistent temps for my oil when cooking. I also taste a lot of the rice vinegar in the finished product but i do not mind it. But I would be concerened if i was making it for someone else. The sauce itself was also quite watery so i cooked it on high to thicken it up and got the desired result. I am going to tweak the recipe to minimize the amount of rice vinegar, use 1 less egg to thicken the batter and maybe a little less water. Overall it was quick and easy and enjoyable.
The flavour was amazing … but I made this twice and both times the coating wouldn’t stay on the beef … am I doing something wrong?
sauce is excellent! Batter is a little lite. I prefer something that would stick to it and then be crispier after frying. That said, this is a keeper
I used pork in stead of beef, as beef bothers my wife tum – tum! Followed the recipe from there out, and the results are amazing! Will 100% build this guidance again and again! Except I forgot to turn on rice cooker so waiting on rice! The fresh ginger was a “super” root as my sinuses have cleansed themselves of all the forest fires in BC this year! Thank You very much for this, bryan
This is the best recipe I’ve tried yet. Very close to the dish I used to order in Calgary.
Quick and delicious.
Followed the recipe, but was too vinegary. The ingredients have white vinegar and rice vinegar. The instructions don’t mention the white vinegar? We added both vinegars and it was too strong. Is the recipe correct? Will try another recipe next time.
The kids thought it was as good as takeout. A bit of work, took longer than I thought it would.
Made this! Just added sriracha in the sauce.
Perfection! Although, I halved the red pepper flakes and it was still very spicy
My only adjustment to this recipe was to marinade the beef in soya sauce and garlic first, then used a deep fryer for the beef. My family (even the picky 8 yo) really enjoyed this, but I thought it was a bit too sweet. Next time, I would use a little more soya sauce in the sauce, or less sugar. Otherwise, Yum!
Next time, no cornstarch. Better than delivery. It was Soo good!
Amazing, my family loved it. No picture as it was devoured to quickly. I didn’t have rice vinegar so I used red wine vinegar. Will make it again
I didn’t find this batter quite thick enough for our families liking so will change that next time. Omitted peppers, just a personal preference. We found it was a bit too spicy so will add less Chili next time, but overall absolutely delicious.
This was delicious! The only change we made was apple cider vinegar instead of rice vinegar (we couldn’t find any). Otherwise, we made it as written. Loved it and will make it again!