Crispy chilli beef

  • medium
  • 4
  • 45 minutes
Not yet rated

Andrew Wong's crispy chilli beef recipe is probably the crispiest of all crispy beef dishes served across the land. A tantalising crunch gives way to tender strips of marinated beef rump, served with pickled carrots atop a rich star anise sauce.

First published in 2017

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Crispy chilli beef

  • 300g of beef rump
  • vegetable oil, for deep-frying
  • cornflour, for coating

Beef marinade

  • 2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
  • 7g of potato starch
  • 1g of baking powder
  • 50ml of water

Five spice salt

Pickled carrots

Sauce

  • 250g of sugar
  • 75ml of Chinese red vinegar
  • 75ml of malt vinegar
  • 1 star anise
  • 400ml of water

Crispy beef batter

  • 250g of plain flour
  • 50g of tapioca flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • sparkling mineral water, chilled

To serve

Equipment

  • Deep-fryer

Method

1
Place the beef in the freezer for around 1 1/2 hours until it is about 70% frozen
2
Whilst the beef is freezing, prepare the marinade by mixing all of the ingredients together
  • 2 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Shaoxing wine
  • 7g of potato starch
  • 1g of baking powder
  • 50ml of water
3
Once the beef is ready, use a sharp knife to cut the partially frozen beef into 7cm x 5mm batons. Submerge in the marinade and leave in the fridge for 2 hours
4
Meanwhile, make the five-spice salt by combining the ingredients in a bowl. This will keep in an airtight container for a month
5
Make the pickled carrots by heating all the ingredients in a pan (apart from the carrots) until the sugar dissolves. Pour over the carrot rounds and once cooled, store in an airtight container. They will keep in the fridge for several months
6
To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and cook until the mixture has reduced to the consistency of honey
  • 250g of sugar
  • 75ml of malt vinegar
  • 1 star anise
  • 400ml of water
  • 75ml of Chinese red vinegar
7
For the batter, combine the dry ingredients in a bowl then whisk in enough sparkling water until you have a light batter consistency
  • 250g of plain flour
  • 50g of tapioca flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
  • sparkling mineral water, chilled
8
Once marinating time is up, heat up the oil to 180°C in a deep-fryer
  • vegetable oil, for deep-frying
9
Remove the beef from the marinade, coat them in cornflour then plunge them individually into the batter before deep-frying until crispy – the fried batter coating should have minute holes throughout instead of being a solid shell. Remove and drain on kitchen roll
  • cornflour, for coating
10
Place some sauce in the bottom of each bowl and top with the deep-fried beef batons. Season with the chilli flakes and five-spice salt and sprinkle with sesame seeds
11
Top with pickled carrots and garnish with edible flowers

After a tour of the kitchens and restaurants of China, Andrew Wong returned to his parents' restaurant in London and transformed it into a temple of regional Chinese cuisine.

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