Crispy shredded beef steak tossed with very sweet, sour and savoury sauce. With this recipe you can create your own Crispy Shredded Beef at home with simple everyday ingredients. You will be astonished by how tasty the result come out!
You will find many crispy beef recipes online but not every recipe turns out great like it is written. We all need reliable crispy beef recipe to save our time and energy on busy days. This is my fail proof, tried, tested recipe and loved by many of our viewers. If you make it right, the beef strips will melt in your mouth, like you've had at your favourite Chinese restaurant.
Why making at home when you can order from your takeaway/takeout? Because homemade crispy beef is taste way better than takeout, healthier and budget friendly too. You can cook for the crowd with the amount you spend for one person at restaurant.
Ingredients
Meat - I usually make with ribeye, rump or sirloin steak for this recipe. Choose nice tender beef steak, chicken thigh/breast or any of your favourite tender meat cut.
Vegetables - Peppers and onion slices are ideal for this dish but you can swap with any stir fry vegetables to your preference. My mom used to make crispy beef with carrots and broccoli when we were kids and it taste really good.
Stir Fry Sauce - Sauces and seasonings can be slightly different depend on the country and family recipes. The most popular ones are Szechuan style, Peking style and Cantonese style stir fry sauces. In this recipe you will need only 3 simple basic ingredients, light soy sauce, honey and fresh lemon juice to achieve the mouth watering sauce. Sprinkle some salt to taste and add extra dark soy sauce for more flavour and colour.
Versatile - This dish is very versatile stir fry beef dish. It's a dry shredded beef Chinese recipe that doesn't come with loads of sauce. If you wish to make the sweet and sticky sauce, add 1 teaspoon of corn flour and 2 tablespoon of water in the sauce mixture. If you prefer the spicy sauce version, you can create Crispy Chilli Beef sauce by adding extra chillies and sweet chilli sauce.
3 Simple Tips
- Coating - One of the frequently asked question is " How to make perfect Chinese crispy beef batter that stays crispy? " Corn starch or potato starch(flour) is the one that always works for me. Break one egg in the beef marinate before coating with flour to keeps the meat moist and velvety. Why not use plain flour? Plain flour or all purpose flour can soften the meat texture when you toss it with the sauce.
- Marinade - Marinating is a must! The steak strips will soak up all the flavour of light soy, ginger garlic, sesame oil and white pepper. If you wish to choose the cheaper steak cut, you can add quarter teaspoon of baking soda in the marinade.
- How to cut the steak? Say bye to all the chewy beef days. Always cut the beef against the grain into thin strips. That's one of the most important step to make the no-tough perfect crispy beef.
How To Make Crispy Shredded Beef
I use Rump steak in this recipe but you can use other steak cut such as rib eye, tenderloin or sirloin. I recommend to use the only steak cut meat because it cooks quicker and more tender.
Cut beef into thin strips. Marinate the beef strips with light soy sauce, sugar, ginger & garlic paste, white pepper and sesame oil. Mix well and marinate for at least 15 mins.
In a small bowl mix all the ingredients from the stir fry sauce list and set aside.
Break one egg into the the marinated beef strips. Mix well.
Coat the beef strips with corn flour. Make sure all the beef strips are separated. Toss the excess flour out before frying.
Heat the oil into high heat about 350 F. Add the coated beef and deep fry for 1-2 mins till crispy.
Remove from oil and transfer to paper towel or cooling rack.
Heat the wok/pan to medium high heat. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil, add the cut onions and stir for few seconds. Then add the pepper slices, stir well.
Add the fried beef strips. Pour the sauce mix, add the spring onions. Stir well to combine all ingredients with high heat for 1- 2 mins.
Transfer to serving plate. Serve immediately! Match with hot steamed/cooked rice or stir fry noodle. Perfect as a savoury snack too!
As many of you has requested, here is my Crispy Shredded Chicken recipe, you can check in below link.
Watch How To Make Crispy Shredded Beef Recipe Video
If you've tried this recipe, please leave a comment and give rating! I would love to see your creations, tag me on social medias and follow me on social medias Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for latest updates.
Ingredients
- 230 Grams Rump/Sirlion steak
- 1 Egg
- 1 Cup Potato starch/Corn starch
- ½ Onion
- ½ Bell Pepper
- 2-3 Spring onion
- Oil for frying
Marinate
- 1 Tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 Tsp Ginger garlic paste
- 1 Tsp Sesame oil
- ½ Tsp Sugar
- ¼ Tsp White pepper
Stir Fry Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 Tsp Dark soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp Honey
- ¼ Tsp Salt ( Optional, you can add or omit salt according to your taste )
Instructions
- Cut beef into thin strips. Marinate the beef strips with the all ingredients in the marinate list. Mix well and marinate for 15 mins.
- In a small bowl mix all the ingredients from the stir fry sauce list and set aside.
- Break one egg into the the marinated beef strips. Mix well.
- Coat the beef strips with corn flour. Make sure all the beef strips are separated. Toss the excess flour out before frying.
- Heat the oil into high heat about 350 F. Add the coated beef and deep fry for 1-2 mins till crispy.
- Remove from oil and transfer to paper towel or cooling rack.
- Heat the wok/pan to medium high heat. Drizzle a tablespoon of oil, add the cut onions and stir for few seconds. Then add the pepper slices, stir well.
- Add the fried beef strips. Pour the sauce mix, add the spring onions. Stir well to combine all ingredients with high heat for 1- 2 mins.
- Transfer to serving plate. Serve immediately!
- Match with hot steamed/cooked rice or stir fry noodle. Perfect as a savory snack too!
- Enjoy!
Tina Quirk says
Hi- it looks and sounds delicious- can it be adapted to air fry instead of deep frying?
Khin says
Deep frying creates the best crispy coating result but you can air-fry in 400F ( 200 C ) pre-heated air-fryer for about 15 minutes or until crispy. Hope you enjoy it.
Andy says
Very yummo recipe. Next time I'm going to add some carrots and maybe broccoli. I used tender sirloin steak. Definitely will make again. Might add a red chili pepper to give it a Lil heat.
Bernadette says
Hi my beef was not crispy at all what did I do wrong?
Khin says
Hi Bernadette, recommend coating with corn starch or potato starch and make sure it's not yellow corn flour. And the coating should be coated evenly on each beef strip. Deep fry with high heat oil and toss with the sauce just right before serving.
Jeanette Williams says
This looks awesome
Khin says
Thank you, Jeanette!
Lucy says
This was absolutely delicious. Easy to follow and the result was amazing! Can't wait to try more of your recipes. Thanks
Khin says
So glad that you enjoy this recipe Lucy! Thank you so much for sharing feeback!
Calam brashaw says
THANK YOU....At last an amazing recipe better than my local chinese and so easy to put together as long as the prep is done first of which i always do (note to everyone) so much healthier if you can be healthy with this top recipe.
Please please try you will not be disappointed HONESTLY.
Khin says
Thank you for sharing your feedback Calam. So glad that you enjoyed it.
Pa says
Hi, may I ask what the difference between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce? What I have is just Kikkoman sauce. Can you recommend what brands to buy for both?
Khin says
Kikkoman is all purpose soy sauce. Mainly used for Japanese cuisine. You can use Kikkoman as a light soy sauce because it is saltier. For the Chinese cooking I recommend to use Lee KUM KEE dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. You can find them at Asian grocery or Tesco (If you are in UK) and Walmart (in US).
vcathy says
Please clarify if the recipe uses corn starch or corn flour. Ingredirnt list says starch. Instructions say flour.
Khin says
Sorry for the inconvenience. Please use corn starch for the recipe. Thank you so much.
Michael Bush says
I tried out this recipe twice. The only comment I have is that with a whole egg and the marinade the beef is too wet, and the cornflour does not leave the beef easy to separate for frying. It still came out ok, and with my home made sweet chilli sauce in the stir fry it was delicious. Your picture shows the beef ready to fry, well coated and looking dry! Any suggestions?
Khin says
Hi Michael, suggest to add more corn starch to coat the beef strips perfectly separated. You can try by adding each beef strips in the corn starch, instead of adding the corn starch in the beef marinade bowl. Hope this is helpful.
Tara says
Hey, just wondering what kind of oil you use for frying?! Thanks
Khin says
Hi Tara, we usually use neutral flavour oil for deep frying and stir-fries. You can use sunflower, canola, peanut, grapeseed, vegetable oil, etc.
Yanek says
I've been trying out a few of the recipes and they are great. Can you add a note about storing the left overs? As a single guy I always have left overs (great for next day lunch) but I am unsure how to store and reheat next day... freeze/ridge and reheat on microwave? Thank you
Khin says
Hi Yanek, if you are having it the next day, suggest storing it in an air-tight container in the fridge and reheat with the microwave until hot. If you are making ahead or freezing, suggest storing the sauce and fried beef strips separately. Air fry the beef strips until crispy and toss with the heated sauce. Thank you so much for trying out this recipe!
Elizabeth Cookson says
Was delicious. Thank you so much xx
Khin says
My pleasure! Happy that you enjoyed this recipe.
Clair Griffiths says
I made this tonight and it was gorgeous. Better than my Chinese takeaway!
Su says
Great recipe! Thank you for the clear instructions. The whole family loved it.
Khin says
Happy that you and family enjoyed Su! Thank you so much for trying out.