This easy Chinese sweet and sour beef recipe is loaded with crispy beef strips, vegetables, and a delicious sweet and tangy stir-fry sauce. Serve it with plain rice or noodles for a complete dinner.
This is our tried and tested perfect crispy coated beef and the best method to tenderise the beef. And the sauce is a perfect balance of sweet and tangy without being too sugary.
If you prefer a healthier option, I’ve added directions for air-frying beef strips.
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A must-try crispy beef!
Are you a fan of our Crispy Chilli Beef? If you’ve enjoyed it, I’m sure you will love this sweet-and-sour beef recipe, too. Many of my readers and subscribers requested the new flavoured crispy shredded beef, so I came up with Honey Sesame Beef and Sweet and Sour Beef.
They are both made of crispy fried beef but with different flavoured sauces. Sesame beef has a sweet, savoury, and toasty sesame flavour. Meanwhile, sweet and sour beef has a taste of Chinese takeaway-style sweet and sour dishes like Sweet and Sour Chicken and Sweet and Sour Prawn Balls.
Ingredients you’ll need
Beef
Use a tender steak cut, such as rump, sirloin, ribeye, flank steak, etc. Make sure to cut the beef against the grain for the best tender beef results.
Marinade and Coating
If you’ve followed my previous Chinese beef and chicken recipes, you might already know the meat velveting process and ingredients.
You’ll need soy sauce, sesame oil, grated ginger, white pepper, and baking soda ( Bicarbonate of soda ).
Add the egg white to protect the beef from being overcooked and keep it moist and tender.
Cornstarch or potato starch is best for creating the best crispy coating texture.
For Sweet and Sour Sauce
- Brown sugar
- Rice vinegar
- Tomato ketchup
- Water
- Salt
- Cornstarch
- Chicken powder or stock cube
How to Make Sweet and Sour Beef?
- Cut beef into thin strips and place it into a large mixing bowl. Add soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, baking soda, and grated ginger. Mix everything well and set it aside for 15 minutes.
- Add egg white and combine well with beef strips. Then add the cornstarch and coat each of the beef strips well.
- Fry the beef strips in the hot oil for 3-4 minutes until crispy. Remove from oil and set it aside.
- Combine sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until sugar is dissolved.
- Heat the wok over medium heat, drizzle 1 tbsp of oil and saute garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Next, pour the sauce in. Stir well and wait until the sauce becomes thick and glossy. Add the fried beef and toss everything well.
- Finish with spring onions, and enjoy!
Beef Air Frying Option
For a deep-frying alternative, try air-frying. Place the cornstarch-coated beef strips in the pre-heated air fryer at 190°C/380°F for 8-10 minutes or until the beef coating is crispy.
I suggest spraying a generous amount of cooking oil over the beef strips before air frying for the best crisp texture.
Air fry the beef in batches, and do not overcrowd the fryer rack. Once the beef strips are crispy, toss them in the sweet and sour sauce.
My Top Tips
- Make sure the beef is cut into pieces of the same size for an evenly cooked result.
- Maintain the oil temperature over medium-high heat for the crispy exterior and moist, tender beef inside.
- You can use a mesh strainer to remove fried bits and crumbs between batches.
- Leftover fried oil can be reused in other stir-fries, curries, or frying dishes.
Most Asked Questions
What other proteins can I use?
Instead of beef, you can use boneless chicken breast or thigh, lamb, pork, etc. You can also try this recipe with tofu. Use firm tofu and cut it into small cubes instead of strips.
How to make extra sauce?
This recipe doesn’t include much sauce. To make extra sauce, you can simply double or triple the sauce ingredients.
How to adjust the sweet and sour sauce?
The sauce can be simply adjusted to one's own taste by increasing or reducing the amount of sugar, vinegar, salt, etc. If you prefer a sweeter sauce, you might want to increase the sugar amount.
What other vegetables can you add?
Pineapple, bell peppers, onions, courgette, green onions, and snow peas are great options. Feel free to swap or add extra vegetables to this recipe.
More Delicious Chinese Beef Recipes
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📖 Recipe
Sweet and Sour Beef
Ingredients
Beef Marinade and Coating
- 300 grams Beef steak Cut thin strips
- 2 tsp Soy sauce Regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- 2 tsp Ginger Grated ginger
- 2 tsp Garlic Grated garlic
- 2 tsp Sesame oil
- ¼ tsp White pepper or black pepper
- ¼ tsp Baking soda Bicarbonate of soda
- 1 Egg white Whisked
- 6 tbsp Cornstarch Or potato starch ( add more if needed )
Sweet and Sour Sauce
- 2 tbsp Brown sugar Or white sugar
- 2 tbsp Rice vinegar Or regular white vinegar
- 3 tbsp Water
- 1 tsp Chicken buillion Or chicken powder
- 3 tbsp Tomato ketchup
- ½ tsp Cornstarch
- 1 tsp Salt Or add salt to taste
Vegetables and other ingredients
- 1 clove Garlic Minced
- ½ Onion Cut thin slices
- ½ Red bell pepper Cut thin slices
- ½ Green bell pepper Cut thin slices
- 1-2 Spring onion Green onion, cut thin slices
- Oil for frying Neutral flavour oil like sunflower, canola, vegetable oil etc.
Instructions
- Cut beef into thin strips and place it into a large mixing bowl. Add soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, baking soda, and grated ginger. Mix everything well and set it aside for 15 minutes.
- Add egg white and combine well with beef strips. Then add the cornstarch and coat each of the beef strip well.
- Fry the beef strips in the hot oil for 3-4 minutes until crispy. Remove from oil and set it aside.
- Combine sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until sugar dissolved.
- Heat the wok over medium heat, drizzle 1 tbsp of oil and saute garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Next, pour the sauce in. Stir well and wait until the sauce becomes thick and glossy. Add the fried beef and toss everything well.
- Finish with spring onions and enjoy!
Notes
- Chicken stock cube ( chicken bouillon): You can substitute MSG, chicken powder, vegetable, or beef bouillon.
- Types of beef: I usually use tender steak cuts such as rump, sirloin, ribeye, flank steak, etc.
- What to serve together with this dish? Simply pair it with plain jasmine rice or a choice of white rice, brown rice, egg-fried rice, or noodles.
- How much frying oil is needed? It depends on the size of the pan or frying pot you are using. Fill the pot with 1-2" oil should be enough to fry beef strips.
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