Cook Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 4-5 Servings
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs top sirloin steak (any type of beef works – flank steak, skirt steak)
- 1 cup corn starch (divided in half)
Beef Marinade
- 1 small onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 4-5 slices of ginger (sliced thin, 2-3 mm)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (reduced sodium)
Sweet and Sticky Sauce
- 3/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (reduced sodium)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon shaoxing cooking wine
- 5 teaspoons corn starch (for corn starch slurry thickener)
- 6 teaspoons water (for corn starch slurry thickener)
Garnish & Toppings (Optional)
- 1-2 stalks green onion (chopped)
- toasted sesame seeds
Instructions
Marinate the Beef
- Slice the steak into 1 cm wide strips and place it in a bowl. (If your steak is more than 1 cm thick, cut the strips in half again length-wise)
- In a food processor, blitz the onion, garlic and ginger until it is a paste. (If you do not have a food processor, you can grate them or chop it very finely by hand, just make sure the ginger bits are very tiny)
- Add the marinade and 1 tablespoon of soy sauce to the beef and mix well and marinade it in the fridge for 1 hour (or 20-30 minutes in room temperature)
Deep Frying the Beef
- After the beef has marinated, dust 1/2 cup of corn starch on the beef and use your fingers to loosely coat the beef with it. Let it sit for 10 minutes
- While you are waiting for the meat, heat up a heavy bottom pot (or wok) set the temperature of the oil to 375F (191C) (or medium heat) and add at least 1 inch of oil and wait for it to get hot.
- Once the beef has sat for 10 minutes, dust the other 1/2 cup of corn starch on the beef again to lightly re-coat the beef and lightly dust off any excess starch. Deep fry it immediately.
- Using your fingers separate the beef if they are clumped together and deep fry it in the oil in small batches (make sure the oil is hot but not smoking – to test if the oil is hot enough, add 1 small piece of beef first and see if it instantly sizzles)
- Deep fry the beef for 1-2 minutes, and remove it from the pot onto a plate with parchment paper or newspaper.
- Once all the beef has been cooked once (first fry), add all of it back in for the second deep fry for 1 more minute.
Sweet & Sticky Sauce Time!
- Remove all the oil from the pot and set it back on the stove on medium low heat
- Add in all the sauce ingredients, except the corn starch slurry ingredients.
- Stir until everything is combined well and wait until it comes to a low rolling boil
- In a small bowl, combine the corn starch and cold water to make a corn starch slurry and add it into the sauce and keep stirring until the sauce has thickened. Turn off the heat.
- Add in the crispy beef and coat it with the sauce
- Serve immediately! Goes amazing with plain rice.
Notes
- You can double up the sauce ingredients to make more sauce if you love things super saucey. This stuff is amazing drizzled on plain white rice!
- If you’re pressed for time, shorten the marinating time to 30-40 minutes by leaving the beef in room temperature for 20-30 minutes – instead of in the fridge for an hour.
- They key to a crispier beef is hot oil and double frying!
- No low sodium soy sauce? No problem! Cut back the amount of soy sauce by a few tablespoons and replace it with water to dilute it for a lighter and less salty soy sauce.
- This is amazing with a bit of heat as well! Add a few chopped up peppers while you are cooking the sauce or add a few teaspoons of cayenne pepper for a bit of a kick!