**Crispy Chili Beef Recipe: A Traditional Chinese Delight**

When it comes to Chinese cuisine, there are countless dishes to try, but few are as satisfying and flavorful as crispy chili beef. This popular street food is a staple in many Chinese restaurants, and with this recipe, you can easily recreate it at home. In this article, we'll take a closer look at the ingredients, techniques, and tips for making delicious crispy chili beef.

**Preparing the Beef**

The first step in making crispy chili beef is to prepare the beef. Traditionally, the beef is sliced into thin strips, but it's essential to remove excess moisture from the meat before cooking. To do this, simply rinse the beef under running water to cool it down. Next, slice the beef into 1/8-inch thick pieces and then cut them into strips again, using a small angle from the fiber direction. This technique helps to prevent the meat from sticking together during cooking.

**Frying the Aromatics**

Before adding the beef to the wok, it's essential to fry the aromatics to bring out their flavors. In this recipe, we're using green onion, ginger, and garlic to add depth and aroma to the dish. Heat 1 cup of oil in a large wok over medium-low heat. Add the sliced green onion, minced ginger, and crushed garlic to the oil. Stir-fry the aromatics until they're slightly crusty and golden, which should take about 5-6 minutes. Remove the fried aromatics from the wok and discard them.

**Frying the Beef**

Now it's time to add the beef to the wok. Heat another batch of oil to 370 degrees Fahrenheit (190°C) in the same wok used for frying the aromatics. Add the well-drained beef strips to the hot oil, making sure each piece cooks evenly. Fry the beef for about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until it's browned and crispy. Repeat this process with the remaining beef strips.

**Adding the Spice Mixture**

Once the beef is cooked, it's time to add the spice mixture. In a small bowl, mix together soybean oil, salt, sugar, and any other desired spices (such as chili peppers or five-spice powder). Stir in 1/4 cup of water to dissolve the salt and sugar. Pour the spice mixture into the wok with the fried beef strips.

**Cooking and Seasoning**

Stir-fry the beef and spice mixture together for about 2-3 minutes, until everything is well combined and heated through. Taste the dish and adjust the seasoning as needed. If desired, add more salt, sugar, or chili peppers to suit your taste preferences.

**Cooling and Serving**

The final step in making crispy chili beef is to let it cool down completely before serving. This allows the flavors to meld together and the meat to set properly. Once cooled, garnish with chopped green onion and serve immediately.

**Tips and Variations**

To make this recipe even more authentic, try using a wok that's specifically designed for stir-frying. The shape of the wok helps to distribute heat evenly, which is essential for cooking Chinese dishes like crispy chili beef. Additionally, you can adjust the spice level to suit your taste preferences by adding more or fewer chili peppers.

Some other variations to try include:

* Using different types of oil, such as peanut or vegetable oil, instead of soybean oil.

* Adding other aromatics, such as shallots or leeks, to the wok with the green onion and ginger.

* Serving crispy chili beef with steamed rice or noodles for a more filling meal.

With these tips and techniques, you're ready to start making delicious crispy chili beef at home. Remember to be patient and take your time when cooking this dish, as it requires attention to detail and a bit of practice to get right. Happy cooking!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi everyone welcome to souped-up recipes today we're making a spicy snack from Saturn we call it Mahalo the jr. oh it's crispy beef fried in flavorful chili sauce these little treats are so delicious that every time I think about it my mouth is watering here so let's get started I got here 1.5 pounds of beef brisket you want a large piece of beef that is quite lean and doesn't have that much silver skin so beef chuck beef round will work well you see how the meat fiber is going this way I am cutting the beef with a small angle from the fiber direction later on we can follow that and cut the beef into strips in this way it won't be too tough too too and it will hold the shape well when we deep-fry it for now just cut it into four large pieces in a clean pot with some water add in the beef along with some Chinese cooking wine about 2 tablespoon few slices of ginger 2 pieces of spring onion that I tied in to not cover it and bring this to a boil use a sieve to skin all the palak Trump's turn the heat to low let it cook for 15 minutes while that cooking let's make a spice mix in a blender add a bunch of hot dry chilies the people who helped me test this recipe we're saying it's quite spicy but I am completely fine with this amount you should definitely adjust the spicy level to your own preference keep adding two pieces of bay leaves 1 star anise a small stick of cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds 1/2 teaspoon of white peppercorn 1 tablespoon of citron peppercorn 1/2 of a black cardamom the whole one looks like this I braked it apart so it is easier to grind 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds I am only putting half of it reserve the other half for later blend everything together there might still have some big chili flakes in there you can keep working on that but I am fine with it put it in a bowl continue adding 2 tablespoon of sesame seeds for some nutty taste the remaining cumin seeds the reason I leave it whole is that I can actually bite into it and feel the strong cumin aroma 1.5 tablespoon of salt 1.5 tablespoon of sugar mix it well I love the spice complex I also use it as a joy dip for hot pot or sprinkle it on barbecue skewers it's just so good ok set it aside let's take a look of the beef it should be cooked through but a bit tough which means you will need some force to stick the chopstick in take it out rinse it under running water to cool it down so your hands can handle it slice it into 1/8 of an inch thick pieces then cut it into strips as I mentioned before I am still cutting the beef with a small angle from the fiber direction let us sit in itself just to get rid of any excess water in a large wok adding 1 cup of oil this is soybean oil you can use any high smoke point oil such as canola or peanut oil while it is still cold adding a bunch of green onion 6 slices of ginger 1/2 of a small size onion that I sliced it thinly 5 cloves of garlic I just crushed them to release the flavor keep the flame on medium low they will season the oil as it gets hot this is an important step to make your crispy chili beef tastes so much better keep stirring them to make sure nothing is burning fry them for about 5 to 6 minutes some of the aromatics should slightly crusty and golden take them out and discard them make sure there is nothing left in the oil or else it will affect the flavor heat the oil to 370 degrees Fahrenheit and make sure you maintain the heat around this temperature during the frying process add in the well drain the beef keep fighting them so each piece cook evenly you might ask me why do I cut the beef into strips when it is raw and then directly deep-fry it why do I need to do an extra step to cook the beef in the water well there is a reason why this is the way how it's done traditionally I have tried to fry the beef when it is they stick to each other right away the whole frying process I was just keep separating them raw me contains more moisture which makes the oil splashing badly on me so just stick to this method we will fry them for five to six minutes in total the beef should be brown on the outside kind of like beef jerky now you can turn off the heat take out the beef give it a few shapes they look pretty good now set it aside and we'll pour out some of the oil you can reuse it don't need to waste that I left about a quarter cup of oil in there put the beef back into the wok along with the spice mix I will suggest you add it in batches so you can adjust the spicy level I'm also pour in a quarter cup of water because the salt and sugar they don't attach to oil it is hard to get saudi and infused into the meat without the water stir everything together maintain your heat between medium and low you want to activate all the aroma and flavor without burning the delicate spices keep stirring and cooking it for another three minutes until the water is gone you can taste to decide if you want the rest of the spice mixture in which I do by the way because I add the salt directly into the spice mixture so if you use half of the spice mix you will need to adjust the saltiness a little bit give it a final stir you can take it out now comes to the hardest part of this recipe you have to let it sit in the fridge for three hours until it cools down this dish tastes better when it's cold I like to wrinkles on spring onion on it you know sometimes a little green color makes the food stand out look at that it is covered with all of the spices and aroma it doesn't look boil II but I can never say no to it while it's cooling down all the spices and seasonings we'll have enough time to get infused into the meat also I found out that the spicy level will lower down when the dish is cold I just took this out of the fridge let's give it a try that's it the typical search on taste the spicy level just perfect it's my limit there are lots of aromas going on the beef it's a little chewy but it's not a bad puff mouse whew all the seasonings absorbed into the meat so the flavors just keep hitting your taste buds as you chewing it you know what I'm thinking about laying on the couch watching movies with this delicious mouse firing extra flavorful peep snack of course with a cup of cold drink I feel like life is so beautiful now so I hope you give this or my other recipes a try see you if you haven't yet click my channel name and find out how to make your favorite Chinese food new videos coming out every Wednesday and I'll see you next time byehi everyone welcome to souped-up recipes today we're making a spicy snack from Saturn we call it Mahalo the jr. oh it's crispy beef fried in flavorful chili sauce these little treats are so delicious that every time I think about it my mouth is watering here so let's get started I got here 1.5 pounds of beef brisket you want a large piece of beef that is quite lean and doesn't have that much silver skin so beef chuck beef round will work well you see how the meat fiber is going this way I am cutting the beef with a small angle from the fiber direction later on we can follow that and cut the beef into strips in this way it won't be too tough too too and it will hold the shape well when we deep-fry it for now just cut it into four large pieces in a clean pot with some water add in the beef along with some Chinese cooking wine about 2 tablespoon few slices of ginger 2 pieces of spring onion that I tied in to not cover it and bring this to a boil use a sieve to skin all the palak Trump's turn the heat to low let it cook for 15 minutes while that cooking let's make a spice mix in a blender add a bunch of hot dry chilies the people who helped me test this recipe we're saying it's quite spicy but I am completely fine with this amount you should definitely adjust the spicy level to your own preference keep adding two pieces of bay leaves 1 star anise a small stick of cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon of fennel seeds 1/2 teaspoon of white peppercorn 1 tablespoon of citron peppercorn 1/2 of a black cardamom the whole one looks like this I braked it apart so it is easier to grind 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds I am only putting half of it reserve the other half for later blend everything together there might still have some big chili flakes in there you can keep working on that but I am fine with it put it in a bowl continue adding 2 tablespoon of sesame seeds for some nutty taste the remaining cumin seeds the reason I leave it whole is that I can actually bite into it and feel the strong cumin aroma 1.5 tablespoon of salt 1.5 tablespoon of sugar mix it well I love the spice complex I also use it as a joy dip for hot pot or sprinkle it on barbecue skewers it's just so good ok set it aside let's take a look of the beef it should be cooked through but a bit tough which means you will need some force to stick the chopstick in take it out rinse it under running water to cool it down so your hands can handle it slice it into 1/8 of an inch thick pieces then cut it into strips as I mentioned before I am still cutting the beef with a small angle from the fiber direction let us sit in itself just to get rid of any excess water in a large wok adding 1 cup of oil this is soybean oil you can use any high smoke point oil such as canola or peanut oil while it is still cold adding a bunch of green onion 6 slices of ginger 1/2 of a small size onion that I sliced it thinly 5 cloves of garlic I just crushed them to release the flavor keep the flame on medium low they will season the oil as it gets hot this is an important step to make your crispy chili beef tastes so much better keep stirring them to make sure nothing is burning fry them for about 5 to 6 minutes some of the aromatics should slightly crusty and golden take them out and discard them make sure there is nothing left in the oil or else it will affect the flavor heat the oil to 370 degrees Fahrenheit and make sure you maintain the heat around this temperature during the frying process add in the well drain the beef keep fighting them so each piece cook evenly you might ask me why do I cut the beef into strips when it is raw and then directly deep-fry it why do I need to do an extra step to cook the beef in the water well there is a reason why this is the way how it's done traditionally I have tried to fry the beef when it is they stick to each other right away the whole frying process I was just keep separating them raw me contains more moisture which makes the oil splashing badly on me so just stick to this method we will fry them for five to six minutes in total the beef should be brown on the outside kind of like beef jerky now you can turn off the heat take out the beef give it a few shapes they look pretty good now set it aside and we'll pour out some of the oil you can reuse it don't need to waste that I left about a quarter cup of oil in there put the beef back into the wok along with the spice mix I will suggest you add it in batches so you can adjust the spicy level I'm also pour in a quarter cup of water because the salt and sugar they don't attach to oil it is hard to get saudi and infused into the meat without the water stir everything together maintain your heat between medium and low you want to activate all the aroma and flavor without burning the delicate spices keep stirring and cooking it for another three minutes until the water is gone you can taste to decide if you want the rest of the spice mixture in which I do by the way because I add the salt directly into the spice mixture so if you use half of the spice mix you will need to adjust the saltiness a little bit give it a final stir you can take it out now comes to the hardest part of this recipe you have to let it sit in the fridge for three hours until it cools down this dish tastes better when it's cold I like to wrinkles on spring onion on it you know sometimes a little green color makes the food stand out look at that it is covered with all of the spices and aroma it doesn't look boil II but I can never say no to it while it's cooling down all the spices and seasonings we'll have enough time to get infused into the meat also I found out that the spicy level will lower down when the dish is cold I just took this out of the fridge let's give it a try that's it the typical search on taste the spicy level just perfect it's my limit there are lots of aromas going on the beef it's a little chewy but it's not a bad puff mouse whew all the seasonings absorbed into the meat so the flavors just keep hitting your taste buds as you chewing it you know what I'm thinking about laying on the couch watching movies with this delicious mouse firing extra flavorful peep snack of course with a cup of cold drink I feel like life is so beautiful now so I hope you give this or my other recipes a try see you if you haven't yet click my channel name and find out how to make your favorite Chinese food new videos coming out every Wednesday and I'll see you next time bye\n"