Thin strips of steak are coated in cornflour, fried twice until genuinely crisp, then tossed at the last second in a sticky chilli, garlic and vinegar glaze. The whole thing comes together in one hot pan and eats best straight from it. Serve with plain rice and let people fight over the crunchy bits.
This is the dish that disappears fastest from any takeaway order, and the home version is better because you eat it while it is still crackling. The trick is a bare cornflour coating rather than a wet batter, fried twice, then glazed in seconds. Get everything chopped and mixed before the oil goes on and it is genuinely easy.
Ingredients
Method
- Toss the beef strips with the Shaoxing wine, light soy and white pepper. Leave for 10 minutes, then stir through the egg white until every strip is slick. Tip the 90g cornflour into a wide bowl and add the beef a handful at a time, tossing hard so each strip is coated in dry, powdery cornflour with no wet patches. Shake off the excess and lay the strips out separately on a tray.
- Mix the sauce in a jug: ketchup, rice vinegar, sugar, sweet chilli sauce, dark soy and 3 tbsp cold water. Stir the remaining 1 tsp cornflour into 1 tbsp cold water and keep the slurry to one side. Have the garlic, ginger, chillies, spring onions and carrot ready in a bowl by the hob, because once frying starts there is no time to chop.
- Pour the oil into a deep, heavy pan no more than a third full and heat to 180°C. If you have no thermometer, drop in a pinch of the coating cornflour: it should fizz vigorously and rise straight away. Read /guides/how-to-deep-fry-safely-at-home/ if you are new to this, and never leave the pan unattended.
- Fry the beef in three or four small batches, dropping the strips in one at a time so they do not weld together. Give each batch 2 to 3 minutes until pale gold and firm, then lift onto a wire rack set over a tray. Do not drain on kitchen paper, which traps steam and softens the crust. Let the oil come back up to 180°C between batches.
- Raise the oil to 190°C and fry each batch a second time for 45 to 60 seconds, until deep golden and audibly crisp. This second fry drives out the last of the moisture and is what makes the coating shatter rather than bend. Return everything to the rack. The beef is cooked through with no pink at this point.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the frying oil in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies and stir for 20 seconds until fragrant but not browned, then add the shredded carrot and stir for another 30 seconds.
- Pour in the sauce mixture and bubble hard for 1 to 2 minutes until it thickens and turns glossy. Stir in the cornflour slurry and let it bubble for 15 seconds more: it should coat the back of a spoon and just leave a trail across the pan base.
- Take the pan off the heat, tip in the beef and most of the spring onions, and toss for no more than 15 seconds so every strip is lacquered but nothing has time to go soggy. Add the sesame oil, toss once and tip straight onto a warm serving plate. Scatter the remaining spring onions over and eat immediately, piping hot.
Serve it with
- Plain steamed jasmine rice
- Egg fried rice with peas and spring onion
- Salt and pepper chips
- Quick stir-fried pak choi with garlic
- Prawn crackers and a cold lager
Why this works
The takeaway secret is a dry cornflour coating rather than a wet batter, fried twice: the first fry cooks the beef, the second blasts out residual moisture so the crust sets hard and glassy. The sauce is deliberately reduced to a syrup before the beef goes in, so it clings as a glaze instead of soaking through, and the pan comes off the heat for the final toss.
Common swaps
- No Shaoxing wine? Dry sherry is the closest supermarket substitute; medium-dry white wine or an extra splash of soy will do at a push.
- Use chicken thigh strips or firm tofu batons in place of beef, keeping the same coating and double-fry timings.
- Swap sweet chilli sauce for 1 tbsp chilli bean paste (doubanjiang) plus an extra teaspoon of sugar for a deeper, savoury heat.
- Rice vinegar can be replaced with cider vinegar, or use Chinkiang black vinegar for a maltier, more aromatic glaze.
- Shallow-fry in 3cm of oil in a frying pan if you would rather not deep-fry, turning the strips halfway through each fry.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Crowding the pan. Too much beef at once drops the oil temperature, the coating goes greasy and the strips stick together in a raft.
- Skipping the second fry. One fry gives you beef that looks right for about 90 seconds, then goes limp under the sauce.
- Adding the beef before the sauce has reduced. A thin, watery sauce will be absorbed by the coating instead of glazing it.
- Draining on kitchen paper. Use a wire rack so steam escapes from underneath and the crust stays crisp.
Storage, freezing & reheating
Storage: Best eaten straight away. Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days, though the coating will soften.
Freezing: Freeze the twice-fried, unsauced beef in a single layer on a tray, then bag for up to 2 months. Cook from frozen in a hot oven for 10 to 12 minutes, then glaze as in the recipe.
Reheating: Spread on a wire rack over a baking tray and reheat at 200°C for 6 to 8 minutes, or 5 minutes in an air fryer at 190°C, until piping hot and crisped up again. Microwaving turns the coating to paste.
Allergen notes: contains Gluten, Egg, Soya, Sesame, Sulphites. Always check individual product labels.
Estimated nutrition
Per serving, estimated from typical ingredient values — not a substitute for precise dietary calculation.
| Calories | 610 kcal |
|---|---|
| Protein | 34g |
| Carbohydrate | 48g |
| Fat | 31g |