📋 Calgary Ginger Beef Recipe

ginger beef over rice on a black plate with chopsticks

4.91 from 10 votes

📋 Calgary Ginger Beef Recipe

This Ginger Beef recipe is a copycat of Calgary's famous ginger beef from the Ginger Beef Restaurant. Deep-fried crispy ginger beef, in a delicious savory, sweet and spicy sauce is the best way to enjoy ginger beef at home!

Course main, Side Dish

Cuisine Chinese

Keyword calgary, crispy ginger beef, ginger beef

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 393kcal

Author Terri Gilson

Equipment

Ingredients

Beef:

2 pounds flank steak or sirloin, approximately sliced thinly against the grain

Batter

2 eggs
½ cup water
1 cup cornstarch
2-3 cups oil for deep frying

Vegetables

1 large carrot finely julienned
½ green bell pepper finely sliced
2 tablespoon cooking oil * I use olive oil
2 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
6 cloves garlic, minced

Sauce

⅓ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons red Chinese vinegar (red rice vinegar)
2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
½ cup water
⅓ cup white granulated sugar
1 tablespoon crushed chilies (red chile flakes)
¼ cup plum sauce *add more for additional sweetness

Garnish

sesame seeds
green onions (optional)

US Customary - Metric

Get Recipe Ingredients

Instructions

Slice beef (against the grain- see VIDEO in notes for instructions on how to do this) into thin strips

Batter

Combine all batter ingredients and coat beef in batter.
Add oil to a deep frying pan and heat on medium. *NOTE: I prefer to use a deep fryer for safety, but for some reason, I couldn't get it to work with this recipe! Even when I sprayed the basket with Pam, the pieces still stuck.
Deep-fry coated beef, about 6 pieces at a time, until crispy, about seven to ten minutes.
Remove meat with a slotted spoon. Set meat aside on paper towel to drain. Repeat with remaining meat, frying in small batches of 6-8 pieces (depending on the size of your frying pan.)

Sauce

Add sauce ingredients (except plum sauce) in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside

Vegetables

Julienne carrots and thinly slice green peppers.
In a wok, over medium - low heat, stir fry garlic, carrots, green pepper, sesame seeds and ginger in oil for about 3 minutes.
Add sauce. Bring to boil for 1 to 2 minutes and cook until reduced for 5- 7 minutes on medium heat. Add plum sauce, whisk and cook for 1 additional minute.

Assembly

Add beef to sauce; stir to coat with sauce.

Garnish

Sprinkle with additional sesame seeds and serve over white or basmati rice. Add additional plum sauce for extra sweetness, if desired.
Garnish with green onions (optional)

Notes

📖VARIATIONS & SUBSTITUTIONS

Beef -you could also use skirt steak or beef tenderloin instead
Oil- you can use sesame oil instead of olive oil for sautéing.
Garlic - you can use minced garlic in a jar in a pinch
Add-ins - you can add in snow peas, broccoli florets, or hoisin sauce.

EXPERT RECIPE TIPS:

The "Against the Grain" Rule: For the most tender beef, always slice against the grain. The Lazy Way Tip: Put your steak in the freezer for 20-30 minutes before slicing; it firms the meat up so you can get those professional, paper-thin strips easily. *See video below
Small Batches are Key: Don't crowd the pan when deep frying! If you add too much meat at once, the oil temperature drops, and your beef will turn out greasy instead of crispy.
The Sauce Reduction: Don't rush the simmering of the sauce. You want it to reduce until it's thick and syrupy so it "clings" to the beef rather than making the batter soggy.

TOP TIP: HOW TO GET GINGER BEEF CRISPY

I'm not sure how many people know this, but the way most restaurants get crispy ginger beef is by deep frying it twice!

They prep a lot of deep-fried ginger beef in advance, keep it in the fridge, then when a customer orders it, they give it a quick 2nd deep fry, sauté it in some sauce, and serve it.

I'll be honest, by the time I did it once, I was not doing it again. I'm not gonna lie, this recipe is a lot of work! Of course, unlike a home kitchen, it's different in a restaurant where they have systems in place to manage that process, and they're making large quantities.

Nutrition