Crispy chilli beef - Saturday Kitchen

Rachel Payas is a Gibraltarian food enthusiast and blogger, and self confessed ‘girl obsessed with food’. Known on social media as Blurred Limes, Ms Payas is also known for her ability to fuse different foods and create dishes that make others want to get in the kitchen. Her food is known for bringing comfort, the feeling of being nourished and an overall general satisfaction.

Crispy chilli beef
Summer is well and truly here. The last thing anyone wants to do after a long day at the beach is slave over a hot stove. This spicy chilli beef recipe requires minimal preparation and 10 minutes hob time, max. Packed with loads delicious ingredients, this is a quick and easy week night dinner.

To serve 2 people, you will need;
Very thinly sliced beef steaks x2
1 white onion
1 teaspoon grated or minced ginger
1 teaspoon grated or minced garlic
1 large red pepper
1 large red chilli
50g cornflour
1 egg
Good glug of a neutral oil for frying
Good glug of Shaoxing wine
2 teaspoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of ketchup
1 tablespoon of siracha
1 tablespoon of rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
½ teaspoon of Chinese five spice powder
Sliced scallions to garnish
Salt and white pepper
Egg fried rice to serve

The most important part of this recipe is the cookware. I always use a large wok to make this dish but a very large sauce pan will do the job too.
1. Chop your onion and pepper into large chunks followed by chopping your chilli into a finer dice. The bigger the chilli, the less heat it packs so opt for a bigger chilli if you prefer things milder. Set aside in a small bowl.
2. Slice your beef steaks into thin strips and put into a separate bowl. Crack in your egg, stirring well, followed by your cornflour. Make sure the beef is coated evenly with the cornflour as will give you the crispiness required for the best bite.
3. Whack your wok up on a very high heat and add a good glug of neutral oil such as sunflower oil. Fry your cornflour coated beef strips in batches for a few minutes on each side, ensuring they are super crispy and do not burn. This should take about 5 minutes. Once cooked, set aside on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil.
4. In the same wok, keeping only a couple of tablespoons of the oil behind, begin to add your veggies. Pop your onion and chilli in, followed by your grated or minced garlic, ginger and chopped pepper.
5. For the final part, the heat must remain very high, this entire process should take no more than a few minutes and you must keep moving your veggies constantly.
6. Add in your Shaoxing wine (the vital ingredient to level up your Chinese cooking) and cook down the alcohol for a minute or two before adding in anything else.
7. Finally, add in all the remaining ingredients to form your sauce; ketchup, siracha, sugar, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce and five spice powder as well as a crack of white pepper and a sprinkle of salt.
8. Once you have a gorgeous thickened saucy consistency, add your fried beef strips back into the wok and mix together very well. Turn off the heat and serve immediately with egg fried rice and some scallions to garnish. Enjoy!