Spicy Vegetarian Ginger Beef

These tasty treats are better after soaking in the sauce for a bit or overnight. As these seem to be a Calgary invention, not sure if anyone else has heard of them, but they are delicious.

TIPS:
1. To make it extra crispy, deep-fry the beef twice. This technique is often used in restaurants: staff prepare a batch of ginger beef and set it aside. When a customer places an order, a portion is deep-fried again.

2. Don't put all of the meat in the wok at once - that will lower the wok temperature. Start with adding about 1/4 of the meat mixture.

3. Mix the batter thoroughly. Test with chopsticks or a wooden spoon - it should just drop without sticking.

Meat:
1 lb yves beef strips or regular beef strips (any meat can be used, if a low cost cut – marinade overnight in a mix of soy sauce, garlic & ginger)

Sauce:
3 Tbsp Chinese rice wine, cooking wine or dry sherry
8 Tbsp light soy sauce (or 4 tbsp regular soy + 4 tbsp water)
3 Tbsp white or rice vinegar
7-8 tablespoons granulated sugar / brown sugar or honey
2 tsp sesame oil
Regular Oil
2 teaspoon hot chili oil or crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste

Other:
Celery, red bell pepper, green onion and carrot strips (about ½ cup in total)
Oil for deep-frying
3 red chili peppers, seeds left in or 4 tbsp chili peppers
2-3 Tbsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp sesame oil

Batter:
Equal portions of cornstarch & flour
Water to make the batter watery


PREPARATION:

Beef:
Mix all marinade ingredients and cut yves veggie beef strips into thin slices, set aside. Add to batter just before deep-frying

Sauce:
Fry the garlic, ginger, chili & sesame oil with oil in a pan until lightly brown. Add vegi’s and sauce which was mixed in bowl and simmer on low until thick.

To Prepare:
Heat the oil for deep-frying to 360 degrees Fahrenheit. Dip the marinated beef pieces into the batter. When the oil is hot, add the beef and deep-fry until it is golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.Increase the heat to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Deep-fry the beef a second time, to make it extra crispy. Remove and drain. Serve over rice noodles (crispy) or coconut rice.