So I love a good Chinese takeaway and I think crispy chillibeef along with char siu pork are my favorites. I decided to make my own and it was so delicious much better than the take away and I knew what exactly was in the sauce. As I served it straight away it was also really nice and crispy. Can’t wait to make it again.

Ingredients (serves 2)

For the Beef

• 230g sirloin steak
• 1 egg
• 4 tbsp cornflour
• ½ tsp white pepper
• ¼ tsp fresh black pepper
• 5 Szechuan peppercorns, crushed
• 1 tsp ginger and garlic paste
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

For the Sauce

• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• 1 tsp tomato puree
• 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• ½ tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp golden caster sugar

For the Stir Fry

• ½ red pepper, seeds and pith removed, finely sliced
• ½ carrot, peeled and cut into juliennes
• 1 ltr cooking oil, I used vegetable

Directions

1. Place the steak in the freezer for 20 minutes, remove and slice thinly. Putting it in the freezer makes it much easier to slice thinly and helps not to tear the meat.
2. Put the beef in a bowl and crack in the egg. Use a fork to mix the egg so it coats all of the beef. Next add the rest of the marinade ingredients, again stir to combine. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes but the longer the better.
3. Make the sauce by adding all of the ingredients to a bowl. Give it a whisk to combine and set aside
4. Get a wire cooling rack ready for when you are frying the beef I put a tea towel under mine.
5. Heat 1ltr of frying oil in a wok or large pan until smoking. Test with a bit of bread or one of the beef slices to make sure it bubbles straight away. Add the beef in batches and fry for a couple of minutes until they start to brown. Remove and place on the wire rack and repeat with the rest of the beef strips. I double fried mine to make them extra crispy, you can add all of the beef pieces on 2nd fry as they wont stick together.
6. In a frying pan, add a drizzle of oil and stirfry the pepper and carrot for a minute. Pour in the sauce give it a good stir once bubbling turn off the heat and add in the cooked beef strips. Serve immediately.