Say hello to “dry” stir fry
Unlike the saucy Chinese food you might know, Sichuan dishes use tons of aromatics and chilies for flavor. Think “dry” stir fry, where the ingredients get a crispy crust and soak up all the spices with little to no sauce. Sichuan dry fried green beans (干煸四季豆) is a classic example.
This Sichuan crispy beef belongs to the same category. In China we call it dried fried steak, or 干煸牛肉 (Gan Bian Niu Rou).
The word “Gan Bian”, or dry fry, refers to a Chinese cooking technique of slowly cooking the ingredients in minimal hot oil to let them dehydrate slightly, creating a crispy chewy crust. Once dry fried, you will finish up the beef with scallions and chili crisp.
Different from the silky texture you get from velveting, or crispy deep fried meat, dried fried beef has a unique chewy texture that resembles tender beef jerky.
Crispy beef ingredients
- Beef flank steak: Other cuts of beef work too.
- Baking soda: Marinating the beef with baking soda will tenderize the meat, so the beef will stay juicy and tender during cooking.
- Cornstarch: Use cornstarch to create a thin coating, for extra crispy texture.
- Chili crisp: The main seasoning in this dish. See the note below on selecting a high quality chili crisp.
- Scallion: Scallion is used as an aromatic and a vegetable, to add umami, a sweet taste, and a tender texture.
Select a high quality chili crisp
To create the best tasting Sichuan crispy beef, get a jar of Lao Gan Ma (老干妈), sometimes translated as The Godmother. It’s one of the most popular sauces in China, and I always keep a jar of it in my fridge. The brand has numerous types of flavors, but this recipe uses the most basic flavor Chili Crisp Oil, or 香辣脆油辣椒. You can find it in Chinese markets, some big Asian grocery stores, or on Amazon.
Another chili crisp I like is Mr Bing Chili Crisp. If you do not like the MSG in Lao Gan Ma, this is a great alternative.
How to make Sichuan crispy beef
- Marinate the beef for 30 minutes, then coat the cornstarch right before cooking. The marinating process is crucial. Not only does it impart flavor to the meat, the baking soda also keeps the beef tender.
- Pan fry the beef until crispy on the edges. Compared to my other stir fry recipes, this recipe requires a longer cooking time for the beef. The method overcooks the surfaces to create the chewy crispy effect. But since we also use baking soda, the inside of the beef will remain tender.
- Once the beef is cooked, toss it with the chili crisp and scallion.
That’s it! It seems like an extremely simple dish, but you’d be surprised how flavorful it is and by the amazing texture of the beef.
Crispy beef, cooked with little oil
To properly dry fry the beef, use just enough oil to thinly cover the pan. You want to use enough oil so the cornstarch on the beef is fully coated with oil, but not so much that there’s a lot of oil pooling in the pan. The method for this dish is to use the hot pan to slowly cook the beef to dehydrate the surface, creating the crispy chewy texture. If you use too much oil, the hot pan will cause a lot of splatter during cooking.
How to serve Sichuan crispy beef
Serve Sichuan crispy beef with steamed rice as a main dish, and pair it with some vegetables such as cucumber salad, bok choy stir fry, or broccoli with garlic sauce. A simple egg drop soup or tomato egg drop soup is a great addition to the meal as well.
Other popular Sichuan dishes
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4-Ingredient Sichuan Crispy Beef
Ingredients
Marinade
- 1 lb beef flank steak , sliced into 1/4” (5 mm) pieces again the grain
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Stir fry
- 4 to 6 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp
- 4 scallions , sliced on the bias into 1” (2.5 cm) pieces
Instructions
- Combine the beef, salt, baking soda and oil in a medium bowl. Gently mix by hand until all the beef slices are coated with oil. Marinate for 30 minutes.
- When ready to cook, add cornstarch one tablespoon at a time. Mix to coat the beef until all surfaces are coated.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook in batches, spread the beef slices without overlapping. Cook until the bottom turns golden and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the slices to fry the other side, until golden brown and crispy, another 1 to 2 minutes. (*Footnote 1) Transfer beef to a large plate. Cook the rest of the batches. Add more oil if the pan gets dry, and turn to medium heat if the pan starts to smoke too much.
- Once all the beef is cooked, add it back to the pan and turn to medium-high heat. Add the chili crisp and the scallion. Stir and cook until the beef is evenly coated with the chili oil and the scallion starts to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer everything to a large plate. Serve hot as a main dish.
Notes
- When the beef is pan fried, the cornstarch will become light golden first. Then you will notice some of the pieces turning dark brown. That means the beef surface is fully dehydrated, and will form a crispy chewy texture similar to beef jerky. Aim to create this texture on some of the pieces, but not all the surfaces. So the inside of the beef will remain juicy and tender, without getting too dry and chewy.
- To make the dish gluten free: Make sure to use a gluten-free chili crisp.
Nutrition
Have a question or feedback? Add a Comment
Did you make this? I want to see! Tag @OmnivoresCookbook on Instagram, and rate the recipe below.
BobB
I’ve made this twice now …doubled the recipe each time. The family has rated it 5 stars …even as leftovers. A delicious, fast and easy recipe.
We love your recipes! Thank-you for sharing Maggie.
BobB
Silvia Morgado
Ur recipes r amazing and always a hit! Thanks for sharing!
philip
I wonder if you can use chicken or shrimp as well with this method?🤔
Errol
I made some yesterday for dinner.It was so nice and easy to make.Thank You Maggie for showing me how to cook these Beautiful Meals
StacyF
Thanks for this! I love crispy beef but I’ve cut way down on carbs and most sauces are too sugary. I also love chili crisp so this recipe is the PERFECT solution. We’ve made it once so far and loved it. Will definitely be a staple in the food rotation.
Joe
I’ll give this a five as it was very good despite my not even using the recommended chili crisp ingredient but black beans in chili oil instead (it’s simply what I had in my cupboard, though the same brand as the one featured in the recipe). Because I don’t like using large amounts of oil , I used a generous coating of safflower oil rather than the amount recommended . I threw in some broccoli and a few old but still edible sliced mushrooms after removing the cooked beef, then added a bit of water to deglaze the pan, added the beef back in just as the broccoli brightened in color, and then the black bean in oil. Very good. I’ll be back to this site for more recipes.
Erin Garcia
Hi, I tried this recipe and it was very tasty but when I put the sauce with the meat, the meat no longer was crispy. Any suggestions?
Audrey Williams
I had this at a restaurant in DC many years ago and finally found the recipe on your site. It tasted just as I remembered. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. Fantastic! I’ll definitely make this again. My next attempts are the Hot and Sour soup and the Chicken Lo Mein. I’ll try to remember to take pics next time.
Thanks Maggie!
Linn
Made it! Was trying to find a use for LGM crispy chili oil when I came across your recipe. Reading back now I wish I didn’t miss the part about tongs! Got splattered a little bit using regular chopsticks as I haven’t got the extra long ones at the moment. Putting it together was reasonably quick, and it tasted awesome. Really good recipe! Thank you 🙂
Tim Javidi
We ordered the Lau Gan Ma hot sauce and they sent the version with fermented black beans. Can I use that? Or is it completely different?
Maggie
Hi Tim, the fermented black bean sauce is quite different but I think you can still use it in this recipe to create a delicious result. I remember the black beans are soaked in red oil? It will be more on the savory side than the Lao Gan Ma chili crisp, which is chili flakes in red oil.
Melissa
When do you add the 1/3 cup of vegetable oil to the stir fry? I must be missing it in the instructions.
Maggie
Hi Melissa, it’s in step 3 when you add oil to the pan for the stir fry.
Helen Ball
Can you please tell me what I can substitute for corn flour as I have an allergy to corn.
Maggie
Hi Helen, you can use another type of starch, for example, potato starch or tapioca starch.
Stephen Narramore
I took the opportunity to prepare this dish tonight as I had eaten a “version” before and I wanted t9 experience a more authentic variety from Maggie. Fortunately in London U K I have plenty of good Asian markets nearby to source the “hot sauce”, I also sourced the Flank steak here too.
I prepared 500g of flank steak an£ scaled the recipe up accordingly ensuring that I had rice and broccoli to go with the dish.
Cut to the chase, the frying of the meat went well, and I have enough for 3 more portions over the next week (I will share with friends) amazing tastes and flavours as well as a good crisp beef, but I was not quite prepared for the heat, not the heat in my mouth but the sweating on my head and ears, quite amazing I must say. Perhaps I will look to dial this down a bit next time. But truly a different experience from the versions I’ve had here in London.
Recommend this recipe whole heartedly.
Amy
We made this with a cheap cut of steak (Sirloin Tip) and used a 45 blade tenderizer to tenderize the meat a bit before preparing it. It turned out fabulously. I’m not sure how I stumbled upon your recipes but we look forward to making more. It was also our first time trying Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp and we love it. Thank you!
lemons
Ooh, thanks Amy! I looked up this recipe specifically to use up some sirloin tips I got as a gift!
Kate
Hi Maggie, everything I have made from your website has all been just fantastic and this is no exception. I really enjoy working with the spicy chili crisp sauce and was wondering if you think you will be doing more recipes with this ingredient! It seems like too much of a gem to not use with more variety. =D I have actually stopped ordering so much Chinese food because the stuff I make at home is better now because of all the stuff I learn here.
Jimmy L
Yum yum! Thank you, Maggie!
Erica
I had a go at this tonight. I could only get Lao Gan Ma Crispy Chilli Oil so I used that. Is there a way to stop the fat from spattering every pot on the stove? I cooked the beef in a 11″ dia frying pan.
It was very tasty and enjoyed by everyone here. I will cook it again.
Maggie
Hi Erica, what you can do is to pat dry the beef thoroughly before cutting, so make sure there is no liquid on the surface.
The beef will release some juice during cooking, so it’s very common to have some splatter. You can solve the problem by either using a slightly deeper pan (some of my readers use dutch oven for stir fry and reported back very positive result), or use a oil splatter screen.
I’m glad to hear you enjoyed dish! Hope you have a great weekend 🙂
Helen @ Scrummy Lane
I’m amazed you can make this with just these few ingredients, Maggie – just wonderful!
Crispy beef is always one of my favourite things to order from a takeaway – thank you for making it so easy to recreate at home!
Maggie
I agree with you, crispy beef is a classic and I always crave more!
Btw, love your new profile picture! 🙂
The-FoodTrotter
It looks absolutely insane I need to try this recipe. A friend sent me very good reviews about Sichuanese cuisine so I should try this one 😉
Wei @ Red House Spice
This makes me drool! Lao Gan Ma, one of my favourite spicy sauce. Pinning!
Maggie
Thanks so much for sharing Wei! The sauce makes cooking so easy isn’t it? 🙂