I like to call this dish, “Not yo’ momma’s Chinese take-out.” Contrary to belief, this very popular dish IS in fact an actual Chinese dish made with a homemade sauce. For those of you who knew that or didn’t doubt it, good on you! For those of you who still don’t believe it, BELIEVE!
2–4 SERVINGS
6 ounces ribeye beef, cut into thin 2-inch-long strips
½ head(s) of frisee or purple kale, cleaned and root trimmed
SAUCE:
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons light soy sauce
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
½ cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup minced ginger
3⅓ tablespoons minced garlic
¼ tablespoon chopped scallions
¼ tablespoon shredded carrots
2 tablespoons tapioca starch
BATTER:
1 large egg white
1 pinch kosher salt
1 pinch black pepper
1 pinch mushroom bouillon
½ cup cornstarch
BALLS OUT
40–80 SERVINGS
7½ pounds ribeye beef, cut into thin 2-inch-long strips
10 heads of frisee or purple kale, cleaned and root trimmed
SAUCE:
3 cups sugar
1 cups plus 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
3 cups plus 6 tablespoons water
1½ cups rice vinegar
6 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
⅓ cup crushed red pepper flakes
1½ cups minced ginger
⅔ cup minced garlic
¾ tablespoon chopped scallions
¾ tablespoon shredded carrots
6 tablespoons tapioca starch
BATTER:
10 egg whites
1¼ teaspoons mushroom bouillon
1¼ teaspoons black pepper
1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
5 cups cornstarch
1. First, a note: Please love your ribeye and do not cut in the same direction as the beef striations/lines. Cut directly across/perpendicular to/90 degrees from the lines. This is the single most important note for assuring that you get the most tender strips possible. Also, make sure all your strips are fairly uniform so you’ll have a fairly uniform cook time, too. If you don’t, you’ll have a wide range of uncooked beef and overcooked beef, which will become a crazy circus of confusingly different textures in your mouth!
2. Dissolve sugar in soy sauce and 1 cup water over low heat. Once completely dissolved, mix in rice vinegar, sesame oil, and red pepper flakes. Keep sauce warm over low heat. In a separate pan, sauté ginger and garlic together with a little bit of cooking oil over medium-high heat, then add to sauce. Next, sauté scallions and carrots with cooking oil over medium-high heat. Stir into sauce.
3. Next, make your thickening slurry for the sauce by mixing your remaining water and tapioca in a small bowl. Make sure it’s very well mixed and incorporated. Lightly thicken the sauce by slowly adding a little bit of tapioca slurry at a time (don’t use all of it if you can help it) and mixing in often until you get a medium-thick consistency to coat the battered beef with later on. Hold the sauce over lowest heat.
4. Place the egg white into a small bowl. Combine salt, pepper, mushroom bouillon, and cornstarch in another bowl and mix together.
5. Dip beef strips into egg white wash, shake off excess, and then aggressively coat in the batter bowl of cornstarch mix.
6. Heat 1 inch cooking oil in a pot to 350°F. When the oil is ready, gently place your battered beef strips in the oil. For the first 10 seconds, let them strips fry free. After that, start stirring and breaking apart the beef to make sure the strips don’t stick together (“stay away!”). Cook for a total of 35–45 seconds. Remove beef, drain, and shake off excess oil over pot for about 15 seconds and then fry once more for another 20–30 seconds, or until beef is crispy. Remove, shake off the oil one more time, and transfer to a bowl.
Remove thickened sauce pot from heat, transfer ½ cup sauce to a separate bowl, and store the rest—cool off, cover, and refrigerate to be used another time. Toss crispy beef strips in sauce bowl and lightly coat the beef. Remove and plate on a bed of fancy-ass frisee or your favorite leafy vegetable, and go . . . to . . . TOWN!