One of my favorite Bangla Chinese dishes with it’s beautiful umami flavors.

I especially love biting into the red/green chilis for that intense kick of heat! Try this recipe with some steamed white rice, or any of my other Bangla Chinese Dishes – fried rice, spicy batter fried chicken, soy sauce shrimp, soy sauce chicken, and sweet & sour prawns.

You can make different version of chili beef with this same recipe.

Spice/chilis: I use dried red chilis, but you can also use green chilis or a mix of both! Add in green chilis towards the end with your sauce if you’re using them.

Veggies: You can also add any veggies you’d like, onions, green/red bell peppers, carrot, babycorn, broccoli, cauliflower etc. Fry them with the ginger garlic or later with the onions depending on how long it may take to cook.

Coating: I don’t use any coating for the beef before frying, but if you like a light flour coating for your sauces to stick to, just skip the salt in your sauce, and marinate your beef in 2 tbsp corn flour, 1 tsp salt, and a pinch of black pepper for 10 minutes before frying.

Dry/Saucy: I make my dish dry, but feel free to add in 1/2 tablespoons of corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup water a couple minutes before you’re done cooking to make it saucy. Remember to taste and adjust salt/sugar/pepper/msg etc. at the end if needed.

You can watch the full process in this video!

INGREDIENTS  

• 1 lb beef (cut into very thin strips)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 8-15 dry red chilis
• 1 tbsp ginger (sliced thick)
• 1 1/2 tbsp garlic (sliced thick)
• 1/4 cup water + 1/2 tbsp corn starch (optional – if you want to make it saucy)

Sauce

• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp water

INSTRUCTIONS 

Defrost your frozen beef on the counter for 10-20 minutes until just soft enough to slice through with a knife, then carefully slice into very thin strips with a sharp knife. You can also use pre-sliced beef used for Korean bbq/fajitas etc.

Peel and slice your ginger and garlic into thick slices, and prep your sauce by mixing all the ingredients in the list together until the sugar dissolves

Put a heavy pan on medium heat, and add in some oil when it’s hot. Add in your ginger, cook for a minute.

Add in your chilis and garlic and cook until the garlic starts browning, then scoop everything but the oil out of the pan into a bowl.

Turn the heat up to high. Add in your beef, keeping enough space between the pieces so that it doesn’t crowd the pan and give out too much water. Use tongs to separate the beef strips from each other if needed.

Once the pieces start browning, lower the heat to medium and add in the onions. Fry for a couple minutes until they soften a little.

Then, add back in the chilis, ginger, and garlic. Pour in your sauce, and mix well.

Let it simmer for a minute until the oils come out again, Taste and adjust seasoning if needed, and take it off the heat.