Deliciously tender beef, a sweet and slightly spicy sauce, crunchy peppers… sounds good? Now where did we put our chopsticks? Panda Express Beijing Beef has always been a firm favorite, especially in our house. Today we are going to look at how to make Panda Express Beijing Beef and give you a few handy hints to make sure you get the perfect result every time.
How To Make Panda Express Beijing Beef
Do you want flavor or do you want simple? Hopefully you said flavor? You’ll notice with this recipe that there is a fairly long list of ingredients, but trust us, it will be worth it. After all Beijing was not built in a day.
The dish features heavily with a couple of sauces, namely oyster sauce, hoisin sauce and soy sauce. If you are watching your waistline then by all means these can be switched out for lower sodium or lower sugar versions.
You aren’t going to need too much kitchen equipment. A few bowls and a large frying pan or wok is all it should take to have you on the way to your favorite takeaway in a matter of minutes.
Panda Express Beijing Beef
Course: MainCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy4
servings20
minutes20
minutes375
kcalEnjoy this copycat Panda Express Beijing Beef recipe in the comfort of your home. Made in under 40 minutes.
Ingredients
1 lb 1 London Broil or Skirt steak
1/4 cup 1/4 corn starch divided in two
1 generous pinch of salt
3 eggs whisked (yolks removed)
8 oz 8 cooking oil
1 tablespoon 1 crushed garlic
1 finely sliced medium white onion
1 red pepper thickly diced
- For the Panda Express Beijing Beef Sauce
4 oz 4 water
2 oz 2 sugar
6 teaspoons 6 ketchup
¼ cup Hoisin sauce
3 teaspoons 3 dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon 1 oyster sauce
2 tablespoons 2 sweet chili sauce
1 red chili finely sliced
4 teaspoons 4 apple cider vinegar
Directions
- Take your steak and slice it finely, no thicker than ¼ of an inch. Add this to a medium bowl along with 2 teaspoons of corn starch, salt, and the eggs. Mix well and let stand for at least 25 minutes
- In a separate bowl add the water, sugar, ketchup, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili sauce, chopped chili and vinegar
- In another bowl add the remaining corn starch. Remove the beef from its marinade and then toss and shake in the dry corn starch until it is evenly coated
- Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat. Once the oil is hot, add your beef strips in batches and fry until they are golden brown and crispy. Remove and place leave to drain on kitchen paper. Once the beef is cooked discard the hot oil, leaving two tablespoons behind.
- Add the onions and bell pepper and cook until just cooked. Then add the garlic and stir for around 30 seconds.
- Add the sauce mixture to the pan and fry for around 4 minutes or until it begins to thicken.
- Add the beef to the sauce, stir around the pan until combined with the ingredients. Serve and enjoy.
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Tips and Tricks
Thin Beef
You’ll notice that with Panda Express Beijing Beef that the beef is quite thin. Aside from it tasting great there is a reason for this. Thinner beef cooks quicker and this dish is very much like stir-fry. If you can’t buy thin beef from the store or butcher, it is possible to hammer it flat using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Make sure that you cut it into thin bite sized pieces.
Keep the sauce
As we have already said there are quite a few ingredients on this list. If you are slightly pushed for time it is actually an ideal dish where you can make a large element of it ahead of when you want to cook. If you assemble and mix the ingredients for the sauce, they will keep in the refrigerator covered for up to a week.
Hot or not hot?
Panda Express Beijing Beef is a little bit spicy. If you are feeling slightly more timid then you can omit the chili element completely. Alternatively, if you actively enjoy a little bit of heat but don’t have any fresh chili then don’t worry. A pinch of dried chili flakes will work just as well. Or, you can use half a teaspoon of chili powder, or maybe even a touch of cayenne pepper if you are in a real fix.
Other veg
Whilst it won’t be quite as authentic you can combine other elements and additions to this dish if you have some spare vegetables left over that you need to use up. We sometimes like to add a handful of sliced baby corn, a little chopped broccoli or even a handful of sugar snap peas to dish. It is a stir-fry after all so feel free to ‘play jazz’.
Don’t forget the corn starch!
We mean this especially in the marinading phase of the beef. Corn starch has a strange effect when combined with a liquid and left to soak on meat. It begins to break the proteins in the meat down. Whilst this sounds scientific, what does it mean for us?
Essentially it means that you will enjoy super tender and soft beef with a slightly golden and crispy outer crust. Worth it? Most definitely!
Other Recipes
Panda Express Mushroom Chicken
Conclusion
Chinese food in the comfort of your own home? Yes please. Our homemade Panda Express Beijing Beef recipe is guaranteed to be a sure-fire hit. The key to making this recipe lies in the beef. It has to be super thin to ensure quick cooking, and whatever you do make sure you allow the corn starch time to do its work! If you’ve tried this recipe and loved it why not let me know in the comments below. I enjoy hearing about others enjoying my recipes.
