Make your own Chinese takeaway with this Stir-Fried Beef With Ginger & Spring Onion! Speedy, delicious & allergy-friendly, it's on the table in just 20 minutes!
Ordering a Chinese takeaway can be tricky when you've got food allergies, with ingredients like soy, gluten, and shellfish popping up in lots of dishes. But when you make your own, it's so much easier to tweak the recipe to suit your needs, and that's exactly what I've done with this recreated takeaway favourite - Stir-Fried Beef with Ginger & Spring Onion.
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If you need to make it allergy-friendly, check out the "How to Make This Allergy-Friendly" section below for easy ways to customise the dish!
To make it, we'll be stir-frying tender strips of beef with fresh ginger, red pepper, and spring onions, all coated in a delicious sauce. We love pairing this with no-egg fried rice and steamed pak choi - perfect for a homemade fakeaway night!
If you love fakeaway recipes as much as us, check out this Five Guys Copycat Burger & Five Guys Cajun Fries too!
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🥘 Ingredients You Will Need
Here is a brief overview of the ingredients you will need to make this stir-fried beef with ginger & spring onion. To find out how to make it allergy-friendly, simply scroll down to the section below this one.
✋ Double check all packaging for allergens ✋
- Beef - I've used a pack of pre-sliced beef stir-fry strips for ease, but you can also use minute steak or sirloin and slice it into strips yourself. Just remember to slice against the grain to keep the meat tender.
- Ginger - You'll need fresh ginger for this recipe, peeled and sliced into matchsticks. Got any leftovers? Use them to make my Korean gochujang chicken wings!
- Spring Onion - Add the spring onions towards the end of cooking so they keep a bit of crunch.
- Red Pepper - I've added red pepper for some colour and extra texture.
- Sauce Ingredients - The sauce is made from a mix of oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, cornflour, rice vinegar or Shaoxing rice wine, sugar, and water.
- Oil - Use vegetable oil or any neutral-tasting oil for stir-frying.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🥜 How Can I Make This Dish Allergy Friendly?
With a bit of tweaking and a few special ingredients, you can make this dish allergy-friendly.
The great thing is, once you have bought the alternative sauces, they will keep for ages in the fridge, so you can use them again and again. Most of the products you will be able to find in all of the major supermarkets, but you can also buy them on Amazon.
- ✔️ Make It Gluten-Free: You will need to use a gluten-free oyster sauce & swap the soy sauce for tamari sauce instead. Use rice wine vinegar in place of the Shaoxing rice wine.
- ✔️ Make It Soya-Free: Swap the soy sauce for coconut aminos. Check that the oyster sauce is soy-free, as some brands sneak it in.
- ✔️ Make It Fish/Molluscs Free: Use a vegan oyster sauce like this noyster sauce.
✏️ How to Make Beef With Ginger & Spring Onion
⬇️ Here you will find an overview of how to make the recipe. For full information on ingredients and quantities please see the recipe card at the bottom of the page ⬇️
Step 1: Start by slicing the beef into thin strips, cutting against the grain to keep it tender. (If you're using pre-cut strips, you can skip this step.)
Pop the beef into a zip lock bag with 1 tablespoon of cornflour, give it a good shake until the beef is fully coated, and let it rest for 15 minutes while you prep the other ingredients.
Step 2: For the sauce, grab a small bowl and whisk together the oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar or Shaoxing rice wine, 1 tablespoon of cornflour, sugar, and water until it's all nicely combined.
Step 3: Next, peel the ginger and slice it into thin matchsticks, slice the red pepper into thin strips, and chop the spring onion into thirds lengthways.
Step 4: Heat a wok or frying pan over a high heat and add a splash of vegetable oil.
Once the oil is hot, toss in the beef strips, red pepper, and ginger, stir-frying for 2-3 minutes.
Step 5: Pour in the sauce, give everything a good stir, and cook for another 2 minutes.
Finally, throw in the spring onions and cook for 1 more minute until the beef is perfectly cooked.
💡 Lauren's Tips
- ✔️ Slice Against The Grain: When slicing the beef, always cut against the grain to keep it tender. This makes a big difference in texture. If you find slicing the beef tricky, pop it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm it up. It'll make cutting those thin strips much easier.
- ✔️ Ginger: Use the back of a teaspoon to easily peel the ginger.
- ✔️ Prep All Ingredients First - Stir-frying happens fast, so have everything sliced, diced, and ready to go before you start cooking.
- ✔️ The Veggies - Feel free to swap in other veggies like broccoli, mangetout, or baby corn to add your own twist.
🥡 Storage / Reheating / Freezing
If you've got any leftovers, pop them in an airtight container and they'll keep in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat them in the microwave for a few minutes or toss them back in the wok until piping hot.
To freeze, let the stir-fry cool down, then portion it into freezer-safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. When you're ready to eat, defrost overnight in the fridge and reheat as above.
💬 Recipe FAQs
How do I tenderise the beef?
To make your beef extra tender, don't skip coating it in cornflour for about 15-20 minutes before cooking. The cornflour helps break down the proteins in the meat, keeping it juicy and tender when stir-fried. Also, be sure to cut the meat against the grain.
This dish isn't spicy as it is, but if you want some heat, add a sliced chilli or a pinch of chilli flakes.
Yes! You can slice the beef and prep the veggies ahead of time. You can even make the sauce and store it in the fridge until you're ready to cook.
⚡ More Asian Inspired Recipes
Looking for more recipes like this one? Check these out:
If you loved this recipe, please leave me a 5🌟 rating or comment below. I really do appreciate it. 😊
📖 Recipe
Stir-Fried Beef With Ginger and Spring Onion
Equipment
- Wok or frying pan
Ingredients
- 350 g (12.5oz) beef stir fry strips or sirloin/minute steak sliced
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 1 thumbsized piece fresh ginger peeled & sliced into matchsticks
- 3 medium spring onions chopped into thirds lengthways
- 1 medium red pepper sliced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Sauce
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 3 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornflour
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar or Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 4 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Slice the beef into thin strips, cutting against the grain. (If using pre-cut strips, skip this bit) then place in a zip lock bag with 1 tablespoon of cornflour. Shake until the beef is coated in the cornflour and leave for 15 minutes to rest while you prepare the other ingredients.
- To make the sauce, in a small bowl, add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar/Shaoxing rice wine, 1 tablespoon of cornflour, sugar & water, and whisk until fully combined.
- Peel the ginger and slice it into thin matchsticks, slice the red pepper into thin strips & chop the spring onion into thirds lengthways.
- Heat a wok or frying pan on a high heat and add the vegetable oil.
- When hot, add the beef strips, red pepper & ginger and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the sauce, stir and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Toss in the spring onion and cook for a further minute until the beef is cooked. Serve immediately.
Notes
- Slice Against The Grain: When slicing the beef, always cut against the grain to keep it tender. This makes a big difference in texture. If you find slicing the beef tricky, pop it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm it up. It'll make cutting those thin strips much easier.
- Ginger: Use the back of a teaspoon to easily peel the ginger.
- Prep All Ingredients First - Stir-frying happens fast, so have everything sliced, diced, and ready to go before you start cooking.
- Customise The Veggies - Feel free to swap in other veggies like broccoli, mangetout, or baby corn to add your own twist.
psyconut says
can anything replace the soy sauce, oyster sauce, or rice wine? i love the taste of ginger n spring onions but i dont like they elements of the sauce. trying to think of an alternative.
Lauren Woodger says
Um, that's a tricky one. You could try it with beef gravy instead and add a couple of drops of fish sauce. It would give the dish a different flavour though, let me know if you try it! 🙂