Gretchen's table: Why do takeout when you can make spicy Chinese beef at home?

It's the rare diner who doesn't love the occasional Chinese takeout.

It's convenient, has extensive menu choices and, because it's often intended to be shared, can be more affordable for a couple or family than traditional sit-down restaurants. Order enough, and there's also the thrill of leftovers.

Yet given the laundry list of ingredients some dishes require and the need for precise mise en place - wok cooking is fast, so you better have everything ready to go before you start - you have to wonder: Is it worth making at home?

Jeremy Pang, the British-Chinese chef who founded London's School of Wok in 2012, hopes to ease some of that hesitation in his latest cookbook, "Jeremy Pang's Chinese Kitchen: Simple Techniques. Delicious Recipes" (Hamlyn, $30).

Its 80-plus Asian-inspired recipes from across East and Southeast Asia are designed with the home cook in mind with clear, easy-to-follow instructions along with a guide to Chinese kitchen and pantry essentials. He also offers tips on seasoning and maintaining a wok and seven "golden rules" for stir frying.

Pang writes he has a "bit of a soft spot" for this popular dish featuring crispy strips of beef in a tangy-spicy sauce even though it's more often associated with takeout than traditional home cooking.

Thanks to its interplay of textures and flavors and quick prep, I'm guessing you, too, will walk away from the table completely satisfied. Chopsticks optional.

Succulent Chinese Beef

PG tested

For beef

7 ounces rump steak or sirloin, cut across the grain into thin strips about ⅛-inch thick

14 ounces cornstarch

½ teaspoon each salt and black pepper

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely diced

3 garlic cloves, finely diced

2 birds' eye chiles, finely diced

Vegetable oil, for deep frying

Large handful cilantro, finely chopped, for garnish

For marinade

1 egg, beaten

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

For sauce

6 tablespoons black or rice vinegar

4 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons ketchup

½ tablespoon dark soy sauce

Steamed white or brown rice for serving

Put beef into a mixing bowl, add the marinade ingredients and, using your hands, massage them into the meat pieces until they are evenly coated.

Season cornstarch with ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Add to bowl of beef and massage it into the meat. The meat will stick together in clumps at first but will start to separate as you continue to massage it.

Once all meat has completely separated, it is ready to fry. (I shook the excess off and put it in a clean bowl.)

Prepare sauce: In a small bowl, combine vinegar, honey, ketchup and soy sauce and mix well.

Build your "wok clock" on the work surface. Start at 12 o'clock with the coated marinated beef, followed by ginger, garlic and birds' eye chiles, and finally the bowl of sauce.

Half-fill wok with vegetable oil and heat to 350 degrees, or until the the tip of a wooden chopstick or skewer starts to sizzle after 2 or 3 seconds in the oil.

Carefully add beef to the hot oil and deep-fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain well on a plate lined with paper towels. (I did it in several batches.)

Carefully pour the oil into the wok through a sieve and into a saucepan to cool.

Heat 2 tablespoons of reserved vegetable oil in the wok over high heat until smoking hot. Add ginger, garlic and chiles, reduce heat to medium and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant.

Pour over the sauce and bring to a vigorous boil, then add crispy beef and give wok 2 or 3 tosses to mix everything together.

Spoon into a serving bowl, scatter cilantro to garnish and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

- "Jeremy Pang's Chinese Kitchen"

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This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 1:09 AM.