Kung Pao Beef

This Kung Pao Beef will have you devouring delicious little chunks of seared crusty beef, wok-roasted peanuts, and little bits of aromatic, popcorn-toasted dried chilies—all in a spicy, tangy sauce. Don’t forget the rice! 

Kung Pao Beef? 

It’s true that many restaurants don’t have Kung Pao beef on the menu, because it’s definitely not a traditional dish. Kung Pao is usually made with chicken.

But the question of authenticity only comes up for a fleeting moment, until you have a well-executed dish in front of you with a steaming bowl of white rice. Then, you really just don’t care anymore because it’s that tasty! 

What is “Kung Pao”?

Kung Pao Chicken is a dish from Sichuan province. Its fame brought it to other provinces as well, with different variations. The dish is spicy, with liberal use of minced ginger, chopped garlic, and Sichuan peppercorn.

Rice wine vinegar adds acidity and brightness, which is also one of the characteristics of a good Kung pao dish. For the beef version, we applied these same basic principles.  

Crispy “Crusty” Beef

So you may be wondering what I mean when I say “crusty beef.” It doesn’t sound all too appealing at first. Well, those of you who have tried our Mongolian Beef recipe and our Hunan Beef recipe know how good it is! 

Crusty beef is how we describe beef that has been velveted with cornstarch and other ingredients, then seared at a high temperature to achieve caramelized crispy edges.

The first step is to velvet the beef, using enough cornstarch to form a crust when it hits the hot oil. When you heat your wok until smoking, use enough oil, and keep the heat high to sear both sides of the beef, the result is that almost crispy texture. 

Determining When to Add the Aromatics

Ginger and garlic can be added at the beginning or towards the end of stir-frying a dish, depending on whether you like a fresher or more mellow taste. 

For the ginger, I like adding it at the beginning to infuse the oil and take some of the bite off the ginger.

For the garlic, however, it’s a different story. I like to add it at the end here, so that the slightly raw taste of the garlic balances out the richness of the other flavors in the dish. 

Adding chopped garlic later is something that we have begun to do more when cooking some of our other favorite dishes as well! It really makes a difference. Not all garlic needs to be caramelized! 

Another signature Kung Pao flavor is fragrant Sichuan peppercorns. We use Sichuan peppercorn powder because it is easy and gives you that distinctive flavor without the intense numbing sensation you get from whole Sichuan peppercorns. Be sure to add it with the sauce, since adding it too early could scorch the powder and make the dish slightly bitter. (Kaitlin learned this early when developing her signature Mapo Tofu!)

Last but certainly not least are the dried chili peppers. How much you add will determine how spicy the dish is, but be sure to add the chopped (or whole) dried peppers early, so you toast them in the oil, which brings out their spiciness, aroma, and flavor. 

Oftentimes you’ll see people sifting through the peppers with dishes like this, but I personally love eating the toasted spicy peppers and nibble on a piece with every bite! 

Recipe Instructions

In a medium bowl, combine the beef, cornstarch, Shaoxing wine, oil, oyster sauce, and baking soda until the beef is evenly coated. Marinate for 1 hour at room temperature.

Prepare the sauce by combining the warm water or stock, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, cornstarch, hoisin sauce, Sichuan peppercorn powder, dark soy sauce, and sesame oil. Set aside. 

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok over medium heat, and add the peanuts. Stir constantly (or they’ll burn) for 5 minutes, until golden brown and fragrant. Turn off the heat and stir for another minute using the residual heat in the wok. Set aside to cool. They will turn crunchy once they’re cooled completely. You can also skip this step and use already roasted shelled peanuts.

Add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the wok. Heat the wok over high heat until it’s just smoking. Sear the beef for 1½ minutes on each side, or until the beef is slightly crispy on both sides.

Having a hot wok is really important to avoid overcooking the beef. Reduce the heat to low, and remove the beef from the wok, leaving behind any oil.

Over low heat, add the ginger and chilies.

Toast until fragrant, taking care not to burn them. Add the bell peppers and white portions of the scallion. Cook for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the garlic, and stir-fry for 20 seconds.

Add the beef and its juices back to the wok, and increase the heat to high. Stir-fry for 30 seconds. 

Stir up your prepared sauce (the cornstarch will have settled to the bottom, so make sure it’s well-incorporated). Add the sauce to the wok and stir everything together to deglaze it. 

Once the sauce is thickened and simmering, add the peanuts and the green parts of the scallions.

There should be no standing sauce, but if it looks a little too thick, you can add a splash of water or stock. Give everything a final stir, turn off the heat, and serve with jasmine rice!