Crispy, deep-fried strips of beef coated in a sweet, sticky, slightly spicy ginger-chili sauce. A Chinese-Canadian restaurant staple invented in the mid-1970s by chef George Wong at the Silver Inn in Calgary to appeal to Western palates.
Calgary ginger beef is a Chinese-Canadian restaurant staple invented in the mid-1970s by chef George Wong at the Silver Inn Restaurant in Calgary, Alberta, who adapted a Chinese ginger-fried beef to appeal to Western palates. Crispy, deep-fried strips of beef are coated in a sweet, sticky, slightly spicy ginger-chili sauce, often deep-fried twice for crunch. It is now considered a distinctly Albertan and Chinese-Canadian invention, a menu staple across the prairies, and one of the most iconic dishes of Chinese-Canadian cuisine.
Shatteringly crisp beef in a glossy, sweet, gingery, mildly spicy sauce that clings to every piece, the crunch giving way to tender beef. Eaten with rice, it is sweet, savory, crunchy and unmistakably a Western-Canadian Chinese invention.
The beef is sliced thin, marinated briefly, then coated in a cornstarch batter and deep-fried twice, once to cook, again at higher heat to build the glassy crunch. The sauce is built separately: ginger, garlic, chili, soy, sugar and vinegar, reduced to a sticky glaze, then the hot fried beef is tossed in just before serving so the crust stays crisp. The double-fry and the last-minute sauce-toss are what keep the beef crunchy under the sauce.
Variations
A spicier version adds more dried chili. Some use a lighter, less sweet sauce.
On the Palate
Where Calgary Ginger Beef sits in the Canadian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4How it's made
6 steps · 30 min
- 15 min
Slice 500g beef sirloin into thin strips; marinate with 1 tbsp soy, 1 tbsp wine and 1 tsp cornstarch 15 minutes.
- 24 min
Coat the beef in a batter of 80g cornstarch, 2 tbsp flour and water to a thick paste.
- 39 min
Fry in oil at 170C for 3 minutes; drain, rest 5 minutes, then fry again at 190C for 2 minutes until very crisp.
Watch outFry once to cook, rest, then fry again hotter until glassy-crisp — that second high-heat fry is what keeps the crust crunchy under the sauce.
- 45 min
In a wok, fry 30g minced ginger, 4 cloves garlic and 2 dried chilies in 2 tbsp oil 1 minute.
- 58 min
Add 3 tbsp soy, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp vinegar and 100ml water; simmer to a sticky glaze.
- 65 min
Toss the hot fried beef in the sauce for 30 seconds and serve immediately with rice.
Watch outToss the hot beef in the glaze just 30 seconds and serve at once — leave it sitting in sauce and the crust goes soft.
