Canadian Ginger Beef! With its succulent battered and deep-fried strips of beef. It holds a special place in the hearts of those who relish both flavor and texture in their culinary experiences. Upon biting into these crispy strips of beef, one is met with a symphony of tastes. Thanks to the saturation of savory, sour and sweet with a bit of heat, stir fry sauce that awakens the soul.

This is my version of a Ginger Beef recipe that follows closely to how the Authentic Calgarian Ginger Beef was originally prepared. In order to create this marvelous Ginger Beef recipe. I had to dig in deep to what Calgarian Ginger Beef was and I’ll take you through it. After doing so, and with some help from a few resources, I do believe I got an incredible Ginger Beef Recipe.

Did you know? Ginger Beef is a Canadian Dish!

Original Canadian Ginger Beef

First conceived and created in Canada. While many restaurant outlets have different versions of this. The true and original was the Silver Inn, located in Calgary, Alberta.

This dish’s origin story adds to its charm. Having been invented by Chef George Wong in Calgary, Alberta, during the 1970s. It is a testament to the dish’s timelessness and appeal that it continued to be a beloved meal across Canada and beyond. It is a culinary heritage that is both unique and authentic. Not merely a recipe, but a historical snapshot of Canadian cuisine that has withstood the test of time. Inviting us to partake in a legacy of flavor. They have now since closed their doors in Oct 9, 2022.

Silver Inn’s Original Ginger Beef Recipe

It is claimed that this is the original recipe released, prior to the Silver Inn closing it’s doors. I could not verify this, but other sources also claim this same recipe as being the original.

• 1 lb Flank Steak, sliced thinly across the grain
• Oil for Deep frying
• Vegetables:
  • 1 Large Carrot, finely julienne
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper,finely julienne
  • 1 Green Bell Pepper, finely julienne
  • 6 Cloves of Garlic, finely julienne
  • Large root of Ginger, finely julienne
• Batter:
  • 1 1/4 C Cornstarch
  • 3 Tbl Flour
  • 1/2 Tbl White Pepper
  • 1 C Water
  • 1 Egg
• Ginger Beef Sauce:
  • 1/2 C Water
  • 1/4 C Soy Sauce
  • 1/4 C Sugar
  • 3 Tbl Mushroom Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tbl White Vinegar
  • 1 Tbl Chinese Cooking Wine
  • 1/2 Tbl Crushed Chilies

There does appear to be a few discrepencies between this recipe and how Silver Inn makes their Ginger Beef and we’ll take a look at them within this post.

Ginger Beef Recipe

This YouTube Video from the Royal Alberta Museum shows how the original or Authentic Ginger Beef is made. It is from this video and the help from other sources, kingcalgary.com & acanadianfoodie.com, mainly. With acanadianfoodie.com being the earliest mentioned out of the two, that this recipe is based on. As well as the Canadian Encyclopedia on Ginger Beef. With adjustments to more closely match how it was originally prepared as seen in the video.

I have tested the aformentioned recipes for Calgarian Ginger Beef and they are incredibly good. Although I much prefer to drop the Red Chili Flakes to about 1/4 tsp and use Gochugaru Chili flakes at 1 Tbl, which are not as spicy and assist in a redder color, more on that later.

I did alot of research on this and dug into this, to stay as close to the original as possible. I know there are alot of version of this dish by many restaurants and it has evolved over time. But in comparing the video to other recipes as well as the claimed original recipe, and seeing how it was done. It led to a few things I noted were different and couldn’t ignore. Which led to the creation of this Ginger Beef Recipe, which I believe is exceptional all in itself.

Ginger Beef Keypoints

When viewing how the original Ginger Beef was made (Ginger Beef by the Royal Alberta Museum). There are a few key points we can be sure of, and that I wanted to follow just the same.

Key Points

1. Beef is Julienne, about the same size as fries. The texture is described as tender and crisp. This leads me to believe the beef is marinated in the batter for quite some time to tenderize it. As well as slicing across the grain for tender strips.
2. The batter adheres pretty good and thick to the beef. You can’t see the meat through the batter.
3. Both the julienne Carrots & Ginger are added to deep fry for a bit. This is removed and set aside.
4. The Wok is strained of all oil and the residual oil left in the Wok, is used to fry Garlic & Green Onions with Red Chili Flakes. Immediately following is the Red Sauce. Followed by the Brown Sauce in what appears to be in equal amounts or just about. The original recipe claims 6 cloves, but it appears this is only 1 or 2 cloves of Garlic. As well as the orginal recipe doesn’t state Green Onions, but instead Bell Peppers. Which I believe were later additions.
5. The Chili Flakes used does indeed seem to be the standard Crushed Red Chili Flakes and alot of it. However Calgarian Ginger Beef is known for not being ovrly spicy and the amounts used for Chili flakes makes this dish very spicy. I had to reduce the red chili flakes to about 1/4 tsp so that it was a nice heat. So perhaps a Mild Red Chili Flake is used here.
6. The Sauce is simmered for a bit before adding in the Crispy Ginger Beef, Carrots, & Ginger to toss and mix through before serving. There is no thickener here. No Slurry being added to thicken the sauce. Just a quick reduction for 2 minutes over max heat, before the crispy beef strips are added.

Ginger Beef Wet Batter

The original recipe batter, is an amazing batter. I made numerous attempts at trying to beat this and for this particular dish could not. It has an incredible ability to stay somewhat crispy. With denser little nuggets of batter through out which adds to the crunch. An outstanding wet batter indeed for this particular dish. What troubled me, was that you can not see the meat through the batter as shown in the video, and with this batter you could.

So it led me down to a few conclusions to consider. But when testing them out, it was really insignificant. The original Wet batter, still did its job at coating the meat well and crisping up. So decided, it really is sufficient enough to get the desired results. It is a fantastic wet batter and especially so for this style of dish.

The only thing really is that you have to let it sit for a bit to thicken and strain off the extra juices that settle at the top. Initially this is a loose batter that needs time to thicken. Give it a good mix after resting and the batter is sufficient to coat the meat and fry up crisp. It also needs to be deep fried twice. Once to cook the meat and the final deep fry for crisping up the batter.

Ginger Beef Brown Sauce

The Brown Sauce I believe is just Soy Sauce and Water. In the original recipe for Ginger Beef, dark soy sauce is being used. But when viewing the Video, it appears that it is just a regular soy sauce. Also, Dark Soy sauce tends to create blotches. Especially when other sauces are involved.

So while I have tried it with the Dark Soy sauce & Mushroom Soy sauce each, and It is good. I don’t believe these were used. Instead I believe it is simply Soy Sauce & Water, although I could be wrong. This is important too, because both the brown sauce and red sauce are added to the wok with a ladle (about 1/2 C each). The Water helps to dilute the Soy sauce so it is not so salty. This is a common practice with Asian cuisine with sauces or marinades. But it could very well be that the regular soy sauce is divided between regular and mushroom soy sauce with water to make up 1/2 C ladle worth.

The Lee Kim Kee Soy Sauce is the one I believe Silver Inn used. Since the packets of Soy sauce they served with their meals was this brand.

Ginger Beef Red Sauce

The Red Sauce appears to be with the use of Chinese Red Vinegar giving that red color or food coloring. There are some Chinese Red Vinegar that uses food coloring or other ingredients to give a vibrant red color, and that is what I believe is being used. It could very well be a Chinese Sweet & Sour Sauce without any thickeners, using White Vinegar, Cooking Wine, Sugar and food coloring as this would be more cost effective.

I forget who either Chef George Wong or Kwong Cheong who owned and operated the Silver Inn is stated they were trying to develop a crispy beef like fries with a sweet & sour sauce that reminded him of Ketchup. Which leads me to believe it is indeed a Red Chinese Vinegar. Which has a remarkable and instantly recognizable flavor of Sweet & Sour Sauce. This also explains the sugar added to offer up the sweet part in sweet and sour sauce. While a lot of it is used in this recipe for GInger Beef. It isn’t really all that sour. Instead it contributes Color, Sweetness with a bit of Sour and those unique flavor undertones that are very well balanced.

Chili Flakes

I don’t think the Red Chili Flakes used are the regular spicy Crushed Red Chili Flakes, although they very well could be. Instead I suspect these to be a medium spicy version. Which allows for alot to be used without being to overly spicy. This fits the profile of Er Jing Tao Pepper or the like. Which is commonly stir fried in oil briefly. Er Jing Tao Pepper can also be used in place of Xiao Mi La Peppers in Kung Pao Chicken. Er Jing Tao Peppers however, were hard for me to find and so I couldn’t test this.

Most recipes are using the Crushed Red Chili Flakes and about 1 tsp worth. I have made it this way, but find 1/4 tsp or slightly more sufficient for heat. However, I really do prefer the Korean Gochugaru Chili Flakes. Not only for being able to use alot without it being to overly spicy. But it contributes to that red color exceptionally well and flavor. Er Jing Tao Pepper, I suspect would be more fitting and offer complexity of flavors, but Gochugaru isn’t that far off and very easy to find. This is a very mild heat, so a bit of Crushed Chili Flakes is included to get the desired heat level. More Red Chili Flakes can be added for a spicier dish.

Chili Oil

Maybe a small amount of Sichuan Chili Oil could be used to briefly fry the Garlic & Green Onions, but not sure since I haven’t tested this. I do know that the Er Jing Tao Pepper is a common Chili used in making Chili Oils. It’s the use of Chili Flakes or Oil that is going to shape the overall flavors for heat and a slight variance in flavor.

Sweet & Sour Chili Ginger-Garlic Sauce

While Red Chinese Vinegar, Chines Cooking Wine & Sugar or a Sweet & Sour Sauce was most likely the red sauce used. It was in combination with a Chili Ginger Garlic Sauce that completed the dish. In the original video, both Garlic & Ginger are added, but at different times. Ginger is julienne into long strips and fried with the final deep frying of the Giger Beef. While Garlic is stir fried a bit before adding in the sauces.

While the video only shows maybe 1-2 Cloves of Garlic and the original states 6 cloves of Garlic. The combination of Garlic & Ginger together are complimentary and a lot is used together when making Chili Oils.

It may be that the original Chili Ginger Garlic sauce was too spicy and so the ingredients were separated in order to adjust and have finer control over the ingredients and heat by reducing it. As well as switching from Fresh Chilies to the dried version. Either way I can see a good Chili Ginger-Garlic Sauce being used to increase the flavor complexity or even Sweet Thai Chili Sauce for a stickier version that brings a bit of sweet heat too.

Ginger Beef Ingredients

Flank or Sirloin, Batter (Cornstarch, Water, Egg, Flour, White Pepper), Vegetables (Green Onions, Garlic, Ginger, Carrot), Ginger Beef Stir Fry Sauce (Water, Soy Sauce, Red Chinese Vinegar, Sugar, Chinese Cooking Wine, Gochugaru Chili Flakes, Crushed Red Chili Flakes).

Beef

With Ginger Beef, we’re after Albertan raised beef. Specifically, Flank or Sirloin. Ensure you cut across the grain and pat the beef dry very well.

At the supermarket, they sell about 1 lb packages of stripped beef or stir fry beef strips. These are perfect for the amount of Beef & julienne size used for Ginger Beef.

The Creator, Chef George Wong, was trying to imitate French Fries with the Crispy Beef. This means instead of slicing it thin and wide, it was julienne just like fries. The Beef is supposed to be tender and crisp. This is most likely affected by how long the beef sits in the batter. Which also contributes to a thick batter being formed on the meat. I’d Imagine in a restaurant environment, thinly sliced beef would just be sitting in the marinade, prepared first thing in the morning.

Ginger Beef Batter

The Ginger Beef Batter consist of Cornstarch, Flour, Egg, White Pepper and Cold Water.

This is an incredible batter that forms a crispy coating with nuggets of a denser crunch throughout the coating. I tried and tested so many other batters for this recipe and nothing beats the original Ginger Beef batter, It really is something else. It is very close to the Korean Starch Batter, but with the addition of White Pepper & Flour.

Once the Batter is mixed, add the beef and mix again to refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer. A longer marinate time will assist in tenderizing the beef much more. There may be some liquid from the meat that settle at the top with short marinades. Just drain that off before mixing again prior to deep frying. The Batter may becomes stiff or separated from the water with longer marinade times, just gently mix to loosen it up.

Ginger Beef Vegetables

The Vegetables used are Ginger, Carrots, Garlic and Green Onions. All of these are Julienne, except for Garlic, which is chopped or minced. Although I also julienne the Garlic. I think later on Onions & Peppers were added and these are present in the claimed original recipe. If you want to add these, add the Onions & Peppers to stir fry a bit and soften before adding in the Garlic & Green Onions, since these only need a few seconds.

In the original Ginger Beef video. Both the Julienne Carrots & Ginger are added last to deep fry briefly with the Crispy Beef Strips. While the Garlic & Green Onions are stir fried in the wok briefly before adding in the sauce.

While I jullienne the Garlic, Ginger, Green Onions by hand. The Green Onions tops are chopped off and sliced to use for Garnish. While the remaining Green Onions are choped into 2-3 inches and julienne as well. For the Garlic & Ginger, slice thinly and lay flat and then slice into strips. For Carrots, I use a Julienne Y Peeler.

Ginger Beef Stir Fry Sauce

The Ginger Beef Stir Fry Sauce originally was separated into two (2) sauces as seen in the video. The first was a Red Sauce and the second being a Soy Sauce & Water mixture. These were added separately and in about equal amounts. In this recipe, we combine everything to go into the wok and boil for 2 minutes. Then adding in the Ginger Beef fried with the Carrots & Ginger to toss.

How to make Ginger Beef

This recipe follows closely to how it was originally prepared. Switching from Deep Frying to Stir Frying. Ensure you have a pot at the back of the stove with a sieve for straining out the hot oil after deep frying. A Deep fryer won’t work the same and will cause everything to stick to the basket. The whole dish when ready to cook comes together in less than 15 minutes and served right away.

If making Rice to serve with this dish. Start deep frying the Ginger Beef, when 15 minutes of cook time remain for the Rice or when the Rice is done cooking and just kept warm until the Ginger Beef is ready.

Ginger Pork

This Ginger Beef recipe can also use Pork, prepped and cooked the same way for a Ginger Pork recipe. This may be preferable for some as it is cheaper alternative and alot of it can be made from one pork loin or just pork chops.

Ginger Beef or Pork Side Dishes

Such an incredible dish is complemented by a side of white steamed rice. The neutral flavor provides a soothing counterpoint to the Ginger Beef’s vibrant flavors. Accompany this with salted cabbage, that will introduce an appealing crunch, further enhancing the dish’s complexity. Optionally, a bowl of Miso soup can be a further addition to sip on. Making it the ideal accompaniment to the vibrant and spicy notes of the main course.

There are actually a few options that pair up really well with Ginger Beef. Steamed Rice being the number one side to serve Ginger Beef with. Just plain steamed white rice is so complimentary to the Ginger Beef and sauce and very easy to make in a rice cooker. Combine rinsed and strained White Rice with an equal amount of Water and that’s it, maybe a splash of sesame oil. Serve the rice on the side or pack it into a small bowl to invert on the plate for presentation.

Shredded Salted Cabbage is another good side. Where you just thinly slice the Cabbage and add 2% Sea Salt to the Cabbage, by weight. Toss it around and leave set until it softens. Strain out the Juices and squeeze the Cabbage before plating. Miso Soup is another good accompaniment. Ladled into a small sipping bowl.