Chinese Beef Crunch (牛肉油条)

This lightning-fast dish from Zhejiang province combines tender beef and crispy Chinese-style pastry - substituted with an unbelievable stand-in ingredient.

China offers a rich diversity of regional cuisines, ingredients and palates. The coastal Zhejiang province is known for producing lighter dishes that are modestly saucy, savoury and not overly spicy. This stir-fry dish combines lean beef with a tenderising savoury marinade containing Shaoxing wine - also a product of the Zhejiang province. The crunchy element of this dish is added in the form of crunchy you-tiao fritters (油条), a Chinese pastry - similar to a choux pastry - that’s often enjoyed with soups and wet dishes. You-tiao are available frozen in many Asian supermarkets, but I’ve found an excellent, inexpensive substitute that you can find in any British supermarket. With this excellent substitute at hand, you have access to a brilliant Chinese dish that’s very different to your typical takeout. Let’s go!