Tender Beef with Coriander … perfectly cooked beef, chocked full of veggie goodness. Tender, juicy, packed with fresh veggie crunch and tossed with a mouth-watering special sauce. 

This Tender Beef with Coriander is an easy recipe as there is no stir frying. It is simply parboiled beef cooked perfectly and then tossed with a delicious pre-made sauce. Sounds simple enough?

A lot of the prep work can be done ahead. There is no messy stir frying or long braising required and with prep ahead, this dish whips up quickly making it a most handy recipe. 

Packed with vegetables and tossed in a delicious sauce!

I first saw this beef dish on Douyin made by an Asian dad who faithfully cooks up a feast for his kids everyday (#老爸的便当）and he made this beef for their school lunch bento.

Food is a wonderful language of a father’s love. The way his son and daughter polished off the succulent beef so joyfully, noisily and with such satisfaction, I knew I just had to try and make my own. This is the Sugar Crumble’s version pumped with more vegetables that she likes, a lot less oil and a lot more spice! 

Tender, juicy, perfect on rice

I usually make a huge plate of this Tender Beef with Coriander (1 kg beef to be exact!) as it goes so well with rice  – 超下饭哦！… saucy delicious beef slices with fresh coriander and all that yummy special sauce. It is always never quite enough as my family loves it and they polish their plate clean every time 😄

You can easily halve this recipe if you are making it for a cosy 2 persons. Trust me, even if you cook a bit more, it’ll be gone. Hope you will try it and love this recipe like we do!

Watch how to make this

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

If you like my Tender Beef with Coriander, you may also like these other recipes:

• Grandpa’s Hainanese Mutton Soup
• Homemade Ba Kwa
• Easy Black Char Siew
• Easy Bika Ambon
• My MIL’s Yummy Pineapple Tarts
• CNY Blessings Carrot Cake
• How to make your own Lohei
• Korean Jammy Eggs
• ‘Parasite’ Steak Ramdon

What to watch out for …

#1 Cut of meat

To get that succulent juicy beef texture, I like to use either beef flank or beef chuck which both works well. Beef flank usually has a clearly defined grain which makes slicing more straightforward.

Flank cut with a clearly defined grain

Beef chuck which is located near the shoulder and neck area of the cow has more connective tissue and may require more handling to remove any tough sinews.

Chuck cut can have some thick sinews, remove well

The grain also tends to look slightly varied so always check whilst slicing and make sure to cut against the grain. 

The more varied grain of a chuck cut

#2 Cooking method

I love the cooking method of this Tender Beef with Coriander. Basically the beef is parboiled for a couple of minutes which keeps it tender, even when cooked in large quantities.

Love parboiling the beef … NO OIL!

In comparison, I find stir frying the same large quantity of beef will require a lot more oil and it is harder IMHO to control the heat and therefore more challenging to stir fry the beef evenly! Parboiling does not require any oil and is a much simpler way.

How much oil goes into the sauce? You decide

I like to parboil in batches so that the beef can cook evenly without clumping together. The key is not to overcook; watch the timing well and you will always get that perfectly tender beef. 

#3 Scalding the sauce condiments 

This is an easy recipe but one part which requires careful handling is heating the oil (till smoking) to scald the condiments. Scalding the condiments with hot smoking oil helps to release and fuse all that lovely flavours which makes for a delicious tossing sauce. To keep oil splutter to a minimum, I like to scald repetitively in small pours and then leave the oil to cool (watch the recipe vid@3:00 min to see how it is done).

*Be careful handling the hot oil*

This Tender Beef with Coriander actually uses minimal oil as the oil is separated out once it is cooled. I love the fact that I can make a huge plate of this beef using very little oil. When the oil is cool enough, I sieve it out (at least 95%!) and keep it for other use.

Flavorful condiments with almost all the oil removed

The sieved oil is full of chilli, garlic and onion fragrance and great for making saucy noodles or even stir frying vegetables. What is left will be just the beautifully scalded condiments which are packed with flavour, perfect for making our quintessential special sauce. 

Drizzle this fragrant oil on scallion noodles … Perfect

#4 Salad veggies

I love coriander and I added it most generously in this dish. I also tossed in shredded carrots and red & green cut chillies for that extra color and crunch. In a way, this Tender Beef with Coriander is very much like a beef salad.

Beef salad, anyone?

You can absolutely add or substitute the salad vegetables with what you like. Kale, cucumbers, rocket arugula even bean sprouts or any type of salad mix you prefer will work well. Just make sure like making any salad, the greens are properly washed and dried, fresh and not soggy before you toss them in. 

#5 Make ahead

This Tender Beef with Coriander is easy and can be cooked in a jiffy because a lot of the prep work can be done ahead. 

Slice slice, cut cut, easy prep ahead!

I typically like to marinate the beef overnight, prep all the vegetables and make the special sauce the day before. On the day itself, just before serving I simply boil the beef, toss everything together and serve. Simple, quick and yumz!

Cook, toss and serve!

#6 Storage 

This Tender Beef with Coriander keeps well for 1-2 days stored airtight and chilled in the refrigerator. Just before consuming, take the beef out from the fridge and let it sit out for 10-15 minutes. *Do not microwave or heat up the beef* as that would overcook the meat and make it tough.

We like to cook fresh rice or noodles and ladle on the beef like a salad. Chilled beef salad on freshly cooked warm rice or noodles tastes delicious. Rarely but this is how we eat it when there are ever any leftovers!

Cooked with love, always delicious !

Did you make this? I would love to know how it turned out. Tell me more! 😊  Please leave me a comment or tag me on Instagram, FB hashtag #thesugarcrumble 

Print Recipe

Tender Beef with Coriander (No Stir-fry)

Tender Beef with Coriander … perfectly cooked beef, chocked full of veggie goodness. Tender, juicy, packed with fresh veggie crunch and tossed with a mouth-watering special sauce. Simple easy recipe and no stir frying. Enjoy.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Marinating time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr

Course: Beef

Cuisine: Asian

Servings: 7 pax

Author: Kai

Ingredients

Ginger onion water

• 3 slices of ginger
• 2 spring onion bulbs
• Half a bowl of water

Beef and marinate

• 1 kg beef chuck or flank
• 5 tbsp light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tsp pepper
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• 5 tbsp ginger onion water
• 5 tbsp corn flour

Special sauce

• 10 cloves garlic
• 7 sprig spring onions
• 2 red chillies
• 5 tbsp chilli pepper flakes
• 5 tbsp sesame seeds
• 7 tbsp soya sauce
• 7 tbsp fish sauce
• 5 tbsp black vinegar (浙江黑醋）
• 1 tbsp brown or granulated sugar
• 200 ml smoking hot oil

Salad vegetables

• 1 large carrot
• 1 big bunch of coriander
• *Optional - 1 green chilli plus 1 red chilli

Instructions

Ginger onion water

• Prepare three slices of ginger roughly cut and two spring onion bulbs, smushed. Put the cut roots into half a bowl of water and let it steep for ~30min. (Ginger onion water helps to reduce any gami-ness and gives a subtle aromatic zing to the marinade.)

Beef and marinate

• Give the meat a quick wash and slice it thinly (~ 1/4 inch thick) against the grain. Remove any thick sinews that would make the beef tough.
• Marinate the beef with 5 tbsp light soya sauce, 3 tbsp oyster sauce, 2 tsp black pepper and 3 tbsp sesame oil. Once well mixed, add 5 tbsp of the ginger onion water and mix till the water is absorbed. Finally add 5 tbsp cornstarch and mix thoroughly so that the cornstarch is fully combined. Set aside to marinate for at least 30min.

Special sauce

• To prepare the vegetables for the sauce, cut the red chillies, mince the garlic and chop the spring onions finely and then transfer all into a large bowl.
• Add 5 tbsp of chilli pepper flakes, 5 tbsp of white sesame seeds to the condiments and scald well with 200ml smoking hot oil. *Be careful* and *go slow as you are handling the hot oil*. Set the condiments aside and let it cool for 20-30 minutes.
• Once cooled, sieve out the oil from the condiments. The hot oil is used to release the flavours of the condiments but it will not be used in the sauce so sieve it out. The fragrant chilli and onion oil is perfect for making saucy noodles or other stir fry dishes so set it aside and keep it for other use.
• Once the oil is removed, season the scalded condiments with 7 tbsp fish sauce, 7 tbsp light soya sauce, 5 tbsp black vinegar and 1 tbsp of brown sugar. Mix thoroughly and the sauce is ready.

Salad vegetables

• For the salad vegetables, chop up a generous bunch of coriander and shred one large carrot. Optional: for more color, add in 1 red chilli and 1 green chilli, sliced. Set aside.

Cooking the beef

• Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add in the beef slices and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly to keep the beef from clumping together. Do this in batches to allow the beef to parboil evenly. *Do not overcook*
• Once the beef slices are cooked, add in the coriander, shredded carrots, cut chillies and top it off with the prepared special sauce. Toss exuberantly to mix well and let the beef soak up all that yummy sauciness. Serve on hot rice. Enjoy.

Video

Notes

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here.

 

#1 Cut of meat

To get that succulent juicy beef texture, I like to use either beef flank or beef chuck which both works well. Beef flank usually has a clearly defined grain which makes slicing more straightforward.

Beef chuck which is located near the shoulder and neck area of the cow has more connective tissue and may require more handling to remove any tough sinews. The grain also tends to look slightly varied so always check whilst slicing and make sure to cut against the grain.

 

#2 Cooking method

I love the cooking method of this Tender Beef with Coriander. Basically the beef is parboiled for a couple of minutes which keeps it tender, even when cooked in large quantities.

In comparison, I find stir frying the same large quantity of beef will require a lot more oil and it is harder IMHO to control the heat and therefore more challenging to stir fry the beef evenly! Parboiling does not require any oil and is a much simpler way.

I like to parboil in batches so that the beef can cook evenly without clumping together. The key is not to overcook; watch the timing well and you will always get that perfectly tender beef.

 

#3 Scalding the sauce condiments

This is an easy recipe but one part which requires careful handling is heating the oil (till smoking) to scald the condiments. Scalding the condiments with hot smoking oil helps to release and fuse all that lovely flavours which makes for a delicious tossing sauce. To keep oil splutter to a minimum, I like to scald repetitively in small pours and then leave the oil to cool (watch the recipe vid@3:00 min to see how it is done).

This Tender Beef with Coriander actually uses minimal oil as the oil is separated out once it is cooled. I love the fact that I can make a huge plate of this beef using very little oil. When the oil is cool enough, I sieve it out (at least 95%!) and keep it for other use. The sieved oil is full of chilli, garlic and onion fragrance and great for making saucy noodles or even stir frying vegetables. What is left will be just the beautifully scalded condiments which are packed with flavour, perfect for making our quintessential special sauce.

 

#4 Salad veggies

I love coriander and I added it most generously in this dish. I also tossed in shredded carrots and red & green cut chillies for that extra color and crunch. In a way, this Tender Beef with Coriander is very much like a beef salad. You can absolutely add or substitute the salad vegetables with what you like. Kale, cucumbers, rocket arugula even bean sprouts or any type of salad mix you prefer will work well. Just make sure like making any salad, the greens are properly washed and dried, fresh and not soggy before adding in.

 

#5 Make ahead

This Tender Beef with Coriander is easy and can be cooked in a jiffy because a lot of the prep work can be done ahead. I typically like to marinate the beef overnight, prep all the vegetables and make the special sauce the day before. On the day itself, just before serving I simply boil the beef, toss everything together and serve. Simple, quick and yumz!

 

#6 Storage

This Tender Beef with Coriander keeps well for 1-2 days stored airtight and chilled in the refrigerator. Just before consuming, take the beef out from the fridge and let it sit out for 10-15 minutes. *Do not microwave or heat up the beef* as that would overcook the meat and make it tough. We like to cook fresh rice or noodles and ladle on the beef like a salad. Chilled beef salad on freshly cooked warm rice or noodles tastes delicious. Rarely but this is how we eat it when there are ever any leftovers!