Crispy chilli beef and noodle traybake

Prepare: less than 30 mins
Cook: 10 to 30 mins
Serve: Serves 2
Dietary: Dairy-free Nut-free

The Chinese takeaway classic crispy chilli beef is made simple in this traybake version – and with no deep-frying and no pre-cooking noodles, what could be easier?

By Helen Upshall

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Ingredients

For the crispy beef

½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp garlic powder
40g/1½oz cornflour
2 x 200g/7oz rump steaks, trimmed and cut into 1cm/½in wide strips
1 free-range egg, lightly whisked
sea salt

For the traybake

1 large red pepper, roughly chopped
1 red onion, roughly chopped
1 tbsp sesame oil
300g packet straight-to-wok medium noodles
4 large spring onions, chopped into 3cm/1¼in pieces
20g/¾oz sesame seeds, toasted, to garnish
handful fresh coriander, roughly chopped, to garnish

For the sauce

1 large thumb-sized piece fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 large garlic clove, finely grated
1–2 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 tbsp sesame oil
40ml/1½fl oz runny honey
2 tbsp reduced-salt soy sauce
2 tsp rice wine vinegar

Recipe tips

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.
To make the beef, place the ginger, garlic powder, cornflour and a pinch of salt in a large bowl and stir to combine.
Place the steak in a large bowl, add the egg and stir to coat. Transfer the coated steak to the cornflour mixture, allowing any excess egg to drip off before adding. Combine the steak and cornflour mixture with a fork to form a sticky mixture.
Lay the steak strips in a large, non-stick baking tray or roasting tin, leaving space between each strip to ensure crispiness.
To make the traybake, add the pepper and onion to the other end of the baking tray and drizzle with the oil. Cook for 15–20 minutes, turning the beef once.
To make the sauce, whisk all of the ingredients together in a jug to combine. Add 40ml/1½fl oz water to loosen the sauce.
Once the beef is nice and crispy and the vegetables have softened, add the noodles and spring onion to the baking tray. Gently separate the noodles as you add them. Pour over the sauce, stir all of the ingredients together and return the tray to the oven for another 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and give all of the ingredients a good stir. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and scatter generously with the coriander. Serve immediately.