Tangsuyuk is a Chinese dish which is very popular in Korea.
When I was young, this dish was always my number one choice at a Chinese restaurant. When I passed my middle school exam, my father took me and all my family members and some of his friends to celebrate it. He asked, “What would you like to eat, my smart girl? I would buy whatever you want!” I answered before he finished his sentence, “Tangsuyuk! And jjajangmyeon!” It’s very crispy fried meat in a jelly sauce and colorful vegetables, overflowing a huge plate.
I sometimes order Tangsuyuk at either a Korean restaurant or Chinese restaurant. It’s known as “sweet and sour pork” (or beef), but my satisfaction with the dish always is different.
There are 2 important factors to make this dish stand out: the crispiness of the meat and the taste of the sauce. I’m releasing a few priceless tips to all of you now!
4-6 servings
Ingredients:
600 grams (1.3 Lb) of beef, starch powder (2 cups and 2 tbs), vegetable oil, egg, Turbinado sugar 1 cup (brown or white sugar is ok too), salt, ground black pepper, 3 tbs vinegar, apple, pineapple, 5-7 wood ear mushrooms, onion, cucumber, carrot, and water
- Soak ¼ cup of dried wood ear mushrooms in warm water (about 5-7 mushrooms) for a few hours.
- To make the coating batter, mix 2 cups of starch powder (either corn starch or potato starch) with water (about 3 cups) and let it sit for a few hours until the starch sinks in the bowl. Then remove the water by pouring it into the sink.
*tip: after draining the water, the starch will be solid and stiff. - Cut beef into thin strips (5 cm long, 1 cm thick, 1 cm wide) and put it in a bowl.
- Add ½ ts salt and ½ ts ground black pepper to the beef and mix it well with your hand. Set it aside.
- Add the beef strips to the starch, and 1 egg white (or yolk) and mix it well with your hand.
- Heat vegetable oil in your wok and fry the beef strips for about 5 minutes until they look golden brown and crispy. It’s very important to coat the beef strips with as much starch batter as you can. Try to use all of it. Then put the fried crispy beef strips into a strainer.
*tip: the beef strips should feel crispy through your tongs as you handle them
Next, let’s make delicious sauce!
- Slice ¼ medium size onion.
- Slice 1 or 2 apples (you can replace apples with plums).
- Slice carrot and cucumber thinly (several slices are needed).
- Drain the soaked wood ear mushrooms and cut them into bite sized bits.
- Cut some pineapple into chunks.
- Put 1/2 tbs of vegetable oil on a heated pan. Add the sliced onion and stir it up.
- Add wood ear mushrooms, sliced carrot to the pan. Stir it for 1 minute.
- Pour 2 cups of water into the pan and boil it.
- When the sauce boils, add 1 ts salt, 1 ts soy sauce, 1 cup brown sugar and stir it well.
- Add 3-4 tbs vinegar and water starch (mixture of 2 tbs starch and 2 tbs water).
- Add pineapple chunks and sliced cucumber to the pan.
- Your sauce will look like light jelly but it will also be sizzling. Be sure to put a few drops of sesame oil in at the last minute!
Now you made your fried beef strips and sauce! If you’re waiting for your family or guests, just take a break and do the next steps just before serving.
Ok, it’s time for you to serve it now?
- Reheat the oil and fry the beef strips again, until each strip becomes very crispy.
- Put the fried beef on a large platter
- Reheat the sauce for a minute and pour it on top of the beef strips.
- Serve it hot with dipping sauce (mix 2 tbs soy sauce and 1 tbs vinegar)
Hi Maangchi,
You are so helpful. I would like to make this during the weeknight after work. Can you tell me how long I can let the corn starch and water sit? I would probably have to prepare it before leaving work and I wouldn’t be home until 9 hours later.
“how long I can let the corn starch and water sit?” It will be ok for a few days if you keep it in the fridge.
Thanks for the great recipe. I’m going to make it on Sunday for my daughter’s birthday, she loves Korean food. In your opinion, would it be okay to use skirt steak?
Lyn
Lyn, yes, skirt steak is delicious whatever you make with. Happy Birthday to your daughter in advance!
Hi Maangchi,
Last night there was a sale on London Broil at my local grocery store. Can I use this meat for this recipe?
I had to look it up what Lodon Broil is! heh, it’s not London Bridge! lol http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_broil
yes, you could use it for tangsuyuk recipe.
Hi Maangchi,
If you wanted to use pork, would you prepare it the same way as the beef? Thanks so much for this website.
“.. same way as the beef?” yes, exactly! thank you!
i can’t find wood ear mushroom, what other type of mushroom can i use
thx
You can use shiitake mushrooms,too. Soak them in cold water until flexible and slice it thinly.
hello maangchi,
I want to cook this tonight, is it gonna be okay without the pinaple?
Thanks
ps: Love your website and love korean food
of course it will be ok. Let me know how your tangsuyuk turns out. My fingers are crossed! : )
ha ha ha it turned out really well maangchi. Got a time to go to shop to buy the pinapple after all.
Love Korean food soooooooooooo much. Thanks for all the recepies
I always described tangsuyuk to friends as “sweet and sweet pork” rather than “sweet and sour” – I’ve not had this since I left Korea 13 years ago, but I think that may change VERY soon.
wow, 13 years ago was the last time that you tasted this! Let me know how your tangsuyuk making goes!
Hello Maangchi,
I am a little bit nervous because I am planning to make this next Saturday for some Korean friends of me and my husband. I hope I do everything right.This will be the first time to make food for our Korean friends.
I have one question: What side dishes are good with this meal?
I hope your tangsuyuk turns out good! How about making broccoli pickle as a side dish?
http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/broccoli-pickles
hello Maangchi, I was wondering if I could make this without using the mushroom. I tried looking for them everywhere but I didn’t find the ear mushroom, they had some at the asian store but they were called dried fungus and not ear mushroom.
Yes, it will still be delicious without the ear mushrooms.
I made this today for my kids and they LOVED it! My 6-year-old said, “Mommy, this is extremely, extremely, extremely delicious!” and my 4-year-old (David, who remembers meeting you) added, “It’s Yu-huh-huh-huh-ummmy!” Awesome that we don’t have to pay $20 at a restaurant to enjoy this!!!
I know how you feel when you get compliments about the food that you make from your children! A mother’s love is endless! Happy New Year, Judy! Say hello to David for me! ; )
Maangchi,
I just made this dish today.I only have one word-Yummy!! My husband loved it too.^^
I used chicken breast (I halved them and then cut into strips) instead of beef or pork because it’s less expensive here in Korea to buy.
Thank you again for another great recipe!
oh, you are living in Korea now! These days many people from Korea are visiting my website. Cool!
Using chicken breast in this recipe sounds great!
Happy New Year!
look so yummy!i cant wait to do this.thanks very much maangchi…i dont miss any of your video,,,you’re such a genius!God bless…
Thanks a lot! Happy Holidays!
Can I make this dish without deep frying the meat? Can I just pan fry the beef? Deep fried food is so bad for us!
you gotta deep fry the meat to make crispy tangsuyuk.
Hi again Maangchi,
What type of beef cut do you suggest for this recipe?
For tangsuyuk, you can use any part of beef that doesn’t contain much fat.
Maangchi,
This recipe is great! Thanks so much – I never knew about using corn starch powder! One time I tried to make it before I saw this recipe but I used flour and it didn’t turn out well. Now I know!
Make delicious tangsuyuk and let me know the result! : )
Hi Maangchi!
I’ve been looking for korean food recipes for long time :)
I really love your idea of making video instructions, it’s so clear and easy to follow!! It totally avoids any missunderstandings
Finally I can make tangsuyuk by myself. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow :)
Fotrunately I have all ingredients in the house. I can’t wait to try this one!
Thanks a lot for your hard work!
My fingers are crossed! ; )
Hi again,
I just want to give you a short feedback!
All in all it was sooo delicious! Much more than Tangsuyuk from the restaurant and more fresh =)
It was the third korean meal (I know it is acutally chinese but ok^^) that I cooked for my parents and they start loving korean food now :)
Thanks for sharing your recipes with us!!!
Next time I will try Japchae…
I have holiday these days and I will cook as much korean food as possible! I really like korean food and your recipes are so great!
I made this a couple days ago, and well, it wasn’t very good.
The sweet sauce was pretty yummy, even though I’m not a fan of cooked fruit, the flavor of it was still very good.
I made it w/ beef, and I think that’s where we didn’t like it very much. Just the flavor and aroma of the beef frying wasn’t very appetizing, and IMO didn’t compliment the sauce. I think it would’ve been a success if I had used chicken instead :)
Hello Maangchi, this recipe is wonderful!
My wife always loved my traditional Chinese style cooking of this dish, but she loves this Korean version even more ~ since she is Korean. And I’m glad that I’m not the only who uses apples for this ~ some ppl think its weird until they taste it. Have you ever tried using a 1 tbs of ketchup in the end in the sauce ~ it sounds ridiculous but it actually tastes pretty good.
Who can say it’s a ridiculous idea about adding some ketchup!
Nobody! : ) When I make fried shrimp dish, I use ketchup.
hi maangchi,, how to make spicy chicken?
There are so many ways to cook spicy chicken in Korean cuisine. Please give us more description about the spicy chicken you had. Leave your request here:
http://www.maangchi.com/talk/forum/recipe-request
I tried this recipe today, it was amazing! Usually i am reluctant to try recipes out, but Maangchi’s always go well. Thank you for sharing these wonderful dishes with us!
Thank you very much! I’m very happy to hear that your tangsuyuk turned out delicious! Now you can make tangsuyuk anytime you feel like. Cool!
Maangchi…I want to prepare Tangsuyuk for a dinner party, but the timing is what I’m concerned about. I won’t have an opportunity to refry the meat pieces before serving. I was wondering if I laid out the pieces and kept it crisping in the oven while I prepare the rest of the food for my party, will I get the same texture and crispness??
Please follow my recipe tightly!!
Hi! I tried your recipe today and I used potato starch. However, I didn’t soak the batter for a few hours, only for about an hour or less, just until the starch and water have separated. Is it important to soak the starch for a few hours?
I followed your method of frying two times. The chicken was crunchy after the second frying but after coating with the sauce, the batter did not remain crispy! It was a little bit chewy and ‘soggy’. What did I do wrong? Is it because I did not fry it long enough? Any tips?
Thank you! :)
please follow the recipe tightly! “I didn’t soak the batter for a few hours, only for about an hour or less,”
Sorry! I will follow your instructions next time. I decided at the very last minute to make it so I didn’t have time to soak it for a few hours. Next time I will plan ahead and do so.
J,
Good luck with making delicious and crispy Tangsuyuk! : )