Hot garlic chili sauce with beef (辣牛肉蒜蓉酱). If you ever known the famous Chinese style chili brand, Lao Gan Ma, you will find there are lots of yummy sauces in Chinese cuisine containing meat inside. I have made a fabulous mushroom sauce in last month. The sauces are developed for rice, noodles and hot pot dipping sauce. I also develop several easy recipes using this sauce.

You can also choose to use minced beef or cubes beef as shown in the recipe. I love the diced version because chewing the beef in the sauce can be extremely comforting for me. This sauce can be used in lo mien or other steamed dishes for example steamed fish, steamed chicken or steamed taros. Even with a small portion, it can enhance the flavor greatly.

I also posted a fermented version previously. That's a version from Hunan cuisine. That version gives a fresher sour taste and no oil used. Both of the two versions are highly recommended for hot food lovers.

Instructions

Clean and dry the aromatics. I use green onion, coriander, onions, star anise, bay leaves and Chinese cinnamon. They can provide a very basic spice aroma for the sauce. If you want a more advanced version, you can use more types of spices.

In a large pot of boiling water, blanch the beef for half minutes. Transfer out, clean and drain.

Heat oil in a small pot, add green onion, bay leaves, red onion and spices. Heat over slow fire until aromatic and the green onion becomes slightly browned and wired. Transfer all the content out and leave the oil only.

Add beef in and continue frying over slow fire (take 4 minutes to 6 minutes) until the beef becomes dry and slightly browned. Transfer beef out. Don't use high fire to avoid burning. If the beef is not drain enough, the oil might splash. So be carefully during the process.

Add minced garlic, minced ginger and minced pepper. Use small fire to simmer for 15 minutes. Add beef, pepper flakes, sugar ,salt and soy sauce. Continue simmer for 10 minutes. Cool down and transfer to clean and air-tight container. Let the sauce settling down at least 24 hours before using.

The sauce can be used to make lo mien directly.