Tangsuyuk (Crunchy beef with sweet sour sauce)

Here's my recipe for sweet and sour beef. You can use pork if you prefer it. The full recipe is here: http://www.maangchi.com/recipes/tangsuyuk

4-6 servings
Ingredients:
600 grams (1.3 Lb) of beef, starch powder (2 cups and 2 tbs), vegetable oil, egg, Turbinado sugar1 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

1. Soak ¼ cup of dried wood ear mushrooms in warm water (about 5-7 mushrooms) for a few hours.
2. 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.
3. Cut beef into thin strips (5 cm long, 1 cm thick, 1 cm wide) and put it in a bowl.
4. Add ½ ts salt and ½ ts ground black pepper to the beef and mix it well with your hand. Set it aside.
5. Add the beef strips to the starch, and 1 egg white (or yolk) and mix it well with your hand.
6. 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!
1. Slice ¼ medium size onion.
2. Slice 1 or 2 apples (you can replace apples with plums).
3. Slice carrot and cucumber thinly (several slices are needed).
4. Drain the soaked wood ear mushrooms and cut them into bite sized bits.
5. Cut some pineapple into chunks.
6. Put 1/2 tbs of vegetable oil on a heated pan.  Add the sliced onion and stir it up.
7. Add wood ear mushrooms, sliced carrot to the pan. Stir it for 1 minute.
8. Pour 2 cups of water into the pan and boil it.
9. When the sauce boils, add 1 ts salt, 1 ts soy sauce, 1 cup brown sugar and stir it well.
10. Add 3-4 tbs vinegar and water starch (mixture of 2 tbs starch and 2 tbs water).
11. Add pineapple chunks and sliced cucumber to the pan.
12. 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
1. Reheat the oil and fry the beef strips again, until each strip becomes very crispy.
2. Put the fried beef on a large platter
3. Reheat the sauce for a minute and pour it on top of the beef strips.
4. Serve it hot with dipping sauce (mix 2 tbs soy sauce and 1 tbs vinegar)