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As of December 2025, we’ve revised cooking times for all our proteins to reflect improved food safety guidance.
Check out the latest recommended times in our Cooking Guidelines.
Kung Pao British Beef with Pickled Cucumber Salad
Our version of the kung pao classic! Sizzle tender British beef strips with hoisin, tamari and maple until glazed and sticky. Serve with crunchy pickled cucumber and fluffy brown rice to soak up all the sauce.
High protein
6 plants
Family classics
Serving size
Ingredients
- 600g beef strips
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar (Rice Vinegar, Salt)
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 2 onion
- 200g brown rice (100% Brown Rice)
- 1 handful of fresh coriander
- 1 pepper
- 3 tbsp tamari (Soya) (water, soybeans, salt, spirit vinegar)
- 1 cucumber
- 2 tbsp maple syrup (maple syrup(100%))
- 6 tbsp hoisin sauce (Soya) (Water, Miso Paste (Water, Soybeans, Rice, Salt), Date Syrup, Soy Sauce (Water, Soybeans Salt, Rice, Ethyl alcohol), Tomato Paste, Cornflour, Salt, Garlic, Acidity Regulator: Acetic Acid, Chinese Five Spice (Fennel Seed, Cassia, Black Pepper, Star Anise, Cloves), Cayenne Pepper)
- 2 pak choi
- 20g roasted peanuts (Peanuts, Nuts, Sesame)
Nutritional Information
Calories: 679
Protein: 41g
Carbs: 61g
Fat: 30g
Kung Pao British Beef with Pickled Cucumber Salad
Our version of the kung pao classic! Sizzle tender British beef strips with hoisin, tamari and maple until glazed and sticky. Serve with crunchy pickled cucumber and fluffy brown rice to soak up all the sauce.
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Cooking Instructions
Before you start
- Bring a large saucepan filled with salted water to a boil
- Pull out a large frying pan, a sieve, measuring jug, a small bowl, a medium bowl & a large bowl
Cook the rice & pickle the cucumber
- Add the rice to the saucepan and boil for 25-30 mins, until cooked, then drain
- Cut the cucumber into quarters widthways, then slice lengthways into thin batons (scoop out the seeds if desired)
- Add the cucumber to the medium bowl with half the rice vinegar and a pinch of salt. Toss to coat, then set aside to pickle
Prep the veg
- Trim and cut the pak choi into bite-sized pieces. Dice the onions and pepper into 2cm chunks
Fry the beef
- Add the beef, cornflour and a generous pinch of salt to the large bowl. Toss to coat the beef
- Heat the large frying pan with 1 tbsp oil on medium heat. Once hot, add the beef and cook for 8 mins, turning occasionally
- Cook in batches if necessary. Transfer to a plate lined with kitchen paper and set aside
Kung pao time
- Combine the hoisin, tamari, maple syrup, the remaining rice vinegar and 50ml water in the small bowl
- Rinse the frying pan and return to medium-high heat with 2 tsp oil. Once hot, add the onion, pepper and pak choi. Cook for 4-5 mins, until soft and lightly charred
- Return the beef to the pan, along with the sauce. Toss to coat and simmer for 2-3 mins, until the sauce thickens and coats the beef
Last bits & plate up
- Roughly chop the peanuts and coriander. Toss half the coriander through the pickled cucumber
- Check your meat is cooked through; it should be golden brown, steaming hot, the juices should run clear when cut and there should be no pink / rare meat inside
- Serve the kung pao beef on plates, with the rice and pickled cucumber alongside. Scatter over the peanuts and remaining coriander
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