Spice Up Your Sesame Beef With A Hint Of Chili

When you order sesame beef from the neighborhood Chinese eatery, you're bound by the variation of the recipe they serve. Hopefully, it's delicious, and if not, you must rely on those packets of duck, soy, and hot sauces to make it taste better. But when you make homemade sesame beef, you've got more control over what goes into the dish. To kick up the heat level in your next homemade batch of sesame beef, use a dose of chili to satisfy your spice craving, maybe paired with easy fried rice if you really want to put in the effort.

Chili peppers have actually been an integral part of Chinese cuisine since the late 16th century, especially in areas like Hunan and Sichuan. So it makes sense why the peppers work so well, even with Americanized dishes like sesame beef. If you've never made the dish at home, use Tasting Table's spicy sesame beef from recipe developer Jennine Rye for guidance. Rye spices up our version with a few pinches of chili flakes in the marinade and sauce for a double dose of the pepper in every forkful of spicy beef.

Take Rye's suggestion of chili flakes or head straight to the source and use fresh chilis if you have a high spice tolerance. Use whatever red chilis you can find, or use Tien Tsin peppers, a variety commonly used in Chinese cuisine. The small peppers can have up to 75,000 Scoville heat units so start with one or two peppers to avoid overpowering the dish. With our recipe as a guide, add the peppers to the pan with the garlic to infuse the entire dish with heat. Alternatively, use dried chili peppers in the beef mixture just like your takeout sesame beef or General Tso's chicken might be served with. But be warned, because dried peppers are typically hotter.

Then there are the easier methods to add a hint of chili to the beef that will still provide heat. Grab that jar of chili oil from the cabinet and use it to give the meat marinade a kick of heat, or spoon it directly on top of the beef after it's plated. Sriracha is an even easier way to add the flavor and heat of chilis to the dish — and you can squirt as much as your tastebuds can handle. Use the bottle of sriracha already in your kitchen or make homemade sriracha. Really any chili ingredient you choose for spicy sesame beef will make it stand out for anyone who appreciates a meal packed with heat.