Stir-Fried Beef with Chinese Donuts 鬼馬牛肉 (gúi mǎ níu ròu) is a Cantonese dish with little known about its exact origin. The words 鬼馬 (gwai ma) is slang in Cantonese meaning playful. The Cantonese word for Chinese donut is 油炸鬼 (yau zha gwai). And so the name of this dish uses a play-on-word to describe that the dish contains Chinese donuts.
The Chinese donut is used in a number of Chinese dishes from Shanghai to Fujian and Guangzhou. But for unknown reasons, this particular dish never quite made it on many Cantonese restaurant menus. I first had it around 40 years ago at a Cantonese restaurant called Shum’s Restaurant in Delta, B.C. A family friend owned it and I remember that it tasted soooo good! And then I haven’t seen it anywhere else, not even in Hong Kong.
Today, people add water chestnuts 馬蹄 (mǎ tí) to this dish. They say that the “鬼” is the Chinese donut and the “馬” is the water chestnuts. However, in the earliest recipes for Stir-Fried Beef with Chinese Donuts 鬼馬牛肉, there are no water chestnuts. It only started appearing in recipes in the last 20 years. But with or without, it still tastes good!
Since Stir-Fried Beef with Chinese Donuts 鬼馬牛肉 is hard to find in restaurants, if you want to try it, you’ll have to make it at home. My recipe will show you how to make the beef soft and tender. Furthermore, the crispy Chinese donuts give a fun contrast to the tender beef. Lastly, the garlic, ginger, green onions and rich oyster sauce ties all the ingredients together, making it a truly “playful” dish. It really does live up to its name. Your family will love it!
Looking for more dinner ideas? Try my Chinese Steamed Fish 清蒸魚 or Shoestring Potatoes and Pork Stir-fry 土豆絲炒豬肉.
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Stir-Fried Beef with Chinese Donuts 鬼馬牛肉
Ingredients
- 350 g Flank steak sliced
- 1 Chinese donut (yóu tiáo/yau zha guai)
- 3 cloves Garlic , chopped
- 1 Shallot
- 4 slices Ginger
- 1 stalks Green onions
- 3 tbsp Oil
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
Ingredients for beef marinade:
- 1 Egg white
- 2 tsp Water
- 1 tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Cornstarch
- ½ tsp White pepper powder
- 1 tsp Oil
Ingredients for slurry:
- 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp Water
- 1 tsp Corn starch
Instructions
- Slice Chinese donuts horizontally to 1cm thick pieces
Try to use fresh Chinese donuts for this recipe so that the inside is soft after cooking. If your Chinese donuts are a couple days old, deep-frying the cut pieces will give you better results 
- Lay the Chinese donuts in a single layer and toast until golden colour. Flip over and repeat. Let cool and set aside
- Slice beef against the grain, cutting at a slant to maximize the surface of the beef to approx. 3mm thick slices. Pat dry with paper towel
- Marinate beef with 1 egg white, 1 tsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp white pepper powder and 2 tsp cornstarch. Mix well
- Add 1 tsp of water into the flank steak, mix and squeeze gently to help the beef absorb the water. Once the water is absorbed, add another tsp of water and repeat.
- Add 1 tsp of oil, mix well and let it marinate for 30-60 minutes
- Cut green onions to 5 cm pieces, slice ginger pieces and slice shallots. Set aside
- Chop 3 cloves of garlic and set aside
- Prepare slurry with 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 2 tbsp water and 1 tsp cornstarch. Set aside
- Heat wok to high heat and add 2 tbsp oil
- Add beef to the wok, arrange in single layer and leave it for 30 seconds
- Flip the beef to the other side and leave it for 30 seconds
- Stir-fry the beef for another 30 seconds and remove from the wok. Lower heat to medium
- If there’s no oil left in the wok, add 1 tbsp oil, add white parts of green onions, ginger and shallots. Fry for 30 seconds
- Add garlic. Fry until aromatic
- Add Chinese donuts and stir-fry for 10 seconds
- Stir-in the slurry and mix well
Let the Chinese donut absorb some of the sauce. This dish should be quite dry after cooking - Add the beef and the rest of the green onions and 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine. Stir-fry for another 30-60 seconds
- Serve
Oh my God! We have been looking for a recipe for this awesome dish for years! 20 years ago you could find this dish served in 8 or so old-style Cantonese restaurants around town. But as condos and beer pubs spread, many of these restaurants were closed, and so away went our Beef and Chinese Doughnut (weeps).
The restaurants which served this were the Bill Kee on Broadway, the Cheong Kee at Knight & 41st, the Lee's at Victoria & 33rd Ave and 41st AVe west of Arbutus.
Now there are only two left that we know of: The Golden Ocean on 41st just east of Arbutus -- poorly done and too expensive -- and the old Flamingo Restaurant, moved to the mall at Southeast Marine and Argyle -- delicious !!! but at $24 a plate, a bit pricey!
Thank you thank you for this recipe. We'll try it at home and report back. As for you, go the Flamingo and try it; it's listed as Chef's Special Dinner (which it is)!
Hi Philip! Thank you for your comment! Every time I went to Golden Ocean, I was always a guest and so I've never really looked at the menu so I didn't know they had it! I didn't even know Flamingo reopened. I remember going to the Cambie Flamingo when I was in university, which was 30 years ago! I will definitely try it out. Thanks for the info! And if you don't mind deep-frying, deep-frying the Chinese donuts after you cut them into pieces will give you crispier results. Toasting them hardens them a bit, but it's still good. Let me know how it goes! Happy cooking!