So THAT's Why Takeaway Crispy Chilli Beef Is So Much Better

Crispy chilli beefMost of us know why our homemade recreations don’t tend to taste as good as they do in restaurants – as Anthony Bourdain famously told the New York Times, the pros often use an ungodly amount of butter and salt. But sometimes, the secret to chef-level food at home is both simpler and more surprising. I now keep pre-blanched broccoli in my fridge for last-minute meals, par-boil risotto for speedier dinners, let my pre-boiled chips cool overnight before frying, and (yes, really) cook my rice in the oven.And looking at chef, author of Chin And Choo’s Chinese Takeaway Cooking Bible, and restaurateur Chin Taylor’s TikTok taught me that I was missing a crucial, unexpected “old-school” ingredient in all my DIY dry batter, too. So, we spoke to Taylor about how to use it.Add custard powder to your batter for a nostalgic Chinese takeaway tasteIn a Hong Kong-style sweet and sour recipe video, the cook said he uses custard powder in the batter. “That’s right – I fucking said custard powder,” he quipped, pointing at a mouth-wateringly good-looking pan of sweet and sour chicken. The chef uses the trick in other batters, like for “old school” crispy chilli beef (though he has a recipe without it too).“Most places nowadays don’t use custard powder anymore, they use a blend of potato starch (or cornflour) and wheat flour,” Taylor told us.But those who do use it achieve a more golden crust, an enriched flavour, and a pleasant sweetness. “It’s mainly starch, so it keeps the same texture in sauce as cornflour would... [it’s] not too much of a trade off, unlike wheat flour,” he said. “It’s also used to help colour the batter as starch doesn’t brown very well.”And then there’s the slight vanilla flavour, with a hint of “egginess and sweetness”.@ziangsfoodworkshopIf you like crispy chilli beef then here is a recipe you have to try! Crispy chilli beef just like a Chinese takeaway, used this recipe a few times working as a chef in them! #recipe#cooking#tasty#chinesefood#chinesetakeaway♬ original sound - Chin TaylorWhen should you add custard powder to batter, and how much?Taylor told HuffPost UK that custard-enriched flour is “used as a dry batter, so anything from salt and pepper chicken to crispy chilli beef”.He added: “Many people think it’s used in sweet and sour chicken balls. It’s not, that’s a wet batter.”If you’re going to try the “old-school” addition, Taylor said he likes a 2:1 ratio of potato starch to custard powder.“Some places will use 3:1 if they’re using it at all,” he said.And, he ended, there’s the most crucial rule to consider: it “has to be original custard powder, the instant stuff doesn’t work”. Related...So THAT's Why Restaurant Pasta Sauce Is So Much BetterSo THAT's Why Restaurant Soup Is So Much BetterSo THAT's Why Restaurant Sweet Potato Fries Are So Much Better

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