Stir-fried beef is a speciality of Chinese cuisine but when one uses the spices in this recipe the result is an authentic Thai treat. The ginger used here is a type called krachai in Thailand; it has a much more pronounced ginger taste than that of our Western versions. However, fresh ginger found in supermarkets and elsewhere works just as well.

Krachai is grown in China but is used there only for medicinal purposes – one of the most significant differences between th