Ginger Beef Express Ltd., a
subsidiary of Ginger Beef Corporation (listed on the TSX Venture
Exchange), franchises Chinese food establishments. These
food establishments fall into one of three categories:
The full service
restaurants are branded under the name,
Ginger Beef Peking House, and the quick service outlets
which include the take-out / delivery units and food court
kiosks are branded under the name, Ginger
Beef Express.
Ginger Beef
Express Ltd. works co-operatively with all franchisees by
providing excellent training and expert advice. Its
mandate is to provide detailed information and hand-holding
support in order to ensure franchisee success. All
franchises share the same goal of providing fresh, superior
quality food along with attentive, prompt service.
The company
originally started out as a family business in Calgary in the
mid-1980's as three brothers (Stanley, James, and Daniel Leung)
capitalized on the popularity of head chef Stanley Leung's
signature dish (ginger beef) by naming their new restaurant
(Ginger Beef Peking House) after it. Under head chef
Stanley Leung's adaptation of a traditional Northern Chinese
dish to suit the Canadian palate, customer lineups stretched out
the door to try this new exciting Calgary-style dish along with
the other tasty offerings.
What is
Calgary-style Ginger Beef?
Calgary-style
ginger beef is a westernized version of a traditional Northern
Chinese-style dish which consists of beef slices stir-fried with
ginger and green onions. Since North Americans enjoy deep
fried foods and sweet and sour tasting sauces, chef Leung's
version consists of crispy deep fried strips of beef coated with
a dark sweet and spicy sauce. It contains flavours of
ginger, garlic, and mild chili peppers. Hence, the
creation of Calgary-style ginger beef.
Today,
Calgary-style ginger beef is synonymous with Chinese food in
Western Canada as various Chinese and mainstream restaurants
offer a similar version of this dish on their menus. Also,
ginger beef along with other popular Ginger Beef Express Ltd.
dishes are available in the prepared foods departments of most
major supermarket chains across Canada marketed under the
manufacturing division's
Ginger Beef Choice
national or retailer's private label brand names.