[troutman]

Silver Inn says they invented it:

http://www.silverinnrestaurant.com/s...estaurant.html

Initially they had to serve a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches to please customers who weren't ready for the new Chinese dishes. That's when Lily's husband, George Wong who was also the restaurant's chef, decided to take out an old beef recipe he had used while in England and tweaked it to satisfy the beef eating habits of Cow Town: he coated the beef strips in batter.

The new recipe was initially called "Deep fried shredded beef in chili sauce" and the word about its delicious taste and texture soon spread around town. Ginger beef was born.