This is made with a simple but super flavourful, classic Chinese stir fry sauce. It’s a real sauce, one that tastes just like you get at proper Chinese restaurants!
Chinese Beef Stir Fry
Stir fries are my go-to for those nights when I can’t deal with more than the bare minimum effort for dinner. I know I can always knock up a stir fry using whatever greens I have left in my fridge. Even if I only have green beans and an onion (and some protein!). As long as I have a tasty sauce, I’m one happy gal!
So I have a secret weapon for super fast midweek meals – a homemade all purpose stir fry sauce. I call him Charlie. As in – Charlie Brown, because it’s a brown sauce. Ha ha ha. Don’t kill yourself laughing at my lack of originality!
Charlie is my secret weapon because he takes minutes to make and lasts in the fridge for weeks and weeks. He is similar to the sauce of many Chinese stir fries, but not an exact replica of any. Which means he is a great base to use for a seemingly endless array of Chinese dishes with the addition of a few extra flavourings.
And he’s real. He tastes like a real Chinese stir fry sauce, with proper depth of flavour.
Say hi to Charlie! That’s him on the bottom right photo. Looks unimpressive, doesn’t he? No hint of the power within! 🙂
The beauty of Charlie is that he will reside in your fridge for weeks, then when you need him, he’s always ready to go. Just give him a good shake, pour him in your stir fry and add water. He’s already got cornstarch/cornflour in him so he turns into a glorious thick sauce that coats your stir fry beautifully.
It’s been over a year since I last shared a recipe using Charlie. The reason I thought of this is because Super Food Ideas (Australia’s #1 food magazine!) asked me to do a feature with a series of recipes using Charlie. You will be amazed what you can make with him! Not just stir fries – soups, sauces, noodle stir fries and even using him as a marinade.
So I spent last week developing recipes for the Super Food Ideas feature (which comes out in early February – I’ll share more about that when the issue is released!). And I had a handful of ingredients leftover which is why I decided to share this stir fry recipe today.
If you want more ideas for how to use Charlie, you can have a look at this post – 10 Classic Chinese Dishes, 1 Amazing Sauce, where I share 10 more Chinese dishes (all on one page!) that you can make using Charlie.
For now, I present to you this classic Beef Stir Fry made using Charlie. 🙂 BUT I’ve also provided the ingredients to make the sauce from scratch too. Enjoy! – Nagi x
Option: Tenderising beef for stir fries
Ever notice how the meat in Chinese dishes is so incredibly tender, and how your stir fries at home are just never the same? The secret is tenderising the meat – a method called velveting.
That’s right. Your cheerful local Chinese restaurant is using economical stewing beef to make stir fries with ultra tender strips of beef by tenderising it!
Find out how to use this simple, highly effective method: How to Tenderise Beef (the Chinese way).
This is optional only, when wanting to make stir fries with economical beef or you simply want extra tender beef, Chinese restaurant style!
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Easy Classic Chinese Beef Stir Fry
Ingredients
Sauce (Note 1)
- 3 tsp cornstarch / corn flour*
- 2 tbsp + 1/3 cup water , separated
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (Note 2)*
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce*
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine OR Mirin (Note 3)*
- 1 tsp white sugar*
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil (optional)*
- Dash of black pepper*
Stir Fry
- 2 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 garlic clove , crushed
- 7 oz / 200 g beef , good quality, thinly sliced (Note 4)
- 1/2 small onion , sliced (yellow, brown or white)
- 1/2 red bell pepper / capsicum , sliced
- 1 small carrot , halved lengthwise and sliced thinly on the diagonal
- 3 baby pak choy / bok choy , quartered lengthwise
- 2 stems scallion / shallots , cut into 1.5"/3cm pieces
To Serve
- Steamed white rice
- Sesame seeds (optional)
- Fresh cilantro / coriander (optional)
Instructions
- Combine the cornstarch and 2 tbsp of water in a small bowl, mix until smooth.
- Mix in remaining Sauce ingredients EXCEPT the 1/3 cup water.
- Place the beef and 2 tbsp of Sauce in a bowl and mix gently. Set aside for 15 minutes.
- Add 1/3 cup water into the remaining Sauce. Set aside.
- Heat oil in wok over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 15 seconds.
- Add onion and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the beef and cook until it changes colour from red to light brown but not cooked through.
- Add bell pepper and carrots and stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Add Sauce and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add pak choy and scallions/shallots and cook for a further 1 minute until the Sauce is thickened.
- Remove from heat immediately.
- Serve immediately with rice - or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice! Garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro, if using.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition per serving, excluding rice. You can reduce the calories by 80 calories by using a non stick skillet and halving the oil.
Oh, this was so good!!! I changed up the veggies to suit what I had and added some freshly minced ginger. It was a hit … with me 😀 My 13yo is wanting to try new foods and he kind of enjoyed it. We worked out that it was probably the ginger flavour he didn’t like. But, he’s willing to try it again without the ginger, so we are breaking through his food barriers.
My husband, who said he wasn’t going to have a bar of it, put a meat pie on for himself (house rule: if you’re not eating what the cook is cooking then you fend for yourself). Well, hubby picked at the leftovers while his pie was cooking, scoffed the lot and was too full for the pie! So with a bit of tweaking, we have a hit. Thank you for sharing your wonderful Real Chinese All Purpose Stif Fry Sauce.
BA HA HA!!! I had to laugh at your hubby preferring this over the meat pie. Now THAT is a compliment for your cooking, isn’t it? 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed it Jill! N xx
This sounds really nice recipe. Thanks for putting this up. Will be giving this a go.
Simon
I hope you enjoy it Simon!
Did this last night! Turned out quick and I had to wait for the rice to finish cooking. But delicious!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
Hi Nagi,
I tried Charlie the past few days. My first try was not the best but that is due to my ignorance ( I use tsp instead of tbsp.) I knew there was something wrong so I corrected my Charlie. I used some vegetables with roasted chicken and my daughter finish it off. I tried it with shrip, mushroom and broccoli and it work like an angel…. Charlie is absolutely amazing. I will do a chowmein tonight and will bring it to a party… Thanks Nagi – I’m a new follower…
Supposing I don’t like Oyster sauce, will the recipe still turn out okay?
Hi Elizabeth! I would sub with Hoisin 🙂
I followed the recipe as written and it was excellent! Will definitely make again! Thanks for such an outstanding meal!
Haha love the Charlie concept and the photography in this post. But MOST of all I love to see a fellow Global Knives user — my favorite kitchen knives : )))
They are the BEST BEST BEST!!! 🙂
Wishing for a good Chinese stir fry right now – you always have the most mouthwatering images Nagi! Xx
Aww, thanks Thalia, you’re so sweet! N x
yum yum yum yum yum yum. I know, unoriginal as h***l comment, but that is what was going through my mind as I read this post. love the idea of having one sauce for many stir-fries… going to check out that old post of yours!
I’m thinking you might need an intervention for naming your food Nagi. Of course, we name our animals then we eat them…not sure I have a right to talk! I was walking through my grocery store yesterday thinking of how I wanted some stir fry. This is looking’ awesome. I’ll have to give it a go soon!
BA HA HA!!! See? We are more similar than you might think! N x
What’s not to love about a dish that is so beautiful to look at and so easy to make. Once all the veggies are prepped, cooking take next to no time at all. This is one of our favourite meals.
Thank you so much Maureen! I was glad to wake up to your text this morning. I am glad John is home! N x
Ha! You crack me up, Nagi! I’ve actually already had a rendezvous with Charlie and he’s everything you said he’d be – easy, delicious, and totally satisfying 😉
I’m totally shocked!!! I seriously did not think you would ever have a ready-to-go sauce on standby! (Totally honoured you tried him though! 🙂 )
Looks like I’ll be making this for dinner on Monday next week – what a perfect and perfectly easy-to-make meal for my birthday!
Congratulations on your continuing relationship with Super Food Ideas. Seriously, you NEED a PA, don’t you? Or a Sous Chef? I won’t volunteer to be your Chief QA – don’t want to put Dozer out of a job! Can’t wait to see the magazine in February!
I really hope to have a PA / cooking helper in the near future!!! I’m not ready yet but fingers crossed – soon, soon!!! N x
Hi Nagi! Charlie is going to be my new best friend! I have a ribeye steak in the frig and everything else except bok choy, but I do have green cabbage! Yay! Nice change from T-day leftovers! 🙂
YES!!! I await in anticipation for your thoughts…..nervous!!! N x
Hello Nagi, You have said not to use light OR dark soy sauce, but rather normal one like Kikkomen. But in the Charlie recipe your recipe states both Light & Dark Soy! am very confused..Please enlighten me
I have the same question! Please enlighten us 🙂
Hi guys!! Thanks for the question! 🙂 The all purpose stir fry sauce is slightly different to the sauce made just for this recipe. They taste VERY similar though! So if making the sauce just for this recipe, just use all purpose soy sauce and if you are making Charlie, the all purpose sauce, please use the combination of light and dark soy sauce as per the recipe. 🙂 I promise you will barely be able to tell the difference in flavour. But if you don’t use the light soy sauce in Charlie, then you will find that he is not quite salty enough (because light soy sauce is saltier than normal soy sauce). I hope that helps!
Charlie also happens to be the name of my favorite munchkin who’s birthday it is today 🙂 You were thinking of her weren’t you 🙂 Congrats on the article!!! What a superstar you are! And do I need to tell you this looks great? No, I don’t. You know how fab it is already :)xox miss ya
Check your email please. 🙂 Message for CHARLIE! N x
Love the idea of having a base sauce that will last in the fridge a long time! So much faster to make Asian dishes this way – thanks for the recipe and tip!! And your pics as always make me hungry. 🙂
I know! Even though I do find Asian sauces pretty quick to make, it’s because I have all my essential Asian condiments on hand. And I appreciate that most people aren’t like me! So YES, Charlie is fabulous to have on hand for quick stir fries!! 🙂
Charlie is how I found you! I was looking for a basic brown sauce for Asian inspired stir fry and Recipe Tin Eats came up in my search. I subscribed to your email newsletter and have been enjoying your recipes ever since. I can’t wait to try this Beef Stir Fry. Thank you for so many amazing recipes.
NO WAY!!! Ooooh, I love that! Thanks so much for reading Rachel! N x
Love me some stir-fry! Great for cleaning out the ‘fridge. 😉 This looks spectacular. And I love the idea of Charlie! I need to get a Charlie to live in my refrigerator. 🙂
YES!! Charlie wants to come live with you too!!! 🙂
doggone! I put five stars and it came out four 🙁 I kept hitting five and it just decreased by one. 🙁
Thanks for trying Marisa!!! Nx <3