This is my secret weapon for seriously fast midweek meals: My Authentic Chinese All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce. It takes minutes to make and can be stored in the fridge for weeks. It has plenty of flavour just used plain but also fantastic with extra flavourings added.
My Stir Fry Sauce is sensational used for both stir fries and stir fried noodles. This recipe is a keeper!
Restaurant Secret: you know when you go to a packed Asian restaurant or take out during lunch hour and you’re handed a plate of fresh-out-of-the-wok stir fry 5 minutes after ordering? I hate to disappoint you, but the cooks standing over the flames aren’t throwing together 10 ingredient sauce mixes for every single dish…….What they actually use are ready made sauces as a base, then add additional flavours for different dishes.
These all purpose stir fry sauces are closely guarded secrets of restaurants – you won’t uncover them simply by googling, that’s for sure! Today I’m sharing mine. I call him Charlie (as in Charlie Brown….as in “Brown Sauce”, which stir fry sauces are commonly referred to as). Perfected and tweaked over years, I’ve been loyal to Charlie for a decade (and counting).
The brilliant thing about Charlie is that you make him just by combining the ingredients in a jar, them just store him in the fridge where he’ll happily reside for weeks – months even. Then you simply heat some oil in a wok, throw in whatever proteins, vegetables and noodles you want, then throw Charlie in with some water and he’ll magically transform into a thick, glossy sauce that lusciously coats your stir fry. He’s great plain, but so versatile too – add heat, herbs, fruity sweetness or some tang. I’ve provided some of my favourite variations in the recipe below.
In the recipe below, I’ve provided the basic “formula” for using Charlie and I’ve also written a separate post on how to Build Your Own Chinese Stir Fried Noodles.
Update: At the request of a number of readers, I’ve put together a post with 10 Classic Chinese Takeout Meals using this sauce – meals in a flash!
I’d love to know what you think if you give “Charlie” a go! – Nagi x
Save this Chinese Stir Fry Sauce to your Asian Meals Pinterest Board!
- 1/4 cup / 65 ml light soy sauce (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup / 65 ml all purpose soy sauce (I use Kikkoman all purpose, or use more light soy sauce) (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup / 65 ml Chinese wine (or dry sherry) (Note 5)
- 1/4 cup / 40 g cornstarch / cornflour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 - 2 tsp ground white pepper (I sometimes use 1 tbsp, I like the spiciness!)
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Combine ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Store in fridge and shake before use.
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Stir Fry: I use 3 tbsp Stir Fry Sauce + 6 tbsp water to make a stir frying for 2 people using around 5 cups of uncooked ingredients (proteins + vegetables).
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Noodles: I use 3 tbsp of the Stir Fry sauce + 5 - 6 tbsp water to make a noodle stir fry for 2 people using around 7 cups of the combined stir fry uncooked (vegetables - packed, proteins + noodles - if using).
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By weight (Noodles & Stir Fry): Around 3 tbsp Stir Fry Sauce per 1 lb / 500g of combined ingredients (proteins + vegetables + noodles if using) plus 1/3 cup water.
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Heat 2 tbsp oil in wok over high heat.
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Add your choice of Base Flavourings - fry for 10 seconds or so to infuse oil.
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Add stir fry ingredients in order of time to cook (starting with ingredients that take longest to cook), leaving leafy greens, like the leaves of bok choy, until when you add the sauce (otherwise they will wilt and overcook).
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Add noodles (if using), sauce and water, your choice of Additional Flavourings and any leafy greens.
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Gently toss to combine and to let the sauce cook for around 1 minute. The sauce will become a thick, glossy sauce that coats your stir fry.
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Serve immediately.
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Garlic, minced or finely sliced
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Ginger, minced or finely sliced
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Fresh chillies, minced or finely sliced
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Sriracha, Chilli Bean Paste or other Spicy addition
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Sweet chilli sauce
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Substitute the water with pineapple or orange juice
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Rice vinegar - for a touch of tartness
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Fresh cilantro / coriander leaves, or thai basil - for freshness
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Garlic or ordinary chives, chopped
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Pinch of Chinese five spice powder
1. Light soy sauce is lighter in colour that the more common dark soy sauce, but it is actually saltier. The main reason for using light soy sauce in this recipe is so the colour is not as dark. So if you do not have light soy sauce, you can substitute it with normal soy sauce, but the sauce will be darker than it should be, and slightly less salty (but not very noticeable).
I use Lee Kum Kee brand for the light soy sauce and Kikkoman for the ordinary soy sauce. If you don't have all purpose soy sauce, just use more light soy sauce, and same if you don't have light soy sauce i.e. just use more all purpose.
2. If using dried rather than fresh noodles, add a few extra tablespoons of water. The reason for this is that dried noodles, even after cooking them (usually just by covering them in hot water in a bowl), absorb more liquids than fresh noodles. So you need more liquid to have a saucier finish.
3. To make this sauce vegan, substitute the oyster sauce with hoisin sauce. This gives the sauce a slight Chinese Five Spice Powder flavour which is thoroughly authentic!
4. This will last for weeks and weeks, depending on the expiry date of the ingredients you use. There is nothing in this that will go "off", so just check the expiry date of the ingredients you use in this, at use that as a guide. I usually use mine in about 4 weeks, but it will definitely last longer.
If you have it in the fridge for ages untouched, then you will need a butter knife or something to mix up the cornstarch that will settle and harden in the bottom of the jar.
5. Chinese Cooking Wine (Shaosing / Shaoxing wine) - this plays an important part in giving this sauce depth of flavour so it tastes like the sauce you get at Chinese restaurants. Without it, the sauce will lack "something". It's a cooking wine sold at supermarkets in Australia in the Asian section but much cheaper at Asian stores - here are the bottles I use. It has a very long shelf life - years and years (and it's used in 99% of the Chinese recipes on my site).
Best substitute is dry sherry, followed by Mirin or Japanese cooking sake. If you use Mirin, leave out the sugar in the recipe.
However, for those who cannot have alcohol, apple juice or grape juice is the best substitute. Otherwise, chicken broth/stock, as a second fall back, with 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar + 1/2 tsp sugar.
IMPORTANT: If you use a sub, then the shelf life of the sauce will be determined by the shelf life of what you use as the sub.
6. These quantities make stir fries that are nicely coated with sauce, but without pools of sauce. The stir fry is saucier than the noodles, so it soaks into the rice. With the noodles, the sauce clings to it really well so you don't need pools of sauce. If you want more sauce, increase the amount of Stir Fry Sauce used with double the amount of water e.g. If you add 1 tbsp Stir Fry Sauce, add 2 tbsp water.
7. Nutrition per serving (1 1/2 tbsp used per serving for a stir fry)
Hi I noticed the Chinese wines you gave a link to, one shows “ contains wheat” does the pandaroo brand have wheat in it also? ( gluten free person 😔)
Hi Nagi! I’ve recently gotten into authentic Chinese cooking, and I have to say your sauce is really amazing! Thanks so much for sharing it. However, I have a problem that others have also mentioned — the cornstarch falls to the bottom of the jar (overnight, not after a period of weeks) and hardens to such a hard consistency that it is virtually impossible to break it up and then shake it back in. Some other commentators have left the cornstarch out of the premade sauce and add it for each use, but I’m having trouble getting the proportion of cornstarch to sauce when using this method. If you were to use 2 tablespoons of the sauce, how much cornstarch would you recommend adding to that? Thanks!
I have made 3 Charlie sauce now… I love it… thanks for sharing it… my dogs name is CharlieBrown 🙂 he is brown too.. lol…I have cooked several of your recipes now and I’m loving them all… I haven’t ever had success with Asian food.. now I’m making it 3 or 4 times a week…🥦🥕🌶
Charlie Brown!!! Give him a big hug for me! N x
please don’t let CharlieBrown near the stir-fry sauce. I will not let my cats near it either.
I’m glad for your recommendation Peta, and for the recipe Nagi. I will make this tonight.
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Hi, I love using this sauce but I can’t see the nutrition panel you refer to in note 7.
I love this recipe! It tastes amazing, my husband and I were bother really surprised and pleased to discover this accurate restaurant quality flavour, so thank you! One thing though, I think the calories are slightly off, I got 53 cal per serving, rather than 34 AND I calculated that using 1 tbsp of sesame oil instead of two (I find it to over powering). I used my fitness pal and the same brands as you but of course it’s always hard to know how accurate the app is even when being as careful as possible, anyway, just thought I’d let you know! But it’s an awesome perfect sauce recipe and I’m making it again tonight 😉
That’s great to hear Indy!! I’ll check the nutrition, it is a bit hard for things like this sauce as there’s differences in brands 🙂 N x
I’m not sure why (tripled checked quantities) but mine always thickens to a paste-like consistency. I’ve learned to keep some water on hand to splash it in as I go. Very yummy though, although my kids think it’s a little salty so I’ll try some lower sodium soy next time. We constantly have a batch of sauce on hand – testament to its versatility and flavour!
Do you mean in the jar before cooking, or once you add it into the pan on the stove??
Once it’s in the pan! It’s got to be the cornflour but I put the right amount in and I use scales. I’m at a loss! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Check whether you are using ‘Wheaten Cornflour’ or ‘Maize Cornflour’. I made that mistake once. Cornflour made from wheat will thicken up a lot more….
Hi Steve, you’re right! It’s wheaten cornflour. I’ll halve the quantity and see how that goes. Thanks!
Hi Nagi, someone posted your Charlie recipe on Epicurious but did not give you credit for your recipe…thought you might want to know. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/real-chinese-all-purpose-stir-fry-sauce-53092191