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.
I’m a relative newcomer to your website Nagi, but when I shared my spectacular new-found cooking website with my wife and kids they all just laughed. All have used it for ages, and my wife even pulled out your book. So much for finding a hidden gem!
For the record, all of your recipes I’ve attempted have been awesome, and this was no exception. Thank you Nagi – for an enthusiastic but experience-poor cook you are the best.
Brilliant!
This is my household favourite dish, love the sauce. I wish I found this recipe months ago. I cooked this meal 4x times as requested by my husband. I’ve cooked this meal tonight again with 1kg beef for family special occasion.
Made this using a 400g packet of oyster blade steaks from the supermarket. Sliced very thinly at an angle then velveted, used broccolini and capsicum as the veg – broccolini early, capsicum and coriander at the end. Delicious!!
Question Recipe Notes #2: Not clear on using 5TBS charlie sauce which contains 1/3C water and use another 1/3C water. Just don’t want to add too much water
Easy and delicious. I pretty much followed the recipe, other than I added some sambal oelek and ginger paste as I like those flavours. I also cooked the beef first, very lightly, and removed to a plate while I cooked the vegetables, in descending order of density, before adding the beef back in with the sauce. I was worried about overcooking the beef otherwise. This turned out really well, with lots of yummy sauce. Will definitely make again. The Chinese cooking wine is well worth seeking out as it really does give an authentic, restaurant flavour.
Oh, my goodness Charlie Brown will be in my fridge forever!! So good!
WOW!! Fantastic sauce, I didn’t have rice wine but adding oyster sauce that made the difference.
I had looked online just for a new sauce and yours was amazing, look forward to buying the rice wine to see what a difference it makes.
I used Angus beef expensive but worth it and did besides carrots, added cabbage, courgette & mushrooms.
I think whatever I added wouldn’t have improved it because of the sauce.
Next level !!
Even in my eighties I can still learn something new.
I’m not a good cook…I struggle…this turned out great.
Oh my goodness, this was absolutely delicious. I made the sauce via your recipe but found it so thick. Had to add a bit of water which I thought may dilute the taste. All turned out perfectly. We followed the velveting technique and boy, was the meat tender! Best Chinese I have had since we moved to rural town. Thank you!
This stir fry was so delicious and easy! And the sauce?? I could drink that! I used thin sliced sirloin steak, velveted it, and marinated it as instructed. I left out the bok choy and I served it with jasmine rice. So good!
Made this last night. Doubled everything in the recipe (to 4 people). I changed nothing else. It tasted just like the one at my favourite restaurant so super happy. A go-to from now on!
Just wondering if the nutrition is just the stir fry or is it with rice as well
delicious delicious & more!
Loved this recipe!
Doubled the sauce amount (left out the sugar) as I had 500g beef strips. Used Nagi’s ‘velveting’ (tenderising) method first with bicarb soda and it was such a hit!
Had snow peas, broccoli, corn kernels and capsicum and stir fry noodles instead of rice. Added a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Can’t wait to add this on regular rotation!
I loved this recipe. My husband did as well. I have never used bok choy, but would like to try it. No to oyster sauce. I added ginger, and sliced some raw fresh Brussell sprouts, green and yellow beans it was delightful. We didn’t do rice. It’s a keeper!
I just used supermarket beef strips and they turned out lovely and tender thanks to the Velveting tip. Such a delicious sauce! Thank you Nagi for another fabulous recipe. I added some flaked almonds and broccoli because they were in the pantry. Best stir fry I have ever made.
I have made this recipe so many times, always tastes great.
live half an hour from our local town and never go out for dinner there.
This recipe gives the vibes of quality Aussie Chinese but at home.
Simple to pull together with a couple of other recipies to have a tasty Chinese banquet in the same time it would take me to get it elsewhere.
This is a keeper
I’ve tried many recipes from this site and they are all great! Not sure what I did wrong here but I followed the recipe exactly. The sauce turned out very thick and it wasn’t enough of it. Also, bock Choy didn’t get cooked at all within 1 min. Maybe I’ll try again next time…
Great recipe base of sauce and beef. I used what I had to hand, so it was spring onion, shallot, broccolini and some frozen veg. Worked well! Thank you Nagi.
Did you add tea spoon of corn starch? I made that mistake and had to add a lot of extra water 🤣🤣🤣