Easy Chinese Beef Stir Fry
Dec 09, 2025 02:14 AM
This Beef Stir Fry is made with a simple but super flavourful, classic Chinese stir fry sauce that tastes just like you get at proper Chinese restaurants. I use lots of colourful vegetables and these days, I always velvet the beef. No more dry chewy beef in my stir fries.
Have you ever noticed how the meat in Chinese restaurant stir fries is so incredibly soft, and how your stir fries at home are just never the same? The secret is tenderising the meat – a method called velveting.
There’s a few different ways to do it but for small-batch home cooking, I find the most practical is the method that involves coating the beef in a little baking soda which breaks down the fibres so it stays succulent and velvety even after high-heat cooking for a prolonged period of time. A tiny extra step that makes a huge difference – try it once and you’ll never look back!
Ingredients:
Velveting the beef (tenderising)
- 7 oz / 200 g beef rump steak or flank , or any other quick cooking steak cut
- 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi-carbonate soda , for velveting
Sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce, light or all-purpose NOT dark soy
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine OR Mirin
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil, toasted (brown) not untoasted (yellow)
- Pinch white pepper, substitute with black pepper
Sauce thickener
- 3 tsp cornstarch / corn flour
- 1/2 cup water , separated
Stir Fry
- 1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced with a knife
- 1/2 small onion, sliced (yellow, brown or white)
- 1/2 red capsicum / bell pepper, sliced into 7mm / 1/3" thick slices
- 1 small carrot
- 2 bok choy
- 2 green onion , cut into 1.5"/3cm pieces
To Serve
- Steamed white rice
- Sesame seeds (optional)
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
8 minutes
Total Time:
23 minutes
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