Description
This Easy Chinese Beef Stir Fry is a quick and flavorful dish featuring tender velveted beef, crisp vegetables, and a glossy, savory sauce. Perfect for a weeknight dinner, it combines techniques like velveting the beef for tenderness and stir-frying for vibrant texture and flavor. Serve with steamed white rice or cauliflower rice for a low-carb option, garnished with optional sesame seeds.
Ingredients
Scale
Beef and Marinade
- 7 oz (200 g) beef rump steak or flank (or any other quick cooking steak cut)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate soda) for velveting
- 2 tbsp light or all-purpose soy sauce (NOT dark soy sauce)
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or Mirin
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp toasted (brown) sesame oil
- Pinch white pepper (or substitute black pepper)
- 3 tsp cornstarch (corn flour)
- 1/2 cup water (separated)
Vegetables and Aromatics
- 1 1/2 tbsp peanut oil
- 1 garlic clove, finely minced
- 1/2 small onion (yellow, brown or white), sliced
- 1/2 red capsicum (bell pepper), sliced into 7 mm (1/3″) thick slices
- 1 small carrot, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced thinly on the diagonal
- 2 bok choy, leaves separated from stems, stems cut lengthways to uniform width
- 2 green onions, cut into 1.5″ (3 cm) pieces, white ends separated from green parts
To Serve
- Steamed white rice or cauliflower rice for low-carb option
- Sesame seeds (optional)
Instructions
- Velvet Beef: Place the beef in a bowl and sprinkle the baking soda over it. Toss the beef with your fingers to coat thoroughly. Let it rest for 20 minutes, no longer, to tenderize the meat.
- Rinse Beef: After 20 minutes, rinse the beef thoroughly under tap water using a colander to remove the baking soda. Shake off excess water and pat lightly; it does not need to be fully dry.
- Prepare Sauce: In a separate bowl, mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese cooking wine or Mirin, white sugar, toasted sesame oil, white pepper, and cornstarch. Set aside 1 1/2 tablespoons of this sauce mixture to coat the beef. Add water to the remaining sauce and stir until smooth.
- Coat Beef: Toss the rinsed beef with the reserved 1 1/2 tablespoons of sauce to coat evenly.
- Heat Oil and Cook Aromatics: Heat peanut oil in a large non-stick pan or wok over high heat. Add sliced onion and minced garlic and stir-fry for about 10 seconds until fragrant.
- Cook Beef: Add the coated beef to the hot pan. Stir-fry quickly until the beef changes color from red to light brown but is not fully cooked through.
- Add Vegetables (First Batch): Add red capsicum slices, carrot slices, bok choy stems, and the white parts of the green onions. Stir-fry for 1 minute to combine and begin softening the vegetables.
- Add Sauce: Pour in the cornstarch-thickened sauce mixture. Stir continuously until the sauce bubbles and thickens.
- Wilt Leafy Greens: Add the bok choy leaves and the green parts of the green onions. Toss everything for 30 seconds to 1 minute until the greens are just wilted and the sauce is glossy and coats all ingredients well.
- Serve: Immediately serve the stir fry with steamed white rice or cauliflower rice for a low-carb option. Garnish with sesame seeds if desired.
Notes
- The baking soda in the velveting step tenderizes the beef quickly by breaking down proteins.
- Do not soak the beef for more than 20 minutes with baking soda to avoid altering texture excessively.
- Use light or all-purpose soy sauce to maintain a balanced flavor; dark soy sauce can overpower the dish.
- Toasted sesame oil adds a nutty aroma; avoid using untoasted (yellow) sesame oil.
- Chinese cooking wine can be substituted with Mirin if unavailable.
- This stir fry cooks quickly over high heat to maintain vegetable crunch and beef tenderness.
- Adjust vegetables and protein quantities based on serving size and preference.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Chinese
Keywords: Chinese beef stir fry, velveted beef, wok stir fry, quick Chinese dinner, beef and vegetables stir fry, weeknight dinner, easy stir fry recipe
