In this Takeout Style Chinese Beef and Mushrooms Stir Fry, the beef is cooked together with plenty of mushrooms, green onions and a delicious savory brown Chinese sauce. This takeaway style Chinese recipe is healthy and quick to make, and it tastes so much better than takeout! Serve it with fried rice or noodles for a family dinner that is quick and healthy. Plus, I'll show you how to get the soft, tender beef, just like your favorite takeaway.
Cut the flank steak into thin strips across the grain. (see bulk of post for pictures)1 lb/ 450g flank steak/skirt steak
Place in a bowl and sprinkle with baking soda, stir gently to coat all of the beef. Then cover and let the beef marinate for 15 minutes.1 ½ tbsp/ 1 ½tablespoon bicarb of soda
Wash off the baking soda and rinse the beef several times. (See note 5)
Pat the beef dry with kitchen paper and set to one side.
Next, make the sauce.
Add all the sauce ingredients into a large measuring cup/jug and stir well. Ensure the beef broth is cold to stop the cornstarch from clumping.¾ cup/ 165ml cold beef stock/broth2 ½ tbsp cornstarch2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine3 tbsp soy sauce2 tsp oyster sauce2 tsp sesame oil¼ tsp pepper1 tsp sugar
For the stir fry
Pour the oil into a heavy-based frying pan and place over high heat.2 tbsp oil
Add the green onions lengths to the oil (be careful it can spit) and stir fry them for 1 minute to flavor the oil.2 green onions
Add the beef to the pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Add in the chopped mushrooms and stir fry for a further 2 minutes.2½ cups/ 240g sliced mushrooms
Add the sliced garlic and continuously stir for a minute.2 clove garlic
Give the prepared sauce a good stir and then pour it into the pan. The sauce will thicken quickly, so stir it to coat your stir fry and cook for 1 minute to heat through. (see note 6).
Serve immediately.
Notes
Baking soda is also known as bicarb of soda, bicarbonate of soda, and sodium bicarbonate. Don't get it muddled with baking powder that won't tenderize your meat.
Green onions are also known as scallions in the US. And are known as Spring Onions in the UK and Australia.
Make sure the broth is cold, this will ensure that the cornstarch/cornflour dissolves fully and doesn't clump together.
You can buy Chinese cooking wine in the Asian section of the grocery store, but if you can't find it, then you can use dry sherry. (See bulk of post for more information on Chinese Cooking Wine)
Make sure you wash the beef really well to remove any traces of baking soda. It is incredible at tenderizing meat but has a terrible taste, so you want to remove it.
The sauce thickens quickly to that real thick Chinese takeout style sauce. If you aren't a fan of the thick coating takeaway style sauces, then you can reduce the quantity of cornstarch to 1 ½ tablespoon if you just want a thinner sauce.