Name: Beef with Garlic Sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 pound flank steak or tri-tip ((sliced 1/4-inch or 0.6cm thick)); ¼ teaspoon baking soda ((optional)); 3 tablespoons water; 1½ teaspoons cornstarch; 2 teaspoons vegetable oil; 1 teaspoon oyster sauce; 2/3 cup low sodium chicken stock ((warmed)); 2 teaspoons granulated sugar ((or brown sugar)); 1½ tablespoons soy sauce; 1 tablespoon oyster sauce; 1¼ teaspoon dark soy sauce ((or double black dark soy sauce)); 2 teaspoons rice vinegar; ½ teaspoon sesame oil; ⅛ teaspoon white pepper; 6 cloves garlic ((minced)); 3 tablespoons vegetable oil ((divided)); 2 stalks celery (thinly sliced on a diagonal - 120g); 2 small carrots (thinly sliced 100g); 1 small broccoli crown (cut into florets 200g); 1/2 bell pepper (cut into 1-inch pieces 80g); 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine; 2 scallions (cut into 2-inch lengths); 2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed with 3 tablespoons/45ml water)

Beef with Garlic Sauce is a savory, garlicky, saucy stir-fry that hits all the best notes of Chinese-American takeout. Tender beef, crisp vegetables, and a glossy brown sauce with just enough tang and a hit of garlic, it’s a one-pan meal with meat and vegetables that comes together in about 30 minutes!

What Is Garlic Sauce Exactly?

“Garlic sauce” is a bit of a generic term that doesn’t have a super clear definition. On the one hand, it is often associated with the dish “Pork with Garlic Sauce,” which is the common English translation of an actual Chinese dish: yú xiāng ròu sī (鱼香肉丝), which actually translates to “fish-fragrant pork strips.” My mom posted our own Pork with Garlic Sauce/yuxiang rousi recipe several years ago, along with a Chicken with Garlic Sauce in a similar style.

However, the version we’re making today is part of a different tradition altogether: the beloved “garlic sauce” category of the Americanized Chinese takeout menu, where a single, versatile brown sauce gets paired with whatever protein you like—chicken, beef, pork, or shrimp.

This sauce is not terribly different from a brown sauce that you might get in a good plate of Beef and Broccoli (my dad’s version is really delicious, I must say.) The main standout is the addition of a slight twang from rice vinegar, a little extra sugar to balance it out, as well as a punch of extra garlic. The dish usually has a mixture of different vegetables, though other recipes out there don’t look much different from beef and broccoli.

When Justin and I lived in the city, and takeout was on the menu more often, he would often order beef or chicken with garlic sauce, and it was always that perfectly balanced sauce, stir-fried with lots of colorful fresh vegetables and protein.

Preparing the Dish

Preparation for this dish comes in a few phases:

Slicing and marinating the beef, which takes about 5 minutes.
Mixing the sauce, another 5 minutes
Slicing vegetables—about 10 minutes, or faster depending on your knife skills!
Cooking: 5-10 minutes.

The beef gets a quick velveting treatment (a baking soda and cornstarch marinade), so it turns out silky and tender, then a hard sear in a screaming hot wok for maximum flavor.

The sauce comes together with chicken stock, both regular and dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and a full six cloves of garlic. Because when it comes to garlic sauce, we believe in earning the name.

And for the vegetables, we’re using celery, carrots, broccoli, and bell peppers. Though you could also substitute options like: baby corn, snow peas or snap peas, mushrooms, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and string beans.

Recipe Instructions

In a bowl, add the sliced beef along with the baking soda and water. Massage the beef with your hands until all the liquid absorbs. Mix in the remaining marinade ingredients: cornstarch, oil, and oyster sauce. Marinate while you prepare the remaining ingredients (or marinate overnight if making ahead).

marinated beef for beef with garlic sauce

Make the sauce mixture by mixing together the chicken stock, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, white pepper, and garlic.

Heat your wok over high heat until smoking. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and sear the beef on both sides until browned (this should only take 2-3 minutes). Turn off the heat, remove the beef from the wok, and set aside.

Set the wok over medium heat and add the remaining tablespoon of oil along with celery, carrots, broccoli, and peppers. Stir-fry for 15 seconds, then add the Shaoxing wine.

Next, add the sauce mixture you made earlier. Stir the sauce around the sides of the wok to deglaze it (all those nice bits from stir-frying the beef should absorb into the sauce). Bring the sauce to a simmer and then stir in the scallions.

scallions added to stir-fried vegetables

Stir the cornstarch and water into a slurry to ensure it’s well combined. Drizzle the mixture into sauce while stirring constantly. Allow it to simmer and thicken for 20 seconds.

Toss in the seared beef (along with any juices). Mix everything together over medium heat until the sauce coats the beef and vegetables. If the sauce seems thin, turn up the heat and reduce it further, or add a bit more cornstarch slurry. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of chicken stock or water.