Here at The Woks of Life HQ (i.e. our house), our tomato plants are finally going totally bonkers, which means more tomatoes than we sometimes know what to do with! But vine ripe tomatoes definitely call for special recipes, and this classic Cantonese beef tomato stir-fry is one of my favorites! You can find this dish at restaurants in Chinatown as it is one of the staple “rice plate” dishes that Cantonese people love to have for a quick meal.
I grew up with a large backyard garden managed by my mother’s super green thumb. Aside from juicy vine-ripe tomatoes, we had loads of snow peas, string beans, spinach, squash, choy sum, bok choy, and all kinds of peppers. I shared some of the best quality time with my mom in the garden starting with tilling the garden in the spring, watering and weeding it daily, and, of course, the best part: harvesting the crops.
At the end of the summer when we were picking tomatoes on a daily basis, my mother always made this beef tomato stir fry over a plate of hot steaming rice. Back then, when we were kids, we loved the beef and the mellowed sweetness of the tomato sauce mixed with rice, and you’ll see why when you make this dish! In fact, the combo of flavors was my favorite growing up.
In this recipe, I start with a base sauce mixture of soy sauce and ketchup, simmer it until thick, and then round things out with some juicy tomato wedges—it really hits the spot! That being said, this beef and tomato recipe is a seriously saucy stir-fry, which I think makes it kid-friendly (it worked for me!) and clearly puts it in the comfort food category (it’s a Cantonese version of gravy!). But, best of all, it is definitely a 30-minute meal (and only because you NEED to have the rice as a base for this dish; rice can take a bit longer to cook depending on your rice cooker).
While this dish brings back memories of childhood for me, it’s just a tasty way to use up those tomatoes and, if you’re a tomato lover, satisfy those cravings! All across America, home gardens are busting out ripe tomatoes on the vine and people are eating salads, roasted tomatoes in their ratatouille pasta, and making sauces to jar. This year, make this your end-of-the-summer dish. If you don’t have tomatoes in your garden, head to your local farmer’s market and get some for this dish! Trust me, you will make this more than once.
Beef Tomato Stir-fry: Recipe Instructions
Marinate the meat with the cornstarch, the first teaspoon of oil, and salt. Set aside for one hour. Also, combine all the ingredients for the sauce base in a separate bowl—ketchup, light soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, and white pepper. Set aside.
For more detailed information on preparing beef for stir fry just like restaurants do it, see our post on How to Prepare Beef for Stir Fry.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to coat the wok and heat until just smoking. Spread the beef around the wok and sear for 1 minute until 80% done and remove from the wok. Set aside.
Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok over medium heat. Add the ginger slices, and let caramelize for 10 seconds. Turn the heat up to high, and add the minced garlic, shallot, and the white portions of the scallion. Toss for 10 seconds.
Add the tomato wedges to the wok.
Spread them around the wok in an even layer, and let sear for 15 seconds. Add the Shaoxing wine, and stir-fry the mixture for another 10 seconds. Now push everything to one side of the wok. On the cleared space of the wok, add the sauce base. Stir until bubbling to meld the flavors together.
Now it’s time to add the beef and any juices in the bowl to the wok. Stir–fry everything on high heat until mixed well and sizzling (about 20 seconds). Be sure not to overcook the tomatoes or they will disintegrate into the sauce!
Toss in the remainder of the scallions and add the cornstarch slurry a little at a time until the sauce is thickened to your liking. Let the sauce cook for 15 seconds after adding the last bit of the cornstarch slurry to ensure the starch is cooked.
For more detailed information on the many ways to use cornstarch to get authentic results at home with our recipes, see our post on How to Use Cornstarch in Chinese Cooking.
Plate and serve your beef tomato stir-fry immediately on a big bed of rice!
Beef Tomato Stir-fry
Ingredients
For the beef marinade:
- 1 pound flank steak (450g, sliced into ¼-inch thick pieces)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon oil
- ¼ teaspoon salt
For the sauce base:
- 2 tablespoons ketchup
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1½ teaspoons sugar (or to taste)
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- ground white pepper (to taste)
For the rest of the dish:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola
- 2 slices ginger
- 1 clove garlic (finely minced)
- ¼ cup shallot (sliced)
- 1 scallion (cut into 2-inch pieces at an angle)
- 4 to 5 large tomatoes (cut into wedges)
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch (mixed with 1 tablespoon water)
Instructions
- Marinate the meat with the cornstarch, the first teaspoon of oil, and salt. Set aside for one hour. Also, combine all the ingredients for the sauce base in a separate bowl. Set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon of oil to coat the wok and heat until just smoking. Spread the beef around the wok and sear for 1 minute until 80% done and remove from the wok. Set aside.
- Heat another tablespoon of oil in the wok over medium heat. Add the ginger slices, and let caramelize for 10 seconds. Turn the heat up to high, and add the minced garlic, shallot, and the white portions of the scallion. Toss for 10 seconds.
- Add the tomato wedges to the wok. Spread them around the wok in an even layer, and let sear for 15 seconds. Add the Shaoxing wine, and stir-fry the mixture for another 10 seconds. Now push everything to one side of the wok.
- On the cleared space of the wok, add the sauce base. Stir until bubbling to meld the flavors together.
- Now it's time to add the beef and any juices in the bowl to the wok. Stir–fry everything on high heat until mixed well and sizzling (about 20 seconds). Be sure not to overcook the tomatoes or they will disintegrate into the sauce!
- Toss in the remainder of the scallions and add the cornstarch slurry a little at a time until the sauce is thickened to your liking. Let the sauce cook for 15 seconds after adding the last bit of the cornstarch slurry to ensure the starch is cooked. Plate and serve immediately on a big bed of rice!
The first time I cooked this, excellent, my only mistake was I should have bought better quality toms
Hi Hc, yes, nice ripe tomatoes are best for this beef tomato stir fry.
Love this recipe. It reminds me of my childhood
Thanks Maria – so happy this classic beef and tomato gave you some good memories – it sure did it for me :)
Hi Bill! I am trying to reduce the amount of meat I eat. Do you think this would still turn out well if I used half the amount of beef? Or is there something I could do to vary the recipe so it still turns out? I’ve already tried it with the full amount of beef and it was delicious, thank you for sharing!
Hi Yvonne, I’ve joined that same club of trying to eat less meat so I’m all for it!
I am so grateful to have found your site! This is the first recipe we tried and was truly surprised how good it is. I was always lukewarm about Chinese food but it is now my favorite using your recipes. The explanation of the ingredients and detailed description of the technique really helps. Its just so much fun to learn.We may sound really boring but since we stay home now, we so look forward to making your recipes together on the weekend. You guys are awesome!
Hi Wendy, thanks so much for your kind comment and hope you continue to cook with us!
Great flavor combo reminiscent of a restaurant I used to go to in the early 80’s. Every recipe of yours I have tried have been delicious!
Hi Jim, so glad to hear youlre enjoying our recipes and especially this beef tomato stir fry!
My husband loves this dish! It’s his favorite now. Thanks for sharing it.
You’re welcome Sarita!
My friend gave me a huge basket of tomatoes. So, naturally, I had to try this recipe. It was outstanding even with the much tarter yellow tomatoes. I’ve had a similar dish (when I was a child) in a restaurant that had eggs in it. When would be the best time to add the eggs if this recipe was adjusted? Thanks for wonderful memories and recipe.
Hi Ed, there are a couple of ways to add the egg. You can scramble them first and add them at the same time you add the seared beef back in like we do in our tomato and egg stir fry recipe. The second method is adding raw scrambled egg towards the end, like we do in our beef and egg stir-fry recipe.
I’ve made this recipe twice and everyone loved it both times. But my husband keeps saying that his mom added eggs to this dish. He thinks scrambled and cut up. If I were to add eggs to this dish, when and how should I do it?
I scrolled down and already found your answer, Bill. Thank you!
I love WOL! The recipes bring back so many memories of all the dishes my mom used to make. Thank you for this site!!
Hi Helen, glad you found your answer – the comments are a treasure trove of information! Glad you are cooking with us.
Thanks so much for this recipe which I remember as Steak Tomato Mun Farn from 50 years ago when, as a young lass of 16, I worked a second job at a local Chinese restaurant (here in Australia). At the end of my shift, I was allowed to choose a meal to take home for my dinner. This was my favourite dish, enjoyed many times. Recently I’ve been wanting to make it again and am so glad I found your recipe. I’m yet to make it but am certain that, like each of the many WOL recipes that I’ve tried, it’ll be a winner! Thank you for all your fabulous recipes and keeping so many of us out here well fed.
Hi Liz, thanks so much for sharing your story. Hope you enjoy it and that it brings back more fond food memories.
I couldn’t find a tomato beef chow mein recipe on your site so I’ll used this one and serve it with chow mein egg noodles instead. It was pretty good…..but the beef was EXACTLY like the Chinese restaurants. I did do the extra step and did the velveting. I didn’t use all of the beef tonight and will save it for tomorrow night and make your Beef and Tofu and like Sarah, I am a gravy addict. When I was a kid I would never finish the rice with dinner unless there was some kind of gravy involved. Thanks for delicious recipes. Honestly, now that we’re stuck at home and I have pretty much cooked dinner for my family almost every night, we’re saving a lot of money. Even when our Stay At Home order has been lifted and things open up again, I’ll probably still cook at home and maybe go out 1x a week instead of our usual 3x a week.
Hi Vanessa, good for you! Cooking at home definitely boosts family savings and is healthier than eating out. Have your kids cook with you and you’ll be following the footsteps of our family :)
Hi. We love your recipes, especially the stir-frys. I just wanted to clarify, in step 1 of the instructions, it says to add 1 teaspoon of oil for marinating the beef. Did you mean 1 tablespoon of oil, for a total of 3 tbsp oil in the dish, as listed in the ingredients? Thanks so much! I appreciate your help.
Eva
Hi Eva, Thanks for your question. It is a typo––only 1 teaspoon canola oil in the marinade. We listed 1 teaspoon of oil in the marinade and an extra tablespoon in the rest of the ingredients. Thanks to you, I corrected it :)