We’re just starting to see spring asparagus in the markets these days, and I saw a really fresh selection today. In fact, the asparagus was so fresh that I decided to make a beef asparagus stir fry with some of our very valuable contraband USDA choice sirloin steak.
We usually prefer to pan-sear those steaks with just a little salt (we didn’t carry them all the way over from our local NJ Costco for nothin’. They’re perfect on their own), but the second we tried this beef asparagus stir fry dish, we had no regrets!
This beef asparagus stir fry recipe is one of those 15-minute, over-rice, easy-to-make, one-pan dishes with lots of nice sauce to soak into the rice. The fresh asparagus gives a fresh and unique favor with a texture similar to bamboo shoots. You can also substitute chicken for the beef and make this dish into a chicken asparagus stir fry.
Happy spring!
Beef Asparagus Stir-fry: Recipe Instructions
In a small bowl, combine the sliced beef with 1 teaspoon oil, 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch. For more complete information on preparing beef, see Bill’s post on How to Slice and Velvet Beef for stir fries.
Wash your asparagus, and cut about an inch off the bottom ends, depending on how tender they are. You can also use a vegetable peeler to peel the bottom of each stalk. Slice into 2-inch pieces on an angle.
Next combine the salt, sugar, the rest of the light soy sauce (4 teaspoons), dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and chicken stock or water into a bowl.
Mix well and set aside. Have your Shaoxing wine measured out, garlic ready, and the cornstarch slurry mixed up before you begin cooking, because this is all going to happen very fast!
Heat your wok until smoking. Add a couple tablespoons of oil and swirl it around to coat your wok. Quickly spread the beef slices around the wok in an even layer. Let it sear for 15-30 seconds without stirring.
Then give it a quick stir to sear the other side. The meat should be browned and no sticking should happen if you got the wok hot enough! Take the meat out of the pan and set aside.
Keep the wok on high heat and add another tablespoon of oil into the wok. Stir in your garlic and asparagus. Stir for about 10 seconds and add the shaoxing wine around the rim of the wok.
Cover, leaving the heat on high. Let it cook for 20 to 30 seconds. Remove the cover. Add the beef back to the pan.
Everyone has their preferences on how to cook their veggies and for asparagus, I prefer mine ever so slightly crunchy but definitely not mushy so don’t overcook your asparagus.
For that matter, don’t over cook your beef either. Both of these key ingredients of this beef asparagus stir fry are best when cooked just until done.
Add the sauce mixture and a pinch of ground white pepper. Stir vigorously and let the liquid bubble up.
Stir up your cornstarch slurry to make sure the starch is dissolved and pour in about half of it. Stir for a few seconds. If the sauce is still thin, add more slurry. If it’s too thick, add a little water or stock. Plate and serve immediately over rice!
Beef Asparagus stir fry is the perfect one-pan over rice quick and easy dinner!
Asparagus Beef Stir-fry
Ingredients
- 12 oz. flank steak or sirloin steak (340g, sliced)
- 1 teaspoon oil (plus more for cooking)
- 5 teaspoons light soy sauce (divided)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 pound fresh asparagus
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/4 cup hot chicken stock (or water)
- 3 tablespoons shaoxing wine
- 3 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch (mixed into a slurry with 2 tablespoons water)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the sliced beef with 1 teaspoon oil, 1 teaspoon light soy sauce, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Wash your asparagus, and cut about an inch off the bottom ends, depending on how tender they are. You can also use a vegetable peeler to peel the bottom of each stalk. Slice into 2-inch pieces on an angle.
- Next combine the salt, sugar, the rest of the light soy sauce (4 teaspoons), dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and stock or water into a bowl. Mix well and set aside. Have your wine measured out, garlic ready, and the cornstarch slurry mixed up before you begin cooking, because this is all going to happen very fast!
- Heat your wok until smoking. Add a couple tablespoons of oil and swirl it around to coat your wok. Quickly spread the beef slices around the wok in an even layer. Let it sear for 15-30 seconds without stirring. Then give it a quick stir to sear the other side. The meat should be browned and no sticking should happen if you got the wok hot enough! Take the meat out of the pan and set aside.
- Keep the wok on high heat and add another tablespoon of oil into the wok. Stir in your garlic and asparagus. Stir for about 10 seconds and add the shaoxing wine around the rim of the wok. Cover, leaving the heat on high. Let it cook for 20 to 30 seconds. Remove the cover and add the sauce mixture and white pepper. Add the beef back to the pan and stir. Let the liquid bubble up. Stir up your cornstarch slurry to make sure the starch is dissolved and pour in about half of it. Stir for a few seconds. If the sauce is still thin, add more slurry. If it’s too thick, add a little water or stock. Plate and serve immediately!
Hey! Found an old Boston Butt in the freezer. Has the bone in. Was planning on using a bit for this recipe and the rest for the curry beef – will Butt Roast work for this recipe if I slice thinly like flank?
Hi Teddy, Boston butt is pork, but I don’t see why pork wouldn’t work instead of beef.
We loved this recipe. Very easy to make an absolutely delicious! Thank you from the heart.
You are welcome Rosemarie!
Excellent recipe. I used prime top sirloin which is one of my favorite cuts from Costco. Made exactly as written. Thank you.
Hi Marianne, top sirloin is a great cut of beef for this dish as long as you velvet the beef ;-)
My entire family loves this dish, it’s become a regular meal for us.
Hi Angela, we are still seeing lots of asparagus in the market here in the Northeast – Enjoy!
Hello! Happy 中秋节! Instead of asparagus, would using celery work well for this dish please? Also, I just read your post on how to velvet beef — should I add about 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda together with the rest of the ingredients in step 1, and let it do its thing for about 1-2 hours before cooking? Thanks alot!
Hi Clarice, Happy autumn festival! Celery does work for this dish as long as you appreciate celery as much as asparagus ;-). Velveting the beef as you describe is also fine.
Really good beef asparagus
Hi Jeffery, it’s a great time to enjoy asparagus now too!
Delicious!!! Made this for lunch today using the beef velveting technique. Beef was soft! It was like from a restaurant! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Hi Armie, it’s definitely the season for asparagus, and it sounds like you nailed the dish!
Useful variations would be oyster sauce or black bean sauce, either in place of or substituting for part of the soy sauce. If using black bean sauce, I don’t use the chicken broth, use water instead as the black bean sauce is very salty.
Thanks for sharing your advice Gene :)
I thought the flavor was quite nice but I was disappointed by two parts of the instructions. First, it does’t call fro marinating the beef which helps to tenderize it and add flavor. Second, two-inch pieces are very large. We had to use a knife to cut the pieces to eat them. This made the dish less enjoyable to eat. I will make again with smaller pieces and marinate the beef this time.
Hi Jami, you are right – this recipe definitely needs to be updated, as we published it over 6 years ago! Use our technique in our post, Preparing beef for stir fry and make those slices thin—no more than 1/4 inch thick.
Totally delicious!!!