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Beef in Oyster Sauce
Serves 4 Prep 10 min Cook 2 min Total 12 min Type Meal Origin Chinese

Beef in Oyster Sauce

A classic Cantonese dish that showcases the harmonious balance between tender beef and umami-rich oyster sauce. This recipe demonstrates the fundamental Chinese cooking principle of high-heat wok cooking, where speed and precision create dishes with vibrant flavours and succulent textures.

Serves 4 Prep 10 minutes Cook 2 minutes Units Rate

Overview

A quick and elegant stir-fry that balances savoury oyster sauce with tender beef. This dish exemplifies the Chinese technique of high-heat cooking to seal flavours while keeping meat moist. Quality oyster sauce is essential, it should deepen the dish rather than dominate it.

Ingredients

Beef & Marinade

  • 350 grams rump steak (thinly sliced)
  • 2 teaspoons light soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons dry sherry (or rice wine)
  • 1 teaspoon cornflour

Sauce

  • 1 ½ tablespoons groundnut oil
  • 70 ml Chinese chicken stock
  • 1 ½ tablespoons oyster sauce
  • 1 teaspoon cornflour (mixed with 1 teaspoon water)

Garnish

  • 1 ½ tablespoons spring onions (finely chopped)

Method

Stage 1 - Prepare & Marinate

  1. Cut the beef into thin slices, about 5 cm long.
  2. Add the soy sauce, sherry or rice wine and cornflour.
  3. Leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

Stage 2 - Stir-Fry Beef

  1. Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan until it is very hot and almost smoking.
  2. Stir-fry the beef slices until cooked, then remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Stage 3 - Make Sauce

  1. Wipe the wok clean and re-heat it over a high heat.
  2. Add the chicken stock and oyster sauce.
  3. Bring the liquid to the boil, then add the cornflour mixture and simmer for 2 minutes.

Stage 4 - Finish

  1. Return the drained beef to the pan and coat all the slices thoroughly with the sauce.
  2. Turn onto a serving platter and garnish with spring onions. Serve at once.

Notes

  • Oyster sauce quality: Use a good quality oyster sauce that does not taste of fish. It should complement, not overpower the beef.
  • High-heat stir-frying: Essential to seal the meat and keep it tender. Do not overcrowd the wok.
  • Cornflour slurry: Binding the cornflour with water before adding prevents lumps and creates a smooth sauce.
  • Beef slicing: Slightly frozen beef is easier to slice thinly and uniformly.

Serving

Serve with: Steamed rice and Chinese leaves in soy sauce Garnish with: Finely chopped spring onions

Variations

Beef with Broccoli: Replace the oyster sauce with 2 tablespoons soy sauce. Add 200g broccoli florets, stir-fried separately and combined with the beef. Beef with Mushrooms: Add 150g sliced mushrooms (shiitake or button) stir-fried with the beef for earthy richness. Spicy Beef Oyster Sauce: Add 1-2 teaspoons of chilli oil or ½ teaspoon of dried chilli flakes to the sauce.

Storage

  • Keeps 2-3 days refrigerated
  • Not recommended for freezing (beef texture may become tough upon thawing)
  • Best served immediately or within a few hours of preparation

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