· Anna Lee · 20 Comments
RECIPE ▼
These 10 Chinese stir fry sauces are the most popular and classic Chinese dishes. If you understand them, you can make them better than you can in a Chinese restaurant or takeaway. They’re healthier and low in fat. You can use these easy homemade stir fry sauces in your favorite stir fry recipes – chicken, beef, shrimp, or vegetable stir fry.
I suggest you mix them in your pantries and freeze them for later use. It saves time and is convenient. In the refrigerator, they’ll keep for up to 1 week. Frozen, they’ll last up to 3 months.
How to make stir fry sauce
1. Brown Sauce :
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
Recommended Dishes: Mongolian Beef, Mongolian Chicken, Beijing Beef Panda Express,
2. Garlic Sauce:
- 1 cup chicken stock or water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
Recommended Dishes: Beef and Broccoli, Chinese Broccoli Recipe, Chicken and Broccoli Recipe, Sauteed Eggplant And Green Beans With Garlic
3. White Sauce:
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
- 1/4 salt
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 2 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- 6 thin slices of fresh ginger
Recommended Dishes: Moo Goo Gai Pan, Moo Shu Chicken, Moo Shu Vegetables
4. Kung Pao Sauce:
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) chicken stock or water
- Aromatics:
- 1 tsp minced garlic
Recommended Dishes: Kung Pao Chicken, Kung Pao Shrimp
5. Chinese Red Sauce (Sweet & Sour Sauce):
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 4 tsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
Recommended Dishes: Sweet And Sour Pork With Pineapple, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Sweet And Sour Shrimp, Baked Pork Chops and Rice in Sweet And Sour Sauce
6. Spicy Stir Fry Sauce- Hunan Style
- 1/2 tsp Chinese black vinegar
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons Toban Djan (Chili Bean Sauce)
- 2 tbsps Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 5 cloves garlic (sliced)
- 5 sliced fresh ginger
- 3 long red peppers (sliced)
Recommended Dishes: Hunan Beef, Hunan Shrimp
7. Spicy Stir Fry Sauce- Szechuan Style with peppercorn
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- Aromatics:
- 3 cloves garlic
- 3 thin slices of fresh ginger
- 25 small dried chile de arbol peppers or other dried chiles
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns
Recommended Dishes: Szechuan Chicken, Szechuan Beef
8. Salt and Pepper:
- 1/4tspsalt
- 1/4tspground white pepper
- 5clovesgarlic,chopped
- 3scallions,sliced
Recommended Dishes: Salt and Pepper Shrimp
9. Black Pepper Sauce:
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 60 ml water
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1tspketchup
- 1tspsugar
- Aromatics:
- 2 tbsp minced garlic
- 1tspblack pepper
Recommended Dishes: Chinese Pepper Steak With Onion, Beef Stir Fry With Noodles
10. Teriyaki Sauce:
- 1.5tablespoonsrice wine,Shaoxing wine or dry Sherry
- 4tablespoonssugar
- 4.5tablespoonssoy sauce
- 1/2tablespooncornstarch
- 200mlwater
- Aromatics:
- 1/2tablespoonginger pastemince
Recommended Dishes: Teriyaki Meatballs
What sauce should I buy for stir fry
Everything you need to make these sauces can be found in our post 9 Must-Have Chinese Condiments. With just these 9 sauces, you can cook most Chinese dishes.
How to make stir fry from scratch
You just need to follow these 6 steps, you will have a quick, healthy, and delicious dinner. And you will cook just like the Chinese restaurant style.
- Marinade meat. Marinate the meat with all the ingredients and mix them well. Marinate it for at least 20 minutes. You can refer to my other post,“How To Velvet Beef or Pork For Stir Fry?”. There I show you how to cut and tenderize red meat.
- Prepare stir fry sauce, aromatics and vegetables.
- Sear the meat or protein. Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to your hot wok (it should be almost smoking). Add the meat, sear on both sides, and set aside.
- Sauté the aromatics- Heat oil in a pan over high heat until smoking. Add the aromatics, stirring, until light brown and fragrant, about 20 seconds.
- Add vegetables then stir fry sauce and stir for 1 minute. For noodles- toss noodles with stir fry sauce first, before adding in vegetables.
- Add the meat or protein back in and let the sauce thicken for 20-30 seconds. Transfer and serve with steamed rice immediately.
How to make vegan stir fry sauces
To make vegetarian/vegan stir-fry sauce:
Substitute vegetable or mushroom stock for the chicken stock.
Substitute vegetarian oyster sauce for the oyster sauce (vegetarian oyster sauce is made from mushrooms).
Recommended brand: Lee Kum Kee
How to make gluten-free stir fry sauces
To make gluten-free stir-fry sauce: use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari.
The dark soy sauce is in the recipe mainly for color, so simply omit it. The color won’t be quite as brown, but it’ll still have good flavor.
Use a gluten-free oyster sauce.
Recommended brand: Lee Kum Kee
Other sauces you should try:
Below you’ll find some sauces that you should try. You can make an extra portion of each sauce, put it in a bottle and freeze it. In this way, you can cook them whenever you want.
White Cream Sauce – Béchamel Sauce
10 Chinese Chicken Sauces – Keto Dinner Ideas
Egg Foo Young Gravy
Beef Gravy
10 Best Chinese Stir Fry Sauces From Scratch.
Prep : 5 minutes minutes
Cook : 20 minutes minutes
Author : Anna Lee
Cuisine : Chinese Cuisines
3.85 from 13 votes
Serving : 3
The BEST easy Stir Fry Sauce Recipes! Use this simple homemade sauce in your favorite stir fry recipes – chicken, beef, shrimp, or vegetable stir fry. You will have a quick, healthy and delicious dinner.
Ingredients
1. BROWN SAUCE :
- 1/2 cup chicken stock or water
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 2 tsp fresh ginger , minced
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
Recommended Dishes: Mongolian Beef, Mongolian Chicken, Beijing Beef Panda Express,
2. GARLIC SAUCE:
- 1 cup chicken stock or water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 1 tbsp garlic, minced
Recommended Dishes: Beef and Broccoli, Chinese Broccoli Recipe, Sauteed Eggplant And Green Beans With Garlic
3. WHITE SAUCE:
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/4 salt
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 6 thin slices fresh ginger
Recommended Dishes: Moo Goo Gai Pan, Moo Shu Chicken, Moo Shu Vegetables With Wrapper
4. KOUNG PAO SAUCE:
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup chicken stock or water (60 ml)
- Aromatics:
- tsp minced garlic
Recommended Dishes: Kung Pao Chicken, Kung Pao Shrimp
5. CHINESE RED SAUCE (SWEET & SOUR SAUCE):
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup rice vinegar
- 4 tsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
Recommended Dishes: Sweet And Sour Pork With Pineapple, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Sweet And Sour Shrimp
6. SPICY STIR FRY SAUCE- HUNAN SAUCE
- 1/2 tsp Chinese black vinegar
- 2 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- Aromatics:
- 5 cloves garlic, sliced
- 5 slices fresh ginger
- 3 long red peppers, sliced
Recommended Dishes: Hunan Beef, Hunan Shrimp
7. SPICY STIR FRY SAUCE- SZECHUAN STYLE WITH PEPPERCORN
- 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- Aromatics:
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 3 thin slices fresh ginger
- 25 small dried chile de arbol peppers or other dried chiles
- 1 tbsp sichuan peppercorns
Recommended Dishes: Szechuan Chicken, Szechuan Beef
8. SALT AND PEPPER:
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
- 5 cloves garlic, chopped
- 3 scallions, sliced
9. CHINESE BLACK PEPPER SAUCE:
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 60 ml water
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp ketchup
- 1 tsp sugar
- Aromatics:
- 2 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
Recommended Dishes: Chinese Pepper Steak With Onion, Beef Stir Fry With Noodles
10. TERIYAKI SAUCE:
- 1.5 tablespoons rice wine, Shaoxing wine or dry Sherry
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- 4.5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 200 ml water
- Aromatics:
- 1/2 tablespoon ginger paste, mince
Recommended Dishes: Teriyaki Meatballs
Keyword: Chinese Stir Fry Sauces,Stir Fry Sauce Recipes,Stir Fry Sauces
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