This is my secret weapon for seriously fast midweek meals: an Authentic Chinese All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce that takes minutes to make and can be stored in the fridge for weeks. Plenty of flavour just used plain but also fantastic with extra flavourings added, this Stir Fry Sauce is sensational used for both stir fries and stir fried noodles.
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
My Swiss Army knife of Stir Fry Sauces!
Restaurant Secret: you know when you go to a packed Asian restaurant or take out during lunch hour and you’re handed a plate of fresh-out-of-the-wok stir fry 5 minutes after ordering? I hate to disappoint you, but the cooks standing over the flames aren’t throwing together 10 ingredient sauce mixes for every single dish…….What they actually use are ready made sauces as a base, then add additional flavours for different dishes.
These all purpose stir fry sauces are closely guarded secrets of restaurants – you won’t uncover them simply by googling, that’s for sure! Today I’m sharing mine. I call him Charlie (as in Charlie Brown….as in “Brown Sauce”, which stir fry sauces are commonly referred to as). Perfected and tweaked over years, I’ve been loyal to Charlie for a decade (and counting).
The brilliant thing about Charlie is that you make him just by combining the ingredients in a jar, them just store him in the fridge where he’ll happily reside for weeks – months even. Then you simply heat some oil in a wok, throw in whatever proteins, vegetables and noodles you want, then throw Charlie in with some water and he’ll magically transform into a thick, glossy sauce that lusciously coats your stir fry. He’s great plain, but so versatile too – add heat, herbs, fruity sweetness or some tang. I’ve provided some of my favourite variations in the recipe below.
In the recipe below, I’ve provided the basic “formula” for using Charlie and I’ve also written a separate post on how to Build Your Own Chinese Stir Fried Noodles.
Update: At the request of a number of readers, I’ve put together a post with 10 Classic Chinese Takeout Meals using this sauce – meals in a flash!
And it’s as easy as that!
I’d love to know what you think if you give “Charlie” a go! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Real Chinese All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce (Charlie!)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup oyster sauce
- 1/4 cup Chinese wine (or dry sherry) (Note 5)
- 1/4 cup cornstarch / cornflour
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp sesame oil , toasted
- 1 tsp ground white pepper (I sometimes use 1 tbsp, I like the spiciness!)
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Store in fridge and shake before use.
Amount to Use (Note 6):
- Stir Fry: I use 3 tbsp Stir Fry Sauce + 6 tbsp water to make a stir frying for 2 people using around 5 cups of uncooked ingredients (proteins + vegetables).
- Noodles: I use 3 tbsp of the Stir Fry sauce + 5 – 6 tbsp water to make a noodle stir fry for 2 people using around 7 cups of the combined stir fry uncooked (vegetables – packed, proteins + noodles – if using).
- By weight (Noodles & Stir Fry): Around 3 tbsp Stir Fry Sauce per 1 lb / 500g of combined ingredients (proteins + vegetables + noodles if using) plus 1/3 cup water.
To Use:
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in wok over high heat.
- Add your choice of Base Flavourings – fry for 10 seconds or so to infuse oil.
- Add stir fry ingredients in order of time to cook (starting with ingredients that take longest to cook), leaving leafy greens, like the leaves of bok choy, until when you add the sauce (otherwise they will wilt and overcook).
- Add noodles (if using), sauce and water, your choice of Additional Flavourings and any leafy greens.
- Gently toss to combine and to let the sauce cook for around 1 minute. The sauce will become a thick, glossy sauce that coats your stir fry.
- Serve immediately with rice – or for a low carb, low cal option, try Cauliflower Rice!
Base Flavourings
- Garlic, minced or finely sliced
- Ginger, minced or finely sliced
- Fresh chillies, minced or finely sliced
Additional Flavouring Suggestions
- Sriracha, Chilli Bean Paste or other Spicy addition
- Sweet chilli sauce
- Substitute the water with pineapple or orange juice
- Rice vinegar – for a touch of tartness
- Fresh cilantro / coriander leaves, or thai basil – for freshness
- Garlic or ordinary chives, chopped
- Pinch of Chinese five spice powder
Thank you, once again, the wonderful Nagi!!
Charlie is a revelation. As ‘plain white Aussie folk’ who love cooking different foods, south east Asian foods are fun to balance to taste with a sweet/salt/sour balance trio.
Just assumed that Chinese cooking was too tricky for us trying to balance salt with salt, more salt, and powwow sweet, and that maybe it just wasn’t for us and we should stick to Viet/Thai etc.
But then along comes Charlie with the (essential!!) Chinese cooking wine, and corn flour, and we see that flavours can be just as subtle as the SE Asian ones everybody’s addicted to ! Thanks again Nagi (and sorry for any naive offensive cultural comments about food. Trying to learn. x).
I love this go-to sauce for my stir-fries. I now leave out the cornflour because it settles to the bottom of the container and is like concrete. I just dice my meat put it in a bowl and add about 1 tbsp of cornflour shake then add the sauce.
It does settle Dez, but if you give it a good shake with the lid on it mixes right back in again! N x
What can be substituted wine
Thank you for the great tips and information! Can’t wait to try out Charlie M
What about the cornstarch? Just add it to the mixture or mix it with water first?
This sauce and stir fry method is awesome!! Thanks so much for the delicious recipe!
It says you can substitute water with pineapple juice, but I don’t see water to begin with – I’ve been making Charlie without water !! Still, so yummy!
The water is in the “how to use” instructions! You can sub that water with juice! N x
I would just like to say thanks Nagi for sharing Charlie with us. It’s a great sauce and so convenient. I’m learning so much from you, like velvetting chicken and beef. Keep up the great work!
This has a permanent spot in my fridge
Mine too Chic! N x
Thanks Nagi for teaching the secrets of Chinese cooking. I made the Charlie sauce and it’s wonderful! I am thinking of making the sauce without the cornstarch, then add it in a very small quantity at time of cooking, It sets like concrete at the bottom of the jar and is difficult to mix to an even consistency. I love all the recipes I’ve cooked from your site. I’ve not had one failure. My husband was an a la carte chef , and I a roadhouse cook for years, both exacting , high pressure roles. We are retired from cooking the perfect ‘Blue Steak ‘ , now. But we are not too old to learn the beautiful recipes you offer, and which we have never cooked before. They are fabulous. Thank you.
Thanks Janeanne – that comment made my day! I am always learning new things too! N x
I made a batch of this sauce today, then made a noodle veg beef stir fry – also used your technique for velveting the beef…….
OMG it was delicious! And my house smells like a fancy Chinese restaurant now! *runs off for seconds*
Charlie is sooooooo good. I thought it was too potent when I was making it, but didn’t understand at first that you mix water with it when cooking. It is so fantastic I will be using this forever!
Flavor is great but too salty to me. How can I reduce the sodium. Also I am vegan and subbed vegan oyster sauce – worked great!
Hi Susan – reduce the soy a bit if it’s too salty for you. N x
Mine was also very salty I used gluten free soy sauce but I though it might be the Chinese cooking wine from supermarket as it has added salt? What’s your thoughts please
what can I substitute for fish sauce, a family member has a severe allergy to fish and any fish products. Thank you, Pam
Hi Nagi. Can i substitute chinese wine to mirin?
Hi Jane…I cover this in Note 5 on the recipe. That’s fine but leave out the sugar as mirin is sweeter than Chinese cooking wine. N x
Charlie is fabulous!
I made a terrible mistake making your sauce. I used it on a
Stir fry for my sister and now she nags me to make more stir fry with the sauce. She loves it and so do I.
I only have regular sesame oil, doesn’t say toasted. Will it work?
This sounds fabulous Nagi. I’ve always wondered what my stir fries were missing and now I know. It was Charlie!! You. are. marvellous. dawlink! Thank you, thank you for sharing.
Oh, this was excellent!!! I never make stir fry because I can’t find a good sauce or I end up putting too much in and it’s a soggy soy mess! Thank you so much for the clear instructions, formulas, extra combinations and helpful tips! I really needed my hand held as I’m a novice with most Asian dishes! Ours came out perfectly with your sauce and garlic. The water added to the sauce made the veggies steam perfectly and the warm color and gloss really made the dish look like I had got take out from a high end place! I will most definitely be using this recipe again and again! Keep up the great work, it’s much appreciated!