Dad’s Chinese Garlic Butter Beef uses simple ingredients and it’s a showstopper! Steak slices are pan seared then smothered in a thick butter gravy. Serve it over freshly toasted garlic bread for the complete experience. It’s so easy, you’ll be making this restaurant favorite on the regular!
Another restaurant favorite
Dad always brings home some of the best restaurant recipes, and his Chinese Garlic Butter Beef is one of them! I still remember the first time I tried the dish. I was blown away; never in my life had I eaten steak like that before.
Now it’s your turn to experience it! Take a break from the stews and hot pots because this recipe’s a keeper.
I call it ‘simple and easy’ because it really is. All you have to do is pan sear and rest the meat until the juices are sealed in, then simmer a buttery garlic-infused gravy to pour all over the steak slices.
We take it up a notch by serving it with freshly toasted herb bread, but it’s seriously good enough to be eaten on its own!
Which cut should I use?
When making this dish, it’s important to use good quality cuts. Dad uses tenderloin, but any tender part will work. Just like the cuts we use for Chinese stir fries, noodle soups or Vietnamese salads, here are some great boneless options:
- Sirloin
- Flank
- Skirt
- Scotch
I would suggest to stay clear of cuts like chuck or brisket, which come with multiple layers and a fair amount of connective tissue. These are more suited for slow cooking like in Grandma’s Bò Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew).
But for an easy main that’s unbelievably good served with toasted herb bread, give this recipe a go!
Why this recipe works
- Using tenderloin means the fillets will be naturally soft and tender.
- The sauce is kept simple with few ingredients so the meat flavor can really shine.
- Adding dark soy sauce deepens the sauce’s color and introduces a savory taste.
What you’ll need
About the steak
When shopping for good quality meat, ask the butcher to choose a nice piece for you and tell them you’re pan frying it. That way, they’ll try to find pieces that are more suitable for this dish.
How to make this recipe
Slice the meat roughly 80mm (0.3″) thick. Do so by holding the blade parallel to the steak. Press one hand on the meat to hold it in place while you use your other hand to slice the beef from the other side.
Pro Tip: Cut against the grain. We do this with our Bò Lúc Lắc (Vietnamese Shaking Beef) by finding the direction the flesh is going, then turning the knife perpendicular to that to make a cut. This technique helps to keep each bite tender.
Use the knife to cut a line approximately 1cm (0.4″) long in the middle of each meat slice.
Wedge a garlic slice in the center. You can put one or as many as you prefer.
Heat up a pan and pour the oil in on high heat. When hot, cook the steak pieces on one side for 2 minutes or until just cooked.
Pro Tip: Make sure the beef is searing when it goes in so it doesn’t boil instead of fry.
Flip the pieces over to cook for another 1 minute or until cooked to preference. Take them out and set aside on a serving dish.
Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter into the oil. Swirl it around until melted, then throw in the remaining garlic. Season with the chicken bouillon powder, salt and dark soy sauce.
Turn the heat up to high and mix in the chicken stock. Let it simmer for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to low.
Stir the starch slurry until combined and slowly pour it into the sauce while mixing so it doesn’t clump up.
Pour the cooked sauce over the beef slices.
Serve immediately as is over toasted garlic bread!
Recipe FAQs
This can come down to a few reasons: (1) The cut had lots of connective tissue, which will make it less tender, (2) the steak was too cold. If it was kept in the fridge or freezer, bring it to room temperature before cooking, (3) the heat wasn’t high enough. Having a lower temperature will boil the meat instead of frying.
Certainly! This can even be made vegetarian with firm tofu. Just keep in mind that the flavor and cooking time will vary from protein to protein.
This is actually a mix of water and myoglobin. Myoglobin is a protein and you can find that in the muscles. What appears to be blood is definitely not what we use to make blood jelly!
Tips for the best results
- Eat it fresh. Chinese Garlic Butter Beef is ideally enjoyed right after being cooked so the ingredients don’t cool.
- Avoid overcooking the meat. You’ll run the risk of having a tough bite if the steak slices are cooked for too long, especially since they’re cut thinly. I would suggest cooking it to medium rare.
- Let the steak rest. Sit it on the plate so the meat can reabsorb the juices. The general rule of thumb is to let it rest for as long as it’s cooked for.
- Use good quality steak. This will reduce the chance of having tough and chewy pieces.
What to serve it with
- Start off with crispy Seafood Rolls with juicy shrimp and scallop pieces on the inside.
- Chinese Steamed Egg (蒸水蛋) and Steamed Fish with Black Bean Sauce (豉汁蒸魚) are simple comfort foods that pair well with any dish.
- Get some greens in by serving Grandma’s Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry.
- Chinese Artichoke Soup (百合花湯) is a light way to cool and soothe the family.
- Add a spicy kick by drizzling spoonfuls of XO Sauce (XO 酱).
- Black Sesame Soup (芝麻糊) is a creamy and nutty dessert to bring everything together!
Chinese Garlic Butter Beef (蒜子牛柳)
Ingredients
For The Meat
- 1 kg beef tenderloin
- 4 tbsp cooking oil (or enough to pan fry the steak)
- 3 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
For The Sauce
- 70 g / 0.15 lb unsalted butter
- 1/2 US cup chicken and pork stock
- 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- 1/3 tsp salt (or to taste)
- starch slurry (1 tbsp potato starch mixed with 1 tbsp water)
Instructions
- Slice the meat roughly 80mm (0.3") thick. Do so by holding the blade parallel to the steak. Press one hand on the meat to hold it in place while you use your other hand to slice the beef from the other side.Pro Tip: Cut against the grain. Find the direction the flesh is going, then turn the knife perpendicular to that to make a cut. This technique helps to keep each bite tender.
- Use the knife to cut a line approximately 1cm (0.4") long in the middle of each meat slice.
- Wedge a garlic slice in the center. You can put one or as many as you prefer.
- Heat up a pan and pour the oil in on high heat. When hot, cook the steak pieces on one side for 2 minutes or until just cooked.Pro Tip: Make sure the beef is searing when it goes in so it doesn't boil instead of fry.
- Flip the pieces over to cook for another 1 minute or until cooked to preference. Take them out and set aside on a serving dish.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the butter into the oil. Swirl it around until melted, then throw in the remaining garlic. Season with the chicken bouillon powder, salt and dark soy sauce.
- Turn the heat up to high and mix in the chicken stock. Let it simmer for 1 minute, then reduce the heat to low.
- Stir the starch slurry until combined and slowly pour it into the sauce while mixing so it doesn't clump up.
- Pour the cooked sauce over the beef slices.
- Serve immediately as is over toasted garlic bread!
Notes
- Eat it fresh. This dish is ideally enjoyed right after being cooked so the ingredients don't cool.
- Avoid overcooking the meat. You'll run the risk of having a tough bite if the steak slices are cooked for too long, especially since they're cut thinly. I would suggest cooking it to medium rare.
- Let the steak rest. Sit it on the plate so the meat can reabsorb the juices. The general rule of thumb is to let it rest for as long as it's cooked for.
- Use good quality steak. This will reduce the chance of having tough and chewy pieces.
- Dad uses tenderloin in this recipe, but other boneless tender cuts like sirloin, flank, skirt, scotch will work too.
- When shopping for good quality meat, ask the butcher to choose a nice piece for you and tell them you're pan frying it. That way, they'll try to find pieces that are more suitable for this dish.
- We always serve it over garlic bread, but you can choose to have it on its own.
[email protected]
Item 2
1 cm should read 10 cm if the slit for the garlic is actually 4 inches long.
I have the same sort of doubts about the 80 mm thickness which is approx 3inches, (just over!) The photos shown appear to be much less and depending on the photo could be as little as 1 cm or about 3/8th of an inch.
Could you recheck the thickness and clarify or was the photo really about a different dish altogether. 1 kg would be about 8 pieces in the pan as shown in one photo if 3 inch thick. It is the other photos that confuse the thickness plus the incorrect slot size!
Thanks.
Hi, Robert! Thanks for picking that up. That was my mistake – I didn’t add the decimal point for the conversions. You’re right in that 10cm is 4 inches, so I’ll adjust it to 0.4 inches.