Chinese beef on a stick is a dish that can be found in many Chinese takeout restaurants. It is actually very easy to make at home and uses common Chinese pantry ingredients. As per usual, I tested these in the air-fryer as well and they came out great.
I have a similar recipe for chicken on a stick if you're interested!
Have you ever had the Chinese beef on a stick? I remember ordering these with my family growing up and they were so good. The best part was the sweet marinade infused throughout the meat. A lot of people think it's just teriyaki sauce, but it's a lot different. Traditional teriyaki sauce is mainly just soy sauce and sugar but the Chinese version has hoisin sauce, Chinese cooking wine, and a little bit of five-spice.
What beef to use?
Typically, I use sirloin beef, but the top blade roast was on sale, so I decided to use that instead. Even though the top blade roast has a lot of connective tissue, the meat ended up very tender and juicy.
In general, I would recommend any part of the loin or an inexpensive cut (like top blade roast) that has lots of marbling to keep it juicy. You could obviously go with an expensive cut like ribeye but I don't think it's necessary for this recipe.
How to prepare the beef?
First, I cut the meat into 1-inch cubes, then I pound it with a rolling pin to tenderize it. One thing to keep in mind is you need to do this for at least a few minutes for it to actually work. I usually put the bag of meat on the ground and pound it repeatedly for a few minutes.
After that, I combine the beef with the marinade and let it marinate for at least 8 hours (I did 24 hours). Because the meat is in cubes, you really need to let it marinate for at least 8 hours for it to be tender. If you cut it into thin slices, you could get away with only 1 hour but that's not what we're doing here.
Broiling vs. Air-frying
For the skewers, I experimented with cooking them under the broiler and in the air-fryer. Overall, I found the air-fryer version to be slightly better because they got a better charring all over the meat.
Broiling:
For broiling, I placed them in the upper-middle rack and broiled them at 500°F for 5-7 minutes on each side.
Air-frying:
For air-frying, I sprayed with oil and air-fried at 400°F for 5 minutes on each side. Make sure you keep an eye on them since your air fryer could be stronger than mine.
Chinese Beef On A Stick
Ingredients
- 1 pound sirloin beef (or an inexpensive cut with lots of connective tissue like top blade roast)
- 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine (or water)
- ¼ teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Chop the beef into 1-inch cubes.
- Add the beef to a large plastic bag and pound with a meat mallet or rolling pin for a few minutes to tenderize it.
- Combine the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl. Mix then well then pour into the plastic bag. Mix the meat with your hands then refrigerate for at least 8 hours, but ideally 24 hours.
- Skewer the beef onto the skewers. Make sure they are not too tightly packed. I usually leave ¼ inch of space between each piece of beef.
- To broil: Preheat your broiler to 500°F and set the rack on the upper-middle position. Line the bottom of a roasting pan with aluminum foil and place the rack on top. Arrange the skewers on the rack and brush the tops with oil. Broil for 5-7 minutes on each side until nicely charred.
- To air-fry: Preheat your air-fryer to 400°F. Spray the basket with oil. Place the skewers inside (you may need to trim the ends with scissors if they don't fit). Spray with oil and air-fry for 5 minutes on each side until nicely charred.
Dave
Made the chicken on a stick and is awesome! Wondering about frying the beef on a stick like the chicken recipe! Have you experimented with that frying method?
Grumpy
I have not! I really wanted the charred bits which is why I broiled it, but I bet this could be deep-fried as well. Maybe add a tiny bit more cornstarch though