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    Home » Recipes » All Recipes » Stir-Fries » UNIVERSAL Stir Fry Sauce

    UNIVERSAL Stir Fry Sauce

    Published: Feb 26, 2021 by Pailin Chongchitnant · This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe
    Pinterest image of a stir fry sauce in a mason jar

    Jump to Video!

    A Stolen Secret From Thai Restaurants

    I learned this very useful trick from working in Thai restaurants. Many of them have a pre-mixed "stir-fry sauce" that they put in EVERYTHING.

    Sometimes they use it as is, like in a simple mixed vegetable stir-fry, or a simple fried rice like this chicken fried rice. And other times they use it as a base and add other ingredients to make it unique; more tips on that below.

    Be sure to watch the video tutorial where I demo how to use this sauce in a basic meat-and-veggie stir fry, with lots of stir frying tips. It's like stir frying 101!

    One sauce for all of your stir fries: meat, veggies, fried rice, noodles, and even marinade!

    No, All Your Dishes Won't Taste the Same

    You might think, wait, doesn't that mean all my stir fries will taste the same? No! The sauce isn't everything. All the veggies, herbs, meat, spices that you add contribute more flavour than you think.

    Yes, the sauce has its own delicious taste, but because it is a salty sauce, its other primary function is to be "the salt" in the dish. In all dishes, salt is there to enhance flavours of all the other ingredients.

    Think of it like this: if you eat mashed potato that's properly salted, you don't think, "mmm, this is salty mashed potato." But you DO think, "this is delicious mashed potato!" Salt brings out more of the potato flavour for you to enjoy. This stir-fry sauce does the same thing.

    One Sauce, Many Possibilities

    If you want to "jazz up" the sauce with other ingredients, here are some ideas. I would add these to individual dishes when you cook; not to the base sauce itself:

    • Thai chili paste or nam prik pao. This is a thick sweet-and-savoury, jam-like paste with an intense flavour. Check out this homemade Thai chili paste recipe to see what goes into it. I would add at least 1 Tbsp of chili paste per serving. Check out this recipe for Shrimp and Chili Paste Stir-Fry as an idea.
    • Thai fermented soybean paste or tao jiew. This can be described as the Thai miso, but with a runnier consistency. We often pair it with fish, or use it in a vegetable stir fry like this popular Water Spinach Stir Fry recipe.
    • Sugar. I always add a little bit of sugar to stir fries, not to make them sweet, but to balance the saltiness of the base sauce. It will give a more "well-rounded" flavour. You only need about ¼ - ½ teaspoon of sugar per serving, depending on what other ingredients you're using and what kind of flavour you're going for. You can also substitute any other sweetener.
    • Curry paste. While generally when we use curry pastes in stir-fries we only add fish sauce, it's certainly possible for you to use this base sauce instead. Check out this recipe for Cauliflower Stir Fry with Yellow Curry as an idea.
    • Sriracha or another hot sauce. This will add heat and also tartness because most hot sauces have vinegar. Check out this sweet and sour stir fry as an idea.
    • Black soy sauce or dark soy sauce. This will add a delicious-looking dark colour to your stir-fry, like in the iconic Pad See Ew. If used in large enough amounts it will also add a deep molasses-like flavour. Don't add too much though, as it can be a bit bitter and tastes funny. You can also add a little bit right into your base sauce if you always want it a little darker. Note: If using Thai black soy sauce it is not very salty, so you can add as much as needed, but if using Chinese dark soy sauce, it is quite salty, so you may need to use less of the base sauce if you're adding a lot into the dish.

    How to Store The Stir Fry Sauce

    Kept in the fridge, this will last indefinitely. The sauces are very salty, which means bacteria do not grow well in it. You still want to keep it refrigerated though because oyster sauce is the one ingredient in this mix that can get moldy at room temp.

    How to Make a Vegan Version

    Instead of oyster sauce, look for something called "Vegetarian Stir Fry Sauce." This is available in many big Asian grocery stores, and it will have a consistency similar to oyster sauce.

    Instead of fish sauce, you can buy a vegetarian fish sauce substitute, but I've found that they're not always good. So unless you've found a brand you like, I recommend just using more soy sauce.

    Use more than 1 type of soy sauce. If you're not using fish sauce, I recommend using both soy sauce and Thai seasoning sauce (like Golden Mountain Sauce) so you can achieve a more complex flavour. You can also use Maggi Seasoning or Bragg's Liquid Amino as well.

    Other Useful Tips

    • You can also use this sauce as a marinade! Marinade chicken thighs for the oven, or slices of meat on skewers for the grill ... anything!
    • Still season your meat separately. If you're making a stir fry with meat, such as chicken, pork, or beef, I'd still add a little bit of soy sauce or fish sauce to the meat separately so that the seasoning is in the meat, not just in the sauce! I demo how to do this in the video.

    Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

    All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

    Click here to watch the video on YouTube.

    Also Check Out...

    Got questions about any of the sauces I used? Check out the video on the left. Then try out this popular glass noodle stir-fry recipe using this base sauce!

    • Sauces for Thai Cooking
    • Lockdown Glass Noodle Stir-Fry ผัดวุ้นเส้น

    Print
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    Stir fry sauce in a mason jar with a spoon pouring sauce into it. With a plate of a veggie stir fry in the background

    UNIVERSAL Stir Fry Sauce

    ★★★★★ 4.9 from 10 reviews
    • Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
    • Cook Time: 5 mins
    • Total Time: 5 minutes
    • Yield: About ½ cup (8 servings)
    Print Recipe
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    Ingredients

    • ¼ cup oyster sauce
    •  2 Tbsp soy sauce
    •  1 Tbsp fish sauce
    •  1 Tbsp Thai seasoning sauce such as Golden Mountain Sauce (see note)

    Note:

    - You can also use Maggi Seasoning or Bragg's Liquid Amino instead. Or just sub more soy sauce.

    - See post above for other ingredients you can add to "jazz it up" and create different flavours.

    Ingredients & Kitchen Tools I Use


    Instructions

    1. Combine all ingredients together and store in a well-sealed container in the fridge.
    2. When using, you need 1 Tbsp of sauce per 1 serving of stir-fry. This is a rough estimate, so be sure to taste and adjust every time.
    3. You may want to add ¼ - ½ teaspoons of sugar per serving of stir-fry, depending on other ingredients and the flavour you're going for.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sara

      February 16, 2023 at 4:41 pm

      This Universal Stir Fry Sauce is truly indispensable. I use it in my Thai chicken soup and other stir fries that I concoct depending on what I have in my refrigerator. Thank you for such an amazing nugget of kitchen wisdom!!!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    2. Megan

      September 05, 2022 at 1:44 pm

      Happened to have a friend who lives cooking as much as me and had a bunch of packets of maggi seasoning. I'm excited to have something to use it on, BUT I'm terrified of making this too salty. The packets are 8 grams. The recipe says you can sub other ingredients but I'm concerned about the proportions. Is it 1 for 1 or should I use the whole packet? Ive never worked with MSG 😱

      Reply
      • Pailin Chongchitnant

        September 08, 2022 at 1:26 pm

        Hi Megan, when you say "packets of maggi seasoning," are you talking about the dark liquid that looks like soy sauce? If so, you can use it 1 to 1 in place of the Thai seasoning sauce.

        Reply
    3. Ken Mossman

      July 23, 2022 at 9:49 am

      We now mix this stuff up by the quart to keep on hand. Simple, tasty, and one of the keys to great stir fry dishes. Thanks!!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    4. Tate

      May 16, 2022 at 4:18 pm

      I use this regularly about once a week generally with broccoli and snow peas, chicken breasts, water chestnuts, sometimes baby corn, garlic, shallots, Thai Chili paste or siriacha, sometimes brocolini or spinach and ginger, all of the above all in different ways and all delicious. Thank you so much!!! My family loves this!!!!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    5. Amy L

      April 25, 2022 at 4:19 pm

      Love this recipe!! I've made several stir fries with this sauce and they have turned out great. I personally like it a little diluted and will add some water after I add the sauce to the veggies. Thanks Pai!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    6. Thada

      October 14, 2021 at 9:51 am

      Just made this sauce for the 3rd time--getting bolder in its use. Cut up some Amylu chicken meatballs from Costco, stir fried them in some bacon grease. Once browned, I added some kale/broccoli salad mix (also Costco), some minced garlic, dehydrated onion (tht's all I had!) some chili paste w/ holy basil, and for some crunchy texture, sliced water chestnuts and then bean thread noodles. I was afraid of the taste combination with the meatballs because they have rosemary and I'm sure they were meant to be Italian. Not bad! I believe I'll try this again but wonder what I'll do differently..!?! Maybe some ginger. Thanks so much for this sauce recipe!

      Reply
    7. Don

      June 04, 2021 at 4:40 pm

      Been looking for a Thai stir fry sauce. Was never sure about the proportions. Thank you. Also, love your apron!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    8. Mark

      May 13, 2021 at 1:23 pm

      Just tried this for the second time. This time it came out phenomenal. Thanks for the recipe!!

      ★★★★

      Reply
      • Adam The HTK Intern

        May 13, 2021 at 4:28 pm

        So good to hear 🙂 What did you use it on? Adam

        Reply
      • Amir

        June 21, 2021 at 12:29 pm

        For how long can I store it at the fridge?

        Reply
    9. Naiyana Bengtsson

      April 05, 2021 at 10:38 pm

      Can I use this UNIVERSAL Stir Fry Sauce for Pad Krapao?

      Reply
      • Adam The HTK Intern

        April 06, 2021 at 9:54 am

        Just asked and she said yep! 🙂 Cheers, Adam

        Reply
        • Naiyana Bengtsson

          April 07, 2021 at 3:41 am

          Thanks 🙂

          Reply
      • Delena

        June 25, 2021 at 2:38 pm

        Is regular soy, low sodium soy, or Thin Soy best?

        ★★★★★

        Reply
        • Adam The HTK Minion

          July 01, 2021 at 3:02 pm

          Regular 🙂

          Reply
    10. Laurie

      March 03, 2021 at 4:25 pm

      This is my favorite all-purpose stir-fry sauce I have tried. I will be using and adapting it going forward. Thank you!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    11. Michele

      March 01, 2021 at 11:19 am

      This is a excellent stir fry sauce. I added a little Sriracha to the basic recipe. It's nice to have a a bottle of this on hand in the refrigerator so I don't have to prepare it every time.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    12. Elizabeth

      February 26, 2021 at 9:28 pm

      So delicious! Made a double batch tonight now no excuses to not make dinner.

      ★★★★★

      Reply

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    Sawaddee ka! I'm Pai, a chef, author, and YouTuber. I'm here to demystify Thai cuisine and help you cook great Thai food at home. How did a girl from Thailand come to teach Thai cooking to millions worldwide? Here's my story.

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