Tender and succulent beef strips with a black pepper flavoured sauce, Chinese black pepper beef stir-fry can be made at home to a restaurant standard.
Once I was asked what is the difference between Chinese cuisine and Western cooking. I said:“Chinese cooks slice the food before serving whereas Western diners slice the food after being served.” I know it’s not true in all cases, but in general I think it’s correct. Take beef steak for example. Instead of cooking a large piece, Chinese prefer slicing the meat to make a quick stir-fry. Today I’d like to introduce a classic dish using steak as the main ingredient: Black pepper beef stir-fry (黑椒牛柳).
What makes a plate of black pepper beef stir-fry stand out, in my opinion, is the succulence, tenderness of the beef strips and the generous use of freshly ground black pepper. To achieve the first goal, I have a few tips for you.
- Choose a cut of beef ideal for quick stir-fry. Flank steak and skirt steak are the best candidates.
- Slice the beef against the grain. Otherwise you will get a chewy, tough texture.
- Marinate the beef with classic Chinese marinade mixture which contains cornstarch, rice wine, soy sauce, etc.
- Keep the wok hot and move fast when stir frying. Follow the cooking sequence: First, quickly sear the beef then remove it from the wok. Fry the vegetables for a while then return the beef back to the wok. Overcooking will reduce the tenderness.
Cheaper cuts of beef (braising beef for example) are not ideal but acceptable for this dish. Just make sure to tenderize it with baking soda first (Chinese restaurant chefs usually do this). Afterwards, I always rinse the beef before marinating to reduce the unpleasant taste of baking soda.
Once you have the tender, succulent beef cooked, the last step is to stir in the sauce containing oyster sauce, soy sauce, and of course, lots of black pepper.
Compare to chilli, black pepper offers a more discreet sensation of hotness. It doesn’t burn you but its aroma will linger in your mouth for quite a while. For this beef stir-fry, be generous with black pepper and use freshly ground ones. This is what makes your dish exciting.
Onion and bell pepper are classic ingredients for black pepper beef stir-fry. However, you are free to use other vegetables too. Vegetables with a bit of crunchiness, such as broccoli, asparagus, celery and sugar snap peas, work very well.
Black pepper beef stir-fry (黑椒牛柳)
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 350 g flank or skirt steak, 12oz (see note 1 & 2)
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp ginger, julienned
For the sauce
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp water
You also need
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 onion, julienned
- ½ red bell pepper, julienned
Instructions
- Slice the beef into strips (against the grain). Mix with the ingredients for the marinade. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
- Mix all the ingredients for the sauce then set aside.
- Heat up the oil in a wok over high heat. Sear the marinated beef until it turns brown (should still be pink inside). Transfer it to a separate plate.
- Add onion and pepper to the remaining oil in the wok. Cook for a minute or so.
- Put the beef back into the wok. Stir fry for another 1-2 minutes until the beef is fully cooked.
- Pour in the sauce. Stir until it becomes thick enough to coat the beef and vegetables nicely.
- Sprinkle more ground black pepper for more intense flavour (optional). Serve hot with steamed rice.
NOTES
- Mix ½ teaspoon of baking soda with sliced beef then leave for at least 30 mins
- Rinse the beef in 500ml / 2 cups of water with 4 teaspoons of vinegar. Then rinse again under running water
- Drain well before adding to the marinade mixture
Hope this classic stir-fry brings you some inspiration for dinner. To discover other recipes using beef, please click links below.
Have a yummy day!
Hello delicious, goodbye takeout! This looks so much better (and healthier) than what I usually pay double for– can’t wait to try it!
Thank you Karly! Yes! Home cooking is so much healthier and cheaper. Many Chinese take-away dishes can be made at home easily. When you know how, it’s just a matter of 5-minute stir frying. Happy cooking!
Yum! This might be one of my favorite beef dishes in Chinese cooking. Look at that glossy sauce! You totally nailed it 😉
Thank you Maggie!! My favourite beef stir-fry too. I love the nice kick of black pepper. Yes, the sauce! Best to stir into plain rice. Yum!
So yummy we just made it for today’s dinner. Well, it disappeared from a table within 10 minutes…
Really delicious! Tomorrow we are going to taste Zha Jiang Mian from your recipe, let’s see whether the taste will bring us back to hutongs of Qian Men in Beijing. Toady’s Black pepper beef stir-fry definitely brought us to China with the delicious taste.
Wow! Very happy to know that you enjoyed my version of Black pepper beef stir-fry. I just came back from my Culinary Tour of China and my tour members really liked Zha Jiang Mian that we had in Beijing. Hope my recipe will remind you of some happy memories.
Hi! This looks great. One question- do you marinade the meat for only 10 minutes or can you have it sit for longer period of time? Thank you!
Hi Jessica! You can surely marinade the meat for longer (eg. overnight). The flavour would be even better.
Hi I made this for my husband last week using a single tender sirloin and he liked it so this week I made it for the whole family and we have empty plates all round really tasty and quick to cook. Please add more recipes I am going to try the 3 cup chicken next x
Hi Correen! Very happy to know that your family liked this dish. Thank you for trying out my recipes. Happy cooking!
Hello, this looks amazing! I love black pepper stir fry but I tend to eat chicken as I don’t like beef. How would the recipe differ when using chicken?
Thank you 🙂
Hi, it’s fine to use chicken. I would cut the chicken into cubes (Like in classic dish Kung Pao chicken) instead of thin stripes to ensure its tenderness in stir fry. In this case, I would cut onion and pepper in similar shape to go with the chicken. Hope this is helpful! Happy cooking!
Thanks! I made your recipe with 1 pound of skirt steak, 2 onions and 2 green peppers. It turned out great and we enjoyed it.
That’s great news Kris! Thank you for trying out my recipe!
Thanks a lot , the tip for tenderizing the meat using baking soda yielded succulent and juicy meat , I tried beef stir fry multiple times , the main problem was hard and dry meat after cooking, I added steamed carrots with a bit crunchiness , it kind of added balance for the saltiness of the meal , the only difference between this recipe and the one I get on the restaurants is the translucency of the sauce , mine was turbid , I wonder why?
Hi Reham! Very happy to know you’ve enjoyed the dish. If you’d like the sauce glossier, replace the cornstarch with tapioca starch.
If I’ve velveted the beef first do I need to change anything in the recipe?
You don’t need to change anything. Just follow the steps as usual. Happy cooking!
Hi, tried your black pepper beef recipe at home after tasting it out and I must admit it tastes the same ,yummm! thanks for sharing the recipe, it was simply awesome!!!!!!
Hi Dalreen! So happy to know you’ve produced what you love to eat in your own kitchen following my recipe. It’s my great pleasure to share!
Made this tonight, amazing! Family loved it
Great news! Thank you for trying out my recipe.
I feel it’s a tad too salty when I followed your recipe. May need to cut out the salt and reduce the soy sauce on my next attempt. The beef was really tender though!
Sorry to hear that your dish came out too salty. It might be that your soy sauce/oyster sauce has a higher content of salt than mine, etc. Please feel free to adjust to find your preferred balance.
Wei, fab dish, work colleagues were very happy bunnies again , thank you
My pleasure John! Glad you have impressed your colleagues with this dish.
This looks so tasty! Will try this recipe today.
Thanks Evans!
Hi! If I don’t have rice wine for the marinade, is it okay to exclude it? Do you have any recommendations for a suitable substitute?
Hi Dinie! Please feel free to skip rice wine as it’s not a big quantity required in this recipe. Replace it with dry sherry/white wine if you like.
This was so good! I we’ll defiantly make this again! Thank you for the recipe.
My pleasure Claudia. Stay safe & Happy cooking!
Very good and thumbs up from the family. will be a regular for sure
That’s great news to hear!
This is so delicious! I didn’t even know what oyster sauce was until I made this recipe but glad I found it. I was so dying to try a black pepper sauce and didn’t want to get it from a jar.
I used top sirloin and it turned out just fine. I also added mushrooms and replaced the regular onion for green, other then that, didn’t change a thing. Definitely making this again! Thanks but shall be adding bok choy simply because I loved the subtle crunch.
Happy to hear that! Yes it’s always a great idea to add a few healthy greens to the meal.
Bookmarked this to cook for lunch tomorrow! Looks yumms
Thanks Angela! Hope you like it!
Can you put water chestnuts and bamboo shoots in this dish. If so do you have to increase the sauce? Will be trying this tomorrow, the black pepper got me. Thanks in advance. Emmet
Yes Emmet, you can add water chestnuts and bamboo shoots for sure. If using quite a lot, add more sauce proportionally. Happy cooking!
I made that today and put water chestnuts and bamboo shoots and doubled the sauce, delicious. My wife who is thai loved it. I uploaded a photo on Instagram looks pretty good if I say so myself. I’m glad I found your site and will be trying other recipes soon. Thanks Emmet
That’s great to hear! Happy cooking Emmet!
Hi, I have a question about the starch component of the marinade. In fact, as it is so common in Chinese style marinades, it’s a problem I encounter quite often.
After applying this kind of marinade, when I stir fry the meat in some vagatable oil, combined with the remnants of the marinade on the meat, the whole becomes a kind of sludgy sauce which overall is not that appetizing.
It might be the kind of starch I’m using but it’s a regular “maizena” product, a very fine white powder.
Do you recognize this? It’s one of my biggest problems while cooking Chinese food.
Thanks, Paul.
Hi Paul! I suggest you mix/rub the marinated meat more as all the marinade liquid should be fully absorbed by the meat and there isn’t any remnants. Also, make sure you keep the heat high while stir-frying so the moisture in the meat can be locked in.