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.
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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.
Other quick stir-fries
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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 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon ginger, julienned
For the sauce
- 3 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoon water
You also need
- 2 tablespoon 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 1/2 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
Your Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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!
Bookmarked this to cook for lunch tomorrow! Looks yumms
Thanks Angela! Hope you like it!
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.
Very good and thumbs up from the family. will be a regular for sure
That’s great news to hear!
This was so good! I we’ll defiantly make this again! Thank you for the recipe.
My pleasure Claudia. Stay safe & Happy cooking!
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 looks so tasty! Will try this recipe today.
Thanks Evans!
Wei, fab dish, work colleagues were very happy bunnies again , thank you
My pleasure John! Glad you have impressed your colleagues with this dish.
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.
Made this tonight, amazing! Family loved it
Great news! Thank you for trying out my recipe.