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.
Loved it! I’m vegetarian so I used mushroom sauce instead of oyster and veggie “beef”
Turned out great. Thanks!
Thank you Shane for sharing your vegetarian twist!
This recipe was sooo good! I used a cheap cut of meat and only put it in the baking soda for 15 min. I also added some honey as I like it sweeter. It’s a winner!
Very happy to hear that!
Dear Wei, thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Delicious, wonderful, amazing recipe!! I loooved how the meat turned out even when I had a cheaper cut, awesome trick! Again, thanks a lot for this one!
Greetings from Venezuela
You’re welcome Patty!
Soooooooo good
Succulent
Delicious and tender! My whole family loved this.
My new favorite stir fry. So easy and so delicious.
Lovely to hear your feedback Denice!
Excellent dish! First one I have tried from this site. I will be making it again. I use a carbon steel wok outside on a propane turkey fryer burner. I find that American stoves just don’t get hot enough for wok cooking. Hopefully that tip helps out some people with heating issues. I made this with sirloin steak and served it over Jasmin rice, so I doubled the sauce recipe as others advised. My wife ate all of her plate, and then started eating off my plate. That’s a for sure sign of a winning recipe!
Glad you’ve enjoyed the dish Mike! Thank you for your input on wok frying. Yes, you’d need sufficient heat power to achieve the optimal result.
Tried this out for the first time, and it was tasty, but I made some mistakes. I used beef shank, as that’s what I had. The meat turned out tender, but I think I messed up the velveting part a bit. Should it remain in the fridge during those 2 hours? Should I pat dry it afterwards? When I added the marinade, the meat released a lot of liquid, and then some more when frying. It ended up more braised than fried. I took the liquid out and added it at the last stage, but I have no idea what I did wrong. Any ideas?
My boyfriend and I love Chinese food, so we’re determined to learn how to make at least some basic meals 🙂 Looking forward to repeating this one! Thank you for the recipe!
Glad you’ve enjoyed the dish! To reduce the liquid: 1. Stir the meat with the marinade very well so that the liquid is “beaten” into the meat. You don’t need to marinate it for 2 hours (10 mins would be enough). 2. Make sure the wok is super hot and the heat is turned to the maximum. Prolonged cooking over gentle heat will cause the moisture to escape from the meat. Hope this helps.
I just finished gobbling this dish down. Sooooo delish. Beef in black pepper sauce has always been one of my favourite dishes. And once I learned about velveting, it was a total game changer for cooking stir fry at home.
I typically like my sauce a little runnier so it soaks into the rice bed a little more. I’ll just cut back on the corn starch next time since it’s in both the marinade and sauce.
Thanks for the recipe. It’s super yummy! 👍
Glad that you enjoyed the dish! Yes, just reduce the cornstarch if you prefer more sauce on the rice. Happy cooking Reid!
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.