Beef in Black Bean Sauce

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Beef in Black Bean Sauce must be one of the most requested Chinese dishes in either a restaurant or a take away. Thin slices of tender, silky beef and crispy chunks of onion and green pepper are all swathed in a smooth, rich black bean and soy sauce loaded with garlic, ginger and a hint of chilli. I promise that if you make this dish, you will be convinced that you have ordered it directly from your favourite takeaway.

Preserved Black Beans

Whilst this dish tastes deliciously authentic, the majority of ingredients in this recipe are readily available in large supermarkets in the UK. However, you may need to go to a specialist Asian store or order the preserved black beans on line. Also referred to as salted black beans, or fermented black beans, I order these from Amazon. It is important to note that you cannot use Western dried or tinned black beans.

How to make Beef in Black Bean Sauce

Where is this recipe from?

This recipe is slightly adapted from one by Recipe Tin Eats. The changes I made are minor but they better reflect the version of this dish that we are accustomed to and buy from our favourite Chinese restaurant. You can see the original recipe here, should you prefer to try this version. If you haven’t come across Recipe Tin Eats before, I highly recommend you take a look. It is an incredible site with a wealth of fabulous and authentic recipes, all clearly explained with wonderful photography and videos.

The changes I have made include:

• replacing the light soy sauce in the beef marinade with all-purpose soy sauce to add a slightly deeper flavour.
• similarly, in the sauce, I replaced and increased the light soy sauce with all-purpose soy sauce and added a small quantity of dark soy sauce as well.
• I also added some dried chilli flakes to the sauce to give it a slightly spicy kick. You can omit this or add more, according to your own personal taste.
• I introduced some ginger into the stir fry.
• I reduced the quantity of oil. Nagi fries the beef in 125ml oil, as per the classic recipe. She then discarded all but 3 tablespoons of oil, after the beef has been cooked. I prefer to sauté the beef and use much less oil, although this may not be so traditional.

Collect the ingredients together:

Tenderising Beef Marinade –

• all-purpose soy sauce
• dark soy sauce
• oyster sauce
• Chinese/Shaoxing cooking wine. Or use cooking sake or sherry. Omit if you do not drink alcohol.
• cornflour/cornstarch
• bicarbonate of soda/baking soda – a really important ingredient which tenderises the meat
• toasted/dark sesame oil (not the pale untoasted sesame oil)
• rump steak, thinly sliced. I have also used fillet steak for this recipe. It is easier to thinly slice the steak when it is cold from the fridge, but it is better to cook meat when it has come to room temperature. (Go to the original recipe here for more information on different types of beef which can be used and how to tenderise more economical cuts.)

Sauce –

• all-purpose soy sauce
• dark soy sauce
• caster sugar
• chilli flakes, depending on taste
• cornflour/cornstarch
• water

Stir fry –

• preserved black beans – also known as salted black beans, or fermented black beans. I use these beans from Amazon. You cannot use Western dried or tinned black beans. (For more information about these beans go to the original recipe here.)
• brown or white onion, peeled and cut into 2 – 2½ cm squares
• green pepper/capsicum, stem and seeds removed, cut into 2 – 2½ cm squares
• cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped (I use a mini food processor.)
• fresh ginger, finely chopped. No need to peel. (I use a mini food processor.)
• peanut or vegetable oil, or use canola.
• Chinese/Shaoxing cooking wine, or use cooking sake or sherry. Omit if you do not drink alcohol.

How to make this delicious fake away

NB In order to allow time for marinating and soaking ingredients, you need to start making this dish around an hour before you want to cook it.

1. Marinate the beef: mix all the marinade ingredients together, toss in the beef and set aside for at least of 1 hour.
2. Make the sauce: I make the sauce at the same time as I make the meat marinade as it uses pretty much the same ingredients. Mix all the ingredients, apart from the water, together and mix to a smooth paste. Mix in the water and set aside.
3. Soak the beans: cover the beans with water and set aside to soak for 30 minutes to an hour. Drain well before cooking.
4. Prepare the garlic, ginger, onion and pepper. This recipe comes together very quickly so make sure everything is ready before you start to cook.
5. Cook: heat the oil a wok/frying pan, large enough to take all the ingredients, over a high heat:
   • Beef – tip in the beef and marinade and cook for 30 seconds, tossing all the time. Remove from the pan.
   • Black beans, well strained – add to the pan and cook for 20 – 30 seconds.
   • Garlic and ginger – add and cook for a further 10 seconds.
   • Onion and green pepper – tip into the pan and cook for 1 minute.
   • Beef – return the beef to the pan and heat for 1 minute.
   • Cooking wine – add to the pan, cook and stir for 30 seconds. The traditional way to do this is to pour it around the edges of the pan as this cooks the wine before hitting the food.
   • Sauce – give the sauce a good stir and pour into the pan. Cook for another minute, stirring, until thickened and everything is piping hot.
6. Serve: serve over cooked sticky rice.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.