Beef in black bean sauce
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Serves 2–3
An authentic version of the classic beef in black bean sauce from Jeremy Pang. This recipe uses feremented black soy beans, which you can find in Asian supermarkets, online and in large supermarkets. They give great flavour to the dish – far superior to anything you'll find in a jar of black bean sauce.
By Jeremy Pang
Ingredients
For the marinated beef
- steak: 300g/10½oz rib-eye or rump steak
- sesame oil: 1 tsp sesame oil
- sugar: 1 tsp sugar
- five-spice powder: 1 pinch Chinese five-spice powder
- soy sauce: 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- cornflour: 1 tbsp cornflour
For the sauce
- oyster sauce: 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- soy sauce: 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- rice wine: 2 tbsp rice wine
- chicken stock: 1 ladleful chicken stock, water, beer or lager (about 5 tablespoons)
For the stir fry
- beans: 2 tsp salted fermented black soy beans
- garlic: 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ginger: 3cm/1¼in fresh root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- onion: ½ brown onion, sliced
- pepper: ½ green or red pepper, sliced
- spring onion: 1 spring onion, roughly chopped, plus extra to garnish (optional)
- cavolo nero: 3 cavolo nero or kale leaves, roughly chopped
- vegetable oil: 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- fresh coriander: chopped fresh coriander, to garnish (optional)
Method
To make the beef, bash the beef slices with a meat mallet, the side of a heavy knife or a rolling pin to flatten, then finely slice into strips. Combine the sesame oil, sugar, Chinese five-spice powder, soy sauce and cornflour in a small bowl. Place the beef in a large bowl and massage the marinade well into the meat until well covered and there is no sauce left at the bottom of the bowl.
To make the sauce, place all of the ingredients for the sauce in a small bowl and mix together well.
To make the stir fry, put the black soy beans in a small bowl or ramekin and cover with boiling water (about 2–3 tablespoons water) and leave to soak for about 10 minutes. Drain through a sieve and then crush in a pestle and mortar with the garlic and ginger until you have a coarse paste. Transfer back to the ramekin.
Get all the remaining stir fry ingredients to hand (the stir fry is cooked very quickly so you need everything ready to add to the wok).
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok over a high heat and once smoking hot, add the onions, peppers and spring onion. Cook for 1 minute, then add the cavolo nero and continue to stir-fry for a minute. At this point, transfer the vegetables out of the wok to a bowl to make space for stir-frying the beef. Add the remaining oil to the wok and bring it back to a high heat. Once smoking hot, add the beef to the wok and press down with a spatula to separate out the pieces. Do not turn the beef too quickly, just press down to sear the pieces for 30 seconds–1 minute and then turn once and sear the other side of the beef in the same way. Once browned on both sides, add the soy bean mixture and stir-fry for 1 minute before returning the vegetables back to the wok.
Ensure the wok is at a high heat before pouring the sauce into the wok and bringing to a vigorous boil. Boil while stirring for a further minute. Garnish with spring onion or coriander and serve immediately.
