Beef with Black Bean Sauce

Beef with Black Bean Sauce. Ultra tender juicy beef stir fried in a delicious savory black bean garlic sauce with bell peppers, snow peas, and ginger. Ready in 30 minutes.

This will be the best black bean beef recipe you'll ever make at home! Better than takeout and simple to make. Perfect as a meal with white rice or brown rice or noodles. Great for meal prep as well! 

What is Beef with Black Bean Sauce?

Beef with Black Bean Sauce is a scrumptious and popular stir fry dish in Chinese food. It's commonly served at many Chinese restaurants. This tasty beef stir fry dish is made of beef that has been tenderized through a special marinade.

Then it's stir fried with red pepper, snap beans, and fresh ginger in a flavorful black bean sauce. The black bean sauce recipe consists of black bean paste, oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, cornstarch, and chicken stock. 

​How do you get the beef so tender?

The secret ingredient to getting any cut of beef so tender in Chinese cooking is a combination of baking soda, corn starch and a neutral oil. By marinating the beef like this, you'll have the most tender beef just like at Chinese restaurant!

The right cut of beef also helps. The best beef cut for a tender beef stir fry is flank steak. The restaurants will usually marinate their beef the night before or at least a couple of hours prior to frying. However, with my marinade, you'll only need to marinade for 20 minutes. 

However, you may use any cut of beef with a similar profile and less fat marbling through it. Some suggestions are skirt steak, hanger steak, flat iron steak, tri-tip steak, sirloin flap steak.

Easy Recipe

This Beef with Black Bean Sauce is simple to make at home! The cooking time takes less than 7 minutes. Most of the time goes towards preparing the ingredients and marinating the beef. 

Ingredients

You’ll need the below ingredients for black bean beef stir fry recipe. Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements. 

Note: Most Asian grocery stores will carry these ingredients. You may find some at your select grocery store or online, like on Amazon.

• Flank steak: For an ultra tender beef stir fry, I prefer using flank steak. Although I know this can be pricy, so here are a few beef substitutes to consider skirt steak, hanger steak, flat iron steak, tri-tip steak, sirloin flap steak.
• Red bell pepper: or substitute with any colored bell pepper of your choice. You may also substitute with other vegetables like broccoli, carrots, zucchini, or celery. 
• Snow peas: or substitute with snap peas. 
• Garlic: to add a wonderful garlicky flavor to this dish. 
• Ginger: to add a sharp zing to the beef stir fry. 
• Cold water: a splash of water to help cook the vegetables faster. 
• Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils. 

Beef Marinade:

• Regular soy sauce: aka all-purpose soy sauce. The label will simply say "soy sauce". This is different from dark soy sauce, which is darker in color and thicker in viscosity. You may also substitute with light soy sauce. 
• Cornstarch: to help lock the moisture in the beef making it super juicy. 
• Shaoxing wine: a Chinese rice wine used in Chinese cooking. Most Chinese grocery stores will carry it. You may also substitute with rice vinegar or rice wine vinegar, which are the same thing. 
• Baking soda: the key ingredient to break down the protein strands in the beef making it super tender! 
• White pepper, or sub with black pepper 
• Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil, coconut oil or any heavy scented oils. 

Stir-fry Sauce Mixture:

• Black Bean Garlic Sauce: the key ingredient to our dish! Black bean garlic sauce is made of fermented black beans. Fermented black bean sauce has a very thick chunky texture. In addition, the black bean mixture is very dark brown in color. It also consists of soy sauce (made from black soybeans), water, sugar, salt, oil, and other additives to make it shelf stable. I like using Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Garlic Sauce. Most Asian grocers will carry this ingredient in their sauce aisle. 

• Oyster sauce: or substitute with vegetarian stir fry sauce if you're prefer no seafood taste. This is a thick dark brown sauce that is savory and umami in taste. Do not confuse it with hoisin sauce, which is a sweet barbecue sauce.
• White granulated sugar: to help balance the saltiness from the black bean sauce and other seasonings. 
• Shaoxing wine: a Chinese rice wine used in Chinese cooking. You can find at most Chinese grocery stores. You may also substitute with rice vinegar or rice wine vinegar, which are the same thing. 
• Sesame oil: to add a nutty taste and aroma. If you're allergic, feel free to omit. 
• Cornstarch: to help thicken our sauce mixture. You may substitute with potato starch, tapioca starch, or rice flour. 
• Chicken stock, unsalted: or substitute with beef stock, vegetable stock or as a last resort water.

How to Make Beef with Black Bean Sauce

​Thinly slice flank steak against the grain. Slices should be just less than ¼-inch thick. Transfer steak slices into a medium bowl. Optional tip: to slice steak very thinly, freeze thawed flank steak for 45-60 mins. Once it’s hardened on the surface, slice with a sharp knife. 

Marinate beef with Marinade ingredients as listed above for 20 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine Stir Fry Sauce ingredients. Set aside. 

In a wok or large frying pan on medium heat, heat oil or any neutral oil. Fry marinated beef in hot oil in a single layer until 95% cooked. Remove and set aside. 

Increase to medium-high heat, add ginger, garlic, red bell pepper, snow peas into pan. Then add cold water. Cook until veggies are crisp but tender, about 1 minute.

Pour in stir fry sauce. Mix with veggies. Simmer sauce to thicken. 

Once sauce has thickened, add back in cooked beef. Toss everything together. Serve and enjoy! 

Storage

This black bean beef dish will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container with a secured lid in the fridge. You may reheat on the stovetop in a large skillet or microwave for 2-3 minutes until hot. 

FAQ

What is the best cut for Beef with Black Bean Sauce?

For an ultra tender beef stir fry, I prefer using flank steak. This cut can be pricy, so here are a few beef substitutes to consider: 

• skirt steak
• hanger steak
• flat iron steak
• tri-tip steak
• sirloin flap steak

You may even use ground beef if you wish!

​Can I use add or use other vegetables?

Yes, feel free to use any of the suggested veggies: 

• green or yellow bell peppers
• carrots
• broccoli
• snow peas
• button mushrooms
• celery 
• green onion or spring onions
• white onions

How can I make this Beef with Black Bean Sauce spicy?

Simple, add 1-2 teaspoon of chili powder to the stir fry sauce mixture or feel free to toss in chopped jalapeño pepper as you cook the other vegetables. 

Other recipes you may enjoy!

If you enjoyed this recipe, you may like these other stir fry recipes:

• Chicken and Broccoli
• Beef and Broccoli
• Black Pepper Chicken
• Black Pepper Beef
• Shrimp & Broccoli Stir Fry
• Panda Express Mushroom Chicken Stir Fry