black pepper beef

Learn how to make Black Pepper Beef, a Chinese classic! 

Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry (黑椒牛柳)

oz beef

bell pepper

red onions

garlic

tsp black pepper

cornstarch

oyster sauce

tsp light soy sauce

Shaoxing cooking wine

water

tbsp red wine

tbsp corn oil

tsp sesame oil

tsp sugar

tsp dark soy sauce

salt

Prepare beef

We'll start by trimming the fat off the edges of our beef fillet. 

Create beef marinade

In a bowl, we'll mix black pepper, cornstarch, water, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine, and red wine.

Mix and massage beef

Before we mix the beef with the marinade, we'll want to squeeze as much fluid out as we can. One of the main goals of this dish is to avoid having excess fluid or sauce pooling when we're done cooking it.

Cut vegetables

For our vegetables, we'll be mincing garlic, and slicing up a variety of bell peppers and red onion for color. For each bell pepper, we'll only be using about 1/4 to 1/3 of each, so if you'd rather just stick to one color and use up a whole entire bell pepper, that's fine too.

Create sauce

Next, we'll create the sauce for our black pepper beef. We'll be mixing cornstarch, water, sugar, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, red wine, salt, oyster sauce, and Shaoxing cooking wine.

Add oil to meat, heat wok

We'll set our stove to high heat and let our wok heat up for about 2-3 minutes. Once our wok is hot enough, we'll add about 2 tbsp of corn oil, or any oil with a high smoke point, until the oil is shimmering, or forming ripples across the surface.

Cook everything in stages

Restaurants are able to get away with tossing everything all at once, since they have much more powerful stoves and larger woks. 

Try a taste, plate

My dad always tries a taste to see if it needs any adjustments. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kflu77dvQc0&&list=PLvd5bo3J-_kq4FcYVCOK6ZR87dCGDqrSH&index=2

Tender Chinese black pepper beef stir fry covered in glossy and flavourful black pepper sauce with sweet and crisp fresh capsicums and onions! Perfect healthy stir fry for those busy weeknights. Serve with rice.

Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry (黑椒牛肉)

beef

½ red capsicum (aka red bell pepper, cut into bite-sized squares)

½ green capsicum (aka green bell pepper, cut into bite-sized squares)

brown onion

garlic (minced)

onions

tbsp neutral-tasting oil (eg. canola, sunflower

soy sauce

tbsp cornflour (aka cornstarch)

¼ tsp black pepper

tbsp ginger (minced)

½ tbsp soy sauce

½ tbsp cornflour (aka cornstarch)

½ tsp sesame oil

In a large bowl, combine beef with beef marinade ingredients. Mix well and set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.

Marinate beef

In a medium-sized bowl, combine all black pepper sauce ingredients. Mix well until the cornflour has dissolved. Set aside.

Make black pepper sauce

Add oil to a large, preheated wok or frying pan over high heat. Swirl the wok in a circular motion until well coated with oil.

Once the wok is very hot (note 2), add marinated beef cubes and spread it out into a single layer. Sizzle over high heat for ~45 seconds without flipping. So no touching! With a spatula, flip the beef over and sizzle the other side for 45 seconds. Then, remove the beef into a bowl and set aside. (note 3)

In the same wok (no need to wash), add capsicums, onion and garlic. Stir fry over high heat for ~2 minutes. Add beef back into the wok along with all the juices. Stir fry for about 15 seconds. (note 4)

With a small spoon, mix the black pepper sauce again (the cornflour would have settled to the bottom of the bowl). Pour the sauce into the wok and add spring onions. Stir fry for a final 30 seconds until the sauce is glossy and thick.

Make black pepper beef

A simple delicious recipe for Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy - a tasty vegan meal that can be made in under 30 minutes!

Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy

corn starch

oil oil

peppercorns

—–

shallot,

garlic, rough chopped

baby bok choy

green onions,

Chinese Cooking Wine (Shaoxing Rice Wine)

brown sugar (or sub palm sugar, coconut sugar

chili paste (optional)

Cut tofu into cubes and blot dry with paper towels, pressing down gently.

Make the stir-fry sauce, stirring ingredients together in a small until most of the sugar dissolves. Place it by the stove.

Dredge the tofu in a light coating of cornstarch (cornstarch is optional, but provides a crispier texture).

Heat oil in a wok or large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat and add the salt and crushed peppercorns to the oil, swirling it around until fragrant, about one minute.

Add the tofu to the seasoned oil, and sear on all sides until golden and crispy, turning the heat down if need be. Be patient and take your time, it will take about 5-6 minutes.

Set the crispy tofu aside on a paper towel-lined plate, and wipe the pan out.

Heat another teaspoon or two of oil over medium heat, and add shallots, garlic and bok choy. Stir continuously until bok choy begins to wilt and shallots become golden, about 3-4 minutes. It will smell amazing.  Add the wok sauce to the pan, careful to get all the sugar that may have settled in the bowl.

Simmer for a couple of minutes, or until bok choy is just tender.

At the very very end, toss the tofu back into the pan with scallions, bok choy and sauce ( just long enough to coat, only a few seconds.) Cooking any longer will remove the amazing crispiness! Taste for salt and heat, adjusting to your preference.

Serve immediately, diving between two bowls.

I love the simplicity of this recipe and I wanted to love it, but it just needs something else. I tried adding Szechuan peppercorns and Gochujang but it still wasn't all that. Maybe some 5 spice powder on the tofu prior to frying? Maybe add some grated ginger and sesame oil to the sauce?  The tofu does get soggy fast.  I wouldn't toss it in the sauce if you want it to stay crunchy.  I added the fried tofu on top instead of in the sauce to help retain the crunch.

This has become one of our go-to staples that we make for ourselves and visitors who dont normally eat plant based meals. Perfection!

Wow! I was pleasantly surprised by the flavour! This was a hit at dinner tonight. I live in a tiny mountain town in BC, so unless it's the growing season, we can't always get the exact produce for recipes (I'd take our local organic anyway over the inconvenience). I substituted boc choy for broccoli and green cabbage, which got a light steaming before going in the wok. I didn't have green onion, so I added extra shallot. I served this over the pad thai style rice noodles. Winning! Looking forward to spring bok choy to try this again :)

Made it tonight, delicious, my husband loved it too!

Absolutely delicious! I did use a tablespoon of peppercorns which I then smashed with a rolling pin and added a good bit of minced ginger and some red and gold bell pepper for color—otherwise followed your directions exactly. We loved it!

Quick and tasty! I used high protein tofu and it cooked up really well. Not super crispy, but I don’t mind my tofu a little soft. Thank you for your delicious recipes!!

Another winner! I love learning new tricks and tips like seasoning the oil, using fresh cracked pepper, dredging the tofu, etc... I can see how adaptive this recipe can be. I love the bok choy , but can easily imagine this working great with a variety of veg. I tried this without the cornstarch but still seasoning the oil, and was still good (about half as good). Is there a trick to crushing the peppercorns that doesn't result in half of them landing on the other side of the kitchen? I'm using my (usually ornamental) mortar and pestle. Also, I tend to fry the tofu on two sides well and then sort of, stir around and hope for the best with the other four sides while I prepare the other ingredients. 
Thank you for another great recipe and instructions. It does taste and feel like a clean and delicious meal!

I made this last night, following the recipe closely except the Bok Choy which I did not have.  I substituted with bell pepper and corgettes.  Absolutely delicious and another of your recipes that does not disappoint.

This was A+! 

Doubled the sauce, as I always do. Sautéed kale and shiitake first as those took a few minutes longer. I didn’t the tofu-bit of scorch at higher temp but so crispy and yummy. Took those out and did shallots, added back in kale/mushrooms, and then sauce. Then tofu. 

Topped with radish, scallion and carrots. Fabulous. Thanks!

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/EYIBxC5d.mp4

A video on how to make Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy – a simple vegan tofu stir-fry that can be made in 20 minutes flat! Serve this over Black rice for a healthy quick and easy weeknight dinner.

 Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy Video

Meant to add the 5* rating to my comment.

Top 5 black pepper beef recipes from across the web

The most viewed black pepper beef recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry (黑椒牛柳)

Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry (黑椒牛柳)

Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry (黑椒牛肉)

Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy

Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy

Top 5 black pepper beef recipes from across the web

The most viewed black pepper beef recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry (黑椒牛柳)

Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry (黑椒牛柳)

Black Pepper Beef Stir Fry (黑椒牛肉)

Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy

Black Pepper Tofu with Bok Choy

The most viewed black pepper beef recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine