Home > Recipe > Stir Fried Beef in Black Bean Sauce
Stir Fried Beef in Black Bean Sauce
A classic stir fry.

A good black bean sauce should be thick and chunky. Avoid purchasing a sauce that is overly smooth or over processed as its flavours won't be as intense (or as authentic)

Serve with rice

Serves 4

Recipe Ingredients
2 Tblsp vegetable oil
450g / 1lb lean beef steak
4-5 cloves garlic
225g / 9oz broccoli
1 cucumber

For the sauce:
5 Tblsp black bean sauce
1 Tblsp light soy
1 Tblsp shaosing wine (or sweet white wine)
2 Tsp sugar

Mise-en-Place:
Slice the beef steaks into thin strips
Cut the broccoli into small florets,
Slice the cucumber in half, then cut each half into chunky slices
Peel and chop the garlic
Mix all the sauce ingredients together

Cooking Method:
In a wok or large frying pan over a high heat:
Heat the oil until it starts to smoke
Add the garlic and brown off (it will quickly brown so be careful not to burn it)
Once the garlic has browned immediately add the beef (which will stop the garlic from burning)
Stir fry the beef for 2-3 minutes
Add the broccoli and cucumber, stir fry for a further minute
Add all of the sauce ingredients and reduce the heat.
Stir fry for a further 30 seconds
Serve

Adjust:
The black bean sauce should be rich, smoky, deep in flavour and slightly sweet.
Too thin: Increase the heat to thicken the sauce / or add more black bean sauce
Too thick: Add a little water
Too bland: Add more soy sauce or a pinch of salt
Too shallow: More than likely you didn't add enough garlic, or you failed to brown the garlic off before adding the beef. To fix add more black bean sauce and soy, then heat rapidly until the sauce reduces and thickens producing a more intense flavour

Presentation:
Either serve the rice in a wide bowl and spoon the stir fry over
Or
Serve the rice separately and serve the stir fry in a deep bowl

Chef Tip: Feel free to change the main ingredients to your hearts content, this stir fry sauce is very versatile and lends itself very well to fish and most vegetables