Beef in black bean sauce

• servings: 4 servings
• active time: 20 minutes
• total time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup (75g) preserved black beans (salted black beans, fermented black beans, Note 1)

400g/14 oz beef rump steak (US: top sirloin) (, thinly sliced 3mm / 0.1" (Note 2)

1 brown onion (, medium size, cut into 2.5cm/1" squares)

1 green capsicum (bell pepper), medium size, cut into 2.5cm/1" squares)

1 tbsp garlic (, finely minced with a knife ~ 4 cloves (Note 3)

1/2 cup peanut oil (or vegetable, canola) (Note 4)

1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing wine) (Note 5)

1 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 6)

1 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 6)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp cornflour / cornstarch

1/4 tsp baking soda (bi-carbonate) (Note 7)

1 tbsp sesame oil (toasted ie brown, not untoasted which is yellow)

1 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 6)

2 tsp white sugar

2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch (20g)

1 cup water

White rice

Directions

Abbreviated recipe:

Marinade beef 1 hour, soak beans, mix sauce. Shallow fry beef 30 seconds, remove. Discard all but 3 tbsp oil. Add and cook in this order: black beans 20 seconds, garlic 10 seconds, onion + capsicum 1 minute, beef 1 minute, cooking wine 30 seconds, sauce 1 minute or until thickened. Serve!

Marinade beef:

Mix the marinade ingredients EXCEPT sesame oil in a bowl. Add beef, mix to coat. Add sesame oil, mix again.

Marinade - Refrigerate to marinade for 1 hour.

Preparation:

Soak beans - Put the salted black beans in a medium bowl and cover with water. Set aside for 30 minutes to 1 hour to soak, then drain.

Mix sauce - Put the cornflour, soy sauce and sugar in a jug or small bowl. Mix until lump free then mix in the water. Set aside.

Cooking:

Cook beef - Heat the oil in a wok (or non stick pan) over high heat. Add the beef and cook, tossing, for 30 seconds until it changes from red to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate.

Discard most of the oil in the wok, keep just 3 tablespoons.

Aromatics - Return the wok to high heat. Add the black beans and stir for 20 seconds, then add the garlic and stir for 10 seconds. Add the capsicum and onion, cook for 1 minute.

Beef - Add beef and any juices pooled on the plate, toss for 1 minute. Pour the Chinese cooking wine around the sides of the wok so it runs down into the beef then toss for 30 seconds (Note 8)

Sauce - Pour the sauce in, then stir and let it bubble for 1 minute or until the sauce thickens, is shiny and coats the beef beautifully.

Serve - Pour into a serving bowl and serve with rice!

Nutrition

• Calories: 421 kcal
• Total Fat: 22 g
• Saturated Fat: 5 g
• Unsaturated Fat: 16 g
• Cholesterol: 61 mg
• Sodium: 1740 mg
• Total Carbohydrate: 16 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Total Sugars: 4 g
• Protein: 24 g