
This unthinkable Beef successful Black Bean Sauce look is from Hannah, a cook astatine RecipeTin Meals, and it’s the champion I’ve ever had! Born and raised successful China, Hannah comes from a multigenerational household of chefs. So unsurprisingly, she has highly precocious standards erstwhile it comes to Chinese food!!

Beef successful achromatic legume condiment is yet here!
Beef successful achromatic legume condiment has been 1 of the astir requested scholar recipes for years, but I haven’t been brave capable to stock it due to the fact that I ne'er felt my condiment was rather right. This is simply a beloved Chinese edifice classical that needs to beryllium done properly!
As it turns retired though, we person a superb Chinese cook astatine our food bank – Chef Hannah – and we’ve been utilizing her Beef successful achromatic legume condiment look astatine RecipeTin Meals for astir a year, making meals for the vulnerable. Her look is simply a dormant ringer for golden modular Chinese restaurants – but better, because you tin sensation the ingredients more.
This is Chef Hannah, making the Beef successful Black Bean astatine RTM. Just 600 servings!



70% cheaper – and counting
The different large happening this homemade mentation has going for it is that you’ll besides prevention a weaponry – astir 70% of the cost. Higher extremity Chinese restaurants complaint implicit $30 for a serving astir one-third of the size of what this look makes. The ingredients to marque this astatine location volition outgo you little than $25. Closer to $15 if you usage the economical beef enactment which, manus connected heart, is 95% arsenic good. I was blown distant by however bully it was! More connected this successful the ingredients conception below.

Ingredients successful beef successful achromatic legume condiment
We are making the achromatic legume condiment from scratch contiguous due to the fact that it tastes mode amended than the jarred worldly which, to beryllium honest, hardly resembles the existent deal. So the cardinal constituent successful today’s look is the achromatic beans, and yes you volition request to spell to an Asian store. But they’re inexpensive ($2.50 for tiny packs), communal and volition past *forever* (though I’ll wager you usage them each up making this look implicit and implicit – effort it with chickenhearted next!).
Once you get the achromatic beans though, you’ll beryllium blessed to cognize that each the different ingredients are basal Asian condiment essentials. 🙂
1. PRESERVED achromatic beans for Chinese achromatic beans sauce
This is what preserved achromatic beans looks similar – shrivelled up raisins:


What Chinese salted achromatic beans are – black soy beans that person been fermented successful brackish which adhd savouriness and brackish into the dish. They are a small squishy – similar other steadfast raisins.
Other names – Preserved achromatic beans are besides called:
Salted oregon fermented achromatic beans
Any operation of the above: eg salted preserved achromatic beans
Black beans (in an Asian grocer, not a Western grocer – spot enactment above!)
Douchi (dòu chǐ in Mandarin or dau6si6 in Cantonese, 豆豉 – convey you for the connection acquisition Woks of Life!)
Find them astatine Asian market stores alongside pickled and vac packed vegetables. They outgo astir $2.70 for the smallest packs.
No suitable substitute that I tin deliberation of.
Not to beryllium confused with Western dried achromatic beans which are stone hard. Canned achromatic beans (ie regular Western ones) cannot beryllium used, they are not the aforesaid happening (see supra – salted achromatic beans are really soy beans!).
2. BEEF AND MARINADE
Here’s what you request for the beef and marinade.

Beef (rump steak) – The basal look calls for rump steak (US: apical sirloin) – for flavour, worth and texture. Scotch/rib oculus and porterhouse/sirloin (strip) are besides large but much expensive.
Economical cuts (65% cheaper) – leaf roast (brilliant!) and chuck enactment highly well, however, the look needs to beryllium alternated for a longer marinade clip (24 hours alternatively of 1 hour). See expandable accordion beneath for much information.
Beef options
Best beef for Beef successful Black Bean Sauce – rump
Rump steak – called apical sirloin successful the US. Reason: bully beefy flavour, bully chew but not tough, not excessively tender (fillet is excessively tender, successful my opinion), doesn’t instrumentality agelong to tenderise successful the marinade (1 hour), is 1 of the much economical steaks.
More costly steaks – scotch/rib eye, porterhouse/sirloin (strip)
These enactment conscionable arsenic good arsenic rump but they didn’t marque it better. As they are much expensive, we opted not to usage them for the basal recipe.
Best economical beef options
We’ve tested this look utilizing economical beef cuts – and the results were incredible! I was truthful excited to find however good it works with cheaper beef cuts. But there’s a drawback – you request to either marinade for longer (24 hours alternatively of 1 hour) OR usage a much assertive tenderising method (outlined below) which is faster but a two-step process (1 hr 40 minutes). See adjacent driblet down for details, oregon look card.
Here are the apical recommended economical beef chopped options:
Blade Roast ($13/kg present successful Australia, 65% cheaper than rump), besides called bolar leaf oregon chuck blade. Excellent flavour, fantabulous texture erstwhile tenderised, casual to cut, easy recovered astatine regular market stores. Full marks!
Chuck beef – came successful a adjacent second. Similar texture erstwhile tenderised but the beef flavour is not rather arsenic beardown and it is simply a small much fiddly to portion (fat and tendons get successful the way).
Brisket – Haven’t tried specifically for this look but fixed the supra 2 enactment truthful good and having extensively tested assorted beef cuts for baking soda tenderising times successful my 2nd cookbook, Tonight, I americium assured it volition work.
Gravy beef volition enactment but due to the fact that of the mode the nutrient fibres run, it tin beryllium fiddly to chopped stir-fry-size nutrient strips.
Other economical cuts – topside (called circular steak oregon roast successful the US and UK – bottom, top, eye)
Blade roast is simply a dilatory cooking chopped of nutrient which comes from the aforesaid country of the cattle arsenic chuck beef that is commonly utilized for stews and akin dilatory cooked recipes. In Australia it is usually sold successful roast / artifact signifier ~1.5kg+/3lb. So you’ll person to bargain much than you request for a azygous batch of this recipe, but it freezes perfectly for each your aboriginal beef disturbance fry needs! It’s besides a chopped that is casual to portion into tons of bladed pieces for disturbance fries due to the fact that it’s not ribboned with sinew and abdominous that tin beryllium fiddly to chopped around. Find it astatine regular market stores!
Chuck beef is not arsenic azygous successful signifier arsenic leaf and requires a spot much fiddling to chopped astir sinew and abdominous to get the beef slices. Also, the beef flavour is not rather arsenic strong. Because of these reasons, it came successful second!
How to change this look for economical beef cuts
Use either of these 2 methods if you’d similar to usage the economical beef cuts for this recipe:
Extended marinade – Follow the look arsenic written, but permission the beef to marinade for 24 hours alternatively than 1 hour.
Two-step accelerated tenderise – Toss the plain beef slices with 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda and acceptable speech for 40 minutes to tenderise (this is basal beef velveting – much accusation here). Rinse successful a colander, shingle and pat disconnected excess water. Then marinade per look but permission retired the baking soda and proceed with the look arsenic written.
Why we enactment truthful overmuch effort into economical beef options for this recipe
Because this look calls for a just magnitude of beef (400g/14oz) compared to regular beef disturbance fries (typically 200g/7oz oregon less). Also, this is an iconic crockery and I privation everyone to beryllium capable to bask this without worrying astir cost.
JB made 6 versions of this look broadside by broadside utilizing assorted cuts of beef and antithetic tenderising methods, utilizing the cognition and erstwhile investigating I’ve done connected velveting beef, some for this website (velveting beef station here) and my cookbook Tonight which has a treble leafage cheat expanse connected however to tenderise nutrient for disturbance fries.
We knew it could beryllium done for Beef successful Black Bean Sauce and expected it to beryllium beauteous bully – say, 85% arsenic bully which, if you tin prevention much than 50% connected the outgo of beef, is inactive rather good, successful my view.
We did not expect it to beryllium arsenic bully arsenic it is! Hand connected heart, I honestly accidental that leaf is 95% arsenic bully arsenic rump steak. We were truthful amazed, and truthful excited to beryllium capable to stock this extremity successful today’s recipe!
Beef tenderloin – deliberation it’s wasted for this recipe
Tender, precise lean, astir costly chopped of beef, we consciousness it’s wasted successful disturbance fries. Hannah really made this look utilizing tenderloin but said she didn’t similar it – the beef doesn’t colour nicely, it besides gets a small too weirdly tender erstwhile tenderised (which you inactive person to bash due to the fact that successful disturbance fries, immoderate bladed portion of beef overcooks) and it besides doesn’t person a precise beardown beef flavour truthful it gets wholly overwhelmed by the sauce.
Beef cuts not recommended for this recipe
skirt
flank
similar cuts fashionable successful South American grilling
pre chopped disturbance fry strips
cheek
short rib / beef rib
shank
minute steak / sizzle steak (ie the precise bladed steaks)

Marinade
Baking soda (bicarbonate) – A tiny magnitude (just 1/4 teaspoons) mixed into the marinade tenderises the beef beautifully truthful it stays soft. Without, the beef volition overcook and go tough. I tried and proven tenderising method utilized liberally successful my Asian recipes!
Light soy condiment – You tin substitute with an each intent soy sauce. But not acheronian soy condiment – flavour is excessively beardown and the colour is excessively intense! More connected which soy condiment to usage erstwhile here.
Dark soy condiment – Stains the beef and adds much aggravated soy flavour than airy soy. You tin substitute with much airy soy condiment but the beef colour volition not beryllium the aforesaid and the flavour volition beryllium a small lighter.
Oyster condiment – A staple Asian condiment that adds complexity, flavour and umami each astatine once. Made from oyster extract that is sweet, salty, heavy and pungent, but doesn’t sensation oyster-y oregon fishy astatine each erstwhile cooked. Can beryllium substituted with shellfish escaped alternate – vegetarian “oyster” sauce, adjacent recovered astatine regular market stores these days.
Cornflour / cornstarch – This makes the beef navigator truthful it has a bladed film-like coating connected it which makes it benignant of slippery, conscionable similar you get astatine Chinese restaurants.
3. THE STIR FRY AND SAUCE
Here’s what you request for the condiment and the vegetables successful the disturbance fry. The condiment is precise elemental and lone uses 1 tablespoonful of soy condiment due to the fact that this crockery gets astir of its flavour from the achromatic beans.

Chinese cooking wine (“Shaoxing wine”)- indispensable constituent for making genuinely “restaurant standard” Chinese dishes. Substitute with cooking involvement oregon adust sherry. Non alcoholic substitute – substitute fractional the h2o with debased sodium chickenhearted stock/broth.
Light soy – spot notes successful the supra section. Don’t usage acheronian soy sauce, it’s excessively intense!
Cornflour / cornstarch – thickens the condiment and makes it shiny.
Sugar – to get the close sweetness successful the sauce
Water – rather a lot, a full cup! There’s a batch of disturbance fry. We request plentifulness of sauce!
Green capsicum / doorbell capsicum – the accepted colour for beef successful achromatic legume present successful Australia. Feel escaped to spell chaotic and usage reddish oregon yellowish if you want. 😳 (I’m not rebellious enough).
Onion and garlic – Try to find a disturbance fry look connected my website that doesn’t person these. (You won’t!). The bulb is chopped into squares which is the accepted signifier utilized for this crockery successful Chinese restaurants.
Oil – for cooking. Peanut oil, canola, rootlike lipid – thing with a neutral flavour.
How to marque Beef successful achromatic legume sauce
The beef needs 1 hr to marinade to infuse with flavour and tenderise. Use this clip to soak the achromatic beans and hole the different ingredients. The cooking portion itself takes hardly 10 minutes!
1. Marinade

Slice – Finely portion the beef into 3mm / 0.1″ heavy pieces.
Pro extremity (optional): If you conscionable portion steak, the beef pieces are rather skinny. For bully ample pieces aka edifice style, chopped 2.5 x 4cm pieces (1 x 1.5″) pieces retired of the steak, basal connected its broadside past portion finely truthful you get larger 2.5 x 4cm pieces (1 x 1.5″) slices.
Marinade – Mix each the marinade ingredients but the sesame oil. Then flip to overgarment the beef, past adhd the sesame lipid and toss. Adding the sesame lipid aboriginal helps to “seal” the marinade ingredients into the beef.
Marinade for 1 hr successful the fridge. (Remember: if utilizing economical beef, marinade 24 hours).
2. SOAKING the preserved achromatic BEANS

Soak achromatic beans successful h2o for 30 minutes to 1 hour. They volition plump up and soften truthful they’re pleasant to wound into and merchandise much flavour into the sauce.
Drain – Then drain successful a colander and conscionable enactment it speech until acceptable to cook.
3. HOW TO COOK BEEF IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE
For existent edifice style, the beef needs to beryllium shallow fried which makes the aboveground of the beef slippery and softer than sautéing. However, I committedness you are inactive going to emotion this if you opt to conscionable sauté successful a small lipid instead!

Shallow fry beef – Heat the lipid implicit precocious vigor successful a wok past navigator the beef for 1 infinitesimal until it changes from reddish to brown. If opting for the little lipid option, conscionable vigor 2 tablespoons of lipid past disturbance the beef for 45 seconds similar you’re making a regular beef disturbance fry, until the aboveground of each the beef is cooked.
Cooking vas – Wok works champion due to the fact that you get much lipid extent though it works good successful a cookware too. Use a ample heavy 1 arsenic this look makes a reasonably generous amount!
Remove the beef utilizing a slotted spoon onto a plate.

Discard most of the lipid but support 3 tablespoons for cooking.
Aromatics archetypal – Cook the achromatic beans archetypal for 20 seconds, past adhd the ail and disturbance for 10 seconds. Add the onions and capsicum archetypal and disturbance for 1 infinitesimal until the edges of the bulb starts to soften.

Beef and Chinese cooking vino – Add the beef and flip for 30 seconds. Then determination the Chinese cooking vino astir the rim of the wok truthful it runs down the broadside into the beef. This is simply a classical Chinese cooking method that “cooks” the vino earlier mixing with everything else. (It’s not a large woody if you miss though and the vino goes consecutive into the beef!).
Add the sauce and navigator for different infinitesimal oregon until the condiment thickens, becomes shiny and heavy capable to overgarment the beef.
Pour it each into a serving vessel and service with rice!
Look astatine this saucy perfection with those small pops of achromatic beans and that beef, that unbelievably tender beef!!

And a bully adjacent up atom soakage changeable for you:

Wow. Just wow.
Thank you Chef Hannah, for this unthinkable recipe. While we’ve been utilizing this astatine RTM for a while, the look is somewhat antithetic due to the fact that we navigator astatine standard determination (600x), we usage commercialized instrumentality and the nutrient is designed to beryllium reheated.
So Hannah altered the look to marque it suitable for location kitchens, and tweaked it to purpose for gold-standard Chinese edifice quality.
She perfectly nailed it. I truly anticipation you springiness this a go! Hand connected heart, I’ve ne'er had better. – Nagi x
Watch however to marque it

Beef successful achromatic legume sauce
Ingredients
- 1/2 cupful (75g) preserved achromatic beans (salted achromatic beans, fermented achromatic beans, Note 1)
- 400g/14 oz beef rump steak (US: apical sirloin) , thinly sliced 3mm / 0.1" (Note 2)
- 1 brown onion , mean size, chopped into 2.5cm/1" squares
- 1 green capsicum (bell pepper), mean size, chopped into 2.5cm/1" squares
- 1 tbsp garlic , finely minced with a weapon ~ 4 cloves (Note 3)
- 1/2 cup peanut oil (or vegetable, canola) (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing wine) (Note 5)
Tenderising beef marinade:
- 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 i.e. brown, not untoasted which is yellow)
Sauce:
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 6)
- 2 tsp white sugar
- 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch (20g)
- 1 cup water
Serving:
Instructions
Abbreviated recipe:
- Marinade beef 1 hour, soak beans, premix sauce. Shallow fry beef 30 seconds, remove. Discard each but 3 tbsp oil. Add and navigator successful this order: achromatic beans 20 seconds, ail 10 seconds, bulb + capsicum 1 minute, beef 1 minute, cooking vino 30 seconds, condiment 1 infinitesimal oregon until thickened. Serve!
Marinade beef:
- Mix the marinade ingredients EXCEPT sesame lipid successful a bowl. Add beef, premix to coat. Add sesame oil, premix again.
- Marinade – Refrigerate to marinade for 1 hour.
Preparation:
- Soak beans – Put the salted achromatic beans successful a mean vessel and screen with water. Set speech for 30 minutes to 1 hr to soak, past drain.
- Mix condiment – Put the cornflour, soy condiment and sweetener successful a jug oregon tiny bowl. Mix until lump escaped past premix successful the water. Set aside.
Cooking:
- Cook beef – Heat the lipid successful a wok (or non instrumentality pan) implicit precocious heat. Add the beef and cook, tossing, for 30 seconds until it changes from reddish to brown. Remove with a slotted spoon onto a plate.
- Discard most of the lipid successful the wok, support conscionable 3 tablespoons.
- Aromatics – Return the wok to precocious heat. Add the achromatic beans and disturbance for 20 seconds, past adhd the ail and disturbance for 10 seconds. Add the capsicum and onion, navigator for 1 minute.
- Beef – Add beef and immoderate juices pooled connected the plate, flip for 1 minute. Pour the Chinese cooking vino astir the sides of the wok truthful it runs down into the beef past flip for 30 seconds (Note 8)
- Sauce – Pour the condiment in, past disturbance and fto it bubble for 1 infinitesimal oregon until the condiment thickens, is shiny and coats the beef beautifully.
- Serve – Pour into a serving vessel and service with rice!
Notes
b) Toss beef with 1¼ tsp baking soda, refrigerate 40 min, rinse well. Then marinate 30 min (without baking soda) and proceed with recipe. Chuck besides works, but leaf is easier to slice. Other options: brisket, gravy beef, topside/round. Use either a) oregon b) tenderising methods for these too. More info successful Ingredients section. 3. Garlic – Knife best. If utilizing a ail crusher, adhd the ail towards extremity of bulb cooking clip (else it volition burn). 4. Oil quantity – To genuinely replicate edifice silky brushed beef, it needs to beryllium shallow fried alternatively than sautéed. To reduce, usage 3 tbsp and sauté the beef instead. 5. Chinese cooking wine (“Shaoxing wine”)– indispensable constituent for making genuinely “restaurant standard” Chinese dishes. Substitute with cooking involvement oregon adust sherry. Non alcoholic sub – substitute fractional the h2o with debased sodium chickenhearted stock/broth. 6. Soy sauces – Light soy sauce: you tin usage immoderate each intent soy condiment but bash not usage acheronian soy oregon saccharine soy. Dark soy: tin substitute with airy oregon each intent soy but volition suffer colour and a spot of soy flavour. More accusation connected soy sauces here. 7. Baking soda is a magic nutrient tenderiser! More successful station oregon here. 8. Pouring Shaoxing wine astir the broadside of the wok – accepted Chinese cooking method truthful it “cooks” the vino earlier it reaches the ingredients. Leftovers volition support for 3 days successful the fridge, keeps precise well. Not suitable for freezing (sauce thins). Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings, excluding rice. I consciousness similar the sodium is higher than it really is due to the fact that brackish gets extracted during the soaking step.
Nutrition
Life of Dozer
He genuinely thinks that’s his nutrient bowl:

The station Beef successful achromatic legume sauce appeared archetypal connected RecipeTin Eats.