Black Pepper Beef

Name: Black Pepper Beef (黑椒牛柳)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 1½ lb flank steak (or skirt cut, tenderloin, etc.); 2 tbsp shaoxing wine; 1½ tbsp sesame oil; 1½ tbsp soy sauce; 1½ tbsp potato starch; ½ cup beef broth; 2 tbsp oyster sauce; 2 tbsp shaoxing wine; 3 tbsp soy sauce; 2 tbsp mushroom flavoured dark soy sauce (optional); 1 tbsp potato starch; 1 tbsp brown sugar; ½ tsp salt; 2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper; 2 tbsp olive oil (divided into 2); 1 tbsp garlic; 1 small onion (sliced); 2 red bell pepper (sliced); 227 grams mushrooms (cremini mushrooms or white mushrooms halved)

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A classic Chinese dish, this Black Pepper Beef (黑椒牛柳) is surprisingly easy to make at home! Tender, melt in your mouth beef, covered in a bowl-licking black pepper sauce, this is the perfect weeknight dinner.

Made with pantry staples, you won’t believe how simple it is to make black pepper beef. We usually get black pepper steak for take-out but I’ve been having trouble finding a Chinese restaurant nearby so I decided to just make it at home. Usually we order take-out because I’m not in a mood to cook but after cutting up the vegetables for this, stir frying everything together doesn’t actually take a lot of time or effort!

A plate of rice with black pepper beef and green onions with a fork inside.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

You don’t need a wok to make this stir fry. A large non-stick skillet works just as well for this black pepper beef!
You can add whatever vegetables you want to this. The sauce goes with everything.
This black pepper beef can easily double as a meal prep.

What You’ll Need to Make Black Pepper Steak

For the Steak

flank steak — or you can use a skirt cut, tenderloin, etc.
shaoxing wine — shaoxing wine is also known as Chinese cooking wine, from the city, Shaoxing. It’s an amber-colored rice wine that can be found online or at your local Asian grocery store!
sesame oil
soy sauce – I usually try to use low sodium soy sauce.
potato starch

For the Black Pepper Sauce

beef broth — I like to use Better Than Bouillon
oyster sauce
shaoxing wine
soy sauce
mushroom flavoured dark soy sauce — or use regular dark soy sauce. If you have neither, you can skip it.
potato starch
brown sugar
salt
freshly cracked black pepper

Everything Else

olive oil
garlic
onion
bell pepper
mushrooms

Sliced bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, and minced garlic.

How to Make Black Pepper Beef

Sliced flank steak with potato starch, soy sauce, sesame oil, and shaoxing wine.

In a bowl, combine the sliced flank steak, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and cornstarch. Mix until well combined. Marinate for 10 to 20 minutes, or longer if you’d like.

In a measuring cup, combine the beef broth, oyster sauce, shaoxing wine, soy sauce, mushroom flavoured dark soy sauce, potato starch, brown sugar, salt, and freshly cracked black pepper. Set aside.

In a large skillet on medium-high heat, add in a tablespoon of olive oil and add the flank steak in a single layer. Sear for under a minute before searing the other side for just under a minute as well. Set aside when done.

Stir frying bell peppers, onions, and mushrooms in a skillet.

In the same pan, heat up the other tablespoon of oil add in the minced garlic. Cook until fragrant, approximately 1 minute.
Add in the sliced vegetables and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.

Adding half the black pepper sauce to the skillet of vegetables.

Adding all the sauce to the vegetables in the skillet.

Add in half of the sauce and continue to cook the vegetables for another minute before adding the rest of the sauce in. Let the sauce cook for another minute so it can thicken. The sauce should be just thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Adding in the flank steak to the skillet.

Combining the flank steak with the sauce and vegetables.

Add the flank steak back into the pan and stir to combine.
Once everything is evenly coated with the black pepper sauce, you can serve.

Close up of black pepper beef in a skillet.

Recipe Tips

I like to serve my black pepper beef with jasmine rice with green onions and toasted sesame seeds as garnish.
Feel free to swap the red bell peppers for a different bell pepper.
More vegetables you can add to this is broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, snow peas, or whatever you have in your fridge!
Be sure to cut your flank steak against the grain so it comes out tender.
You are welcomed to cut your steak thicker, just increase the cook time.
Freshly cracked black pepper is more fragrant than pre-ground pepper. You can use pre-ground pepper if you don’t have freshly cracked.

A plate of rice with black pepper beef and green onions.

FAQs

What’s the difference between light and dark soy sauce?

Dark soy sauce is thicker, darker, and much more intense in flavour and saltiness, than light/regular soy sauce. Dark soy sauce also helps give whatever you’re cooking it in a darker colour. It doesn’t taste saltier as its soy flavour is so much stronger that you won’t notice the saltiness. My recipe calls for a mushroom flavoured dark soy sauce to add additional flavours and boost the mushroom flavour but you can use regular dark soy sauce. If you don’t have dark soy sauce, you can skip it.

Light soy sauce and dark soy sauce.

Do I have to use potato starch?

I like using potato starch but you can swap with cornstarch.

How can I make this into a whole meal?

If you want this to become a whole “meal,” you can cook up some noodles real quick OR add in fresh noodles into the pan when you add the beef back in. This way everything is combined with the sauce.

Make Ahead Tips

Meal prep: store the cooked black pepper beef in an airtight container for up to 4 days in the fridge. I usually like to pack this with some jasmine rice!
Make ahead: you can marinade the beef the night before and make the sauce as well. Store in the fridge.