Born and raised in China, Hannah comes from a multigenerational family of chefs.
So unsurprisingly, she has extremely high standards when it comes to Chinese food!!
Beef in black bean sauce is finally here!
Chef Hannah atRecipeTin Mealsmaking beef in black bean sauce
This is a beloved Chinese restaurant classic that needs to be done properly!
This is Chef Hannah, making the Beef in Black Bean at RTM.
The ingredients to make this at home will cost you less than $25.
Chef Hannah atRecipeTin Mealsmaking beef in black bean sauce
They are a little squishy like extra firm raisins.
Douchi (dou chiin Mandarin ordau6si6in Cantonese, thank you for the language lessonWoks of Life!)
Find themat Asian grocery stores alongside pickled and vac packed vegetables.
Me, pretending to lend a hand packing. I can barely lift those crates!
They cost around $2.70 for the smallest packs.
No suitable substitutethat I can think of.
Not to be confused withWestern dried black beans which are rock hard.
Me, pretending to lend a hand packing. I can barely lift those crates!
BEEF AND MARINADE
Heres what you need for the beef and marinade.
Scotch/rib eye and porterhouse/sirloin (strip) are also great but more expensive.
Economical cuts(65% cheaper) blade roast (brilliant!)
As they are more expensive, we opted not to use them for the base recipe.
Best economical beef options
Weve tested this recipe using economical beef cuts and the results were incredible!
I was so excited to find how well it works with cheaper beef cuts.
Excellent flavour, excellent texture once tenderised, easy to cut, easily found at regular grocery stores.
Chuck beef came in a close second.
In Australia it is usually sold in roast / block form ~1.5kg+/3lb.
Also, the beef flavour is not quite as strong.
Because of these reasons, it came in second!
Rinse in a colander, shake and pat off excess water.
Then marinade per recipebut leave out the baking sodaand proceed with the recipe as written.
We did not expect it to be as good as it is!
Hand on heart, I honestly say that blade is 95% as good as rump steak.
We were so amazed, and so excited to be able to share this tip in todays recipe!
Without, the beef will overcook and become tough.
I tried and proven tenderising method used liberally in my Asian recipes!
Light soy sauce you could substitute with an all purpose soy sauce.
Dark soy sauce Stains the beef and adds more intense soy flavour than light soy.
Oyster sauce A staple Asian sauce that adds complexity, flavour and umami all at once.
THE STIR FRY AND SAUCE
Heres what you need for the sauce and the vegetables in the stir fry.
Chinese cooking wine(Shaoxing wine)- essential ingredient for making truly restaurant standard Chinese dishes.
Substitute with cooking sake or dry sherry.
Non alcoholic substitute substitute half the water with low sodium chicken stock/broth.
Light soy see notes in the above section.
Dont use dark soy sauce, its too intense!
Cornflour / cornstarch thickens the sauce and makes it shiny.
Sugar to get the right sweetness in the sauce
Water quite a lot, a whole cup!
Theres a lot of stir fry.
We need plenty of sauce!
Green capsicum / bell pepper the traditional colour for beef in black bean here in Australia.
Feel free to go wild and use red or yellow if you want.
(Im not rebellious enough).
Onion and garlic attempt to find a stir fry recipe on my website that doesnt have these.
(You wont!).
The onion is cut into squares which is the traditional shape used for this dish in Chinese restaurants.
Peanut oil, canola, vegetable oil anything with a neutral flavour.
Use this time to soak the black beans and prepare the other ingredients.
The cooking part itself takes barely 10 minutes!
Marinade
Slice Finely slice the beef into 3mm / 0.1 thick pieces.
Pro tip (optional):If you just slice steak, the beef pieces are quite skinny.
Prevent screen from sleeping
Marinade Mix all the marinade ingredients except the sesame oil.
Then toss to coat the beef, then add the sesame oil and toss.
Adding the sesame oil later helps to seal the marinade ingredients into the beef.
Marinade for 1 hour in the fridge.
(Remember: if using economical beef, marinade 24 hours).
SOAKING the preserved black BEANS
Soak black beansin water for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
They will plump up and soften so theyre pleasant to bite into and release more flavour into the sauce.
Drain Then drain in a colander and just put it aside until ready to cook.
Cooking vessel Wok works best because you get more oil depth though it works well in a pan too.
Use a large deep one as this recipe makes a fairly generous amount!
Removethe beef using a slotted spoon onto a plate.
Discardmost of the oil but keep 3 tablespoons for cooking.
Beef and Chinese cooking wine Add the beef and toss for 30 seconds.
This is a classic Chinese cooking technique that cooks the wine before mixing with everything else.
Pour it all into a serving bowl and serve withrice!
And a nice close up rice soakage shot for you:
Wow.
Thank you Chef Hannah, for this incredible recipe.
She absolutely nailed it.
I really hope you give this a go!
Hand on heart, Ive never had better.
