Here’s a recipe that brings a taste of the take-away right into your kitchen. We’re using fermented black beans, a staple in Asian cooking, known for their rich, deep flavour. This dish is a perfect blend of tender rump beef cubes, stir-fried, and a sauce that’s a tasty combination of garlic, ginger, and spring onions, with the umami depth of black beans.
The process is easy but the beans need a little time. Start by soaking the black beans, which is key to mellowing their intensity. As they soak, the beef gets a light flour coating, ensuring a lovely crust when stir-fried. The sauce-making is where the flavour comes together – a simmering mix of soy, rice wine, and aromatic spices, thickened to just the right consistency.
Finally, the dish comes together with a vibrant stir-fry of beef, onions, and peppers, all coated in that luxurious black bean sauce. Let’s get cooking!
Beef with Black Bean Sauce
For the sauce
4 tbsp fermented black beans (buy in an Asian supermarket or online)
2 tbsp sesame oil
3 garlic cloves (peeled & grated)
1 tbsp fresh ginger (peeled & grated)
2 spring onions (sliced)
2 tbsp rice wine
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp rice vinegar
½ tsp ground black pepper
200ml chicken stock
For the beef
400g rump beef (cut into bite size cubes)
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 onion
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
Spring onions (sliced to serve)
Directions
- Soak the fermented black beans in a bowl of water & cover, let them soak for one hour.
- Place the beef in a bowl, season with salt & pepper then sprinkle over the flour. Give the beef a good stir making sure you get all the pieces covered with flour. Put into the fridge for 30 minutes.
- After the beans have soaked, drain & rinse, then mash most up with a fork leaving some of them whole.
- To make the sauce, heat oil in a pan and add the garlic, ginger, and spring onions.
- Next add the beans then stir in the rice wine, soy, rice vinegar, stock and caster sugar. Keep stirring as you bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes unitl the sauce has reduced a little.
- Make a paste with the cornflour by adding a few tablespoons of water, then stir half into the sauce to thicken. Add a more if you’d like the sauce thicker. Cook for a few minutes then turn off the heat and set aside.
- Next to make the beef, heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok or large pan, shake off any excuse flour from the beef and stir fry for 3 – 5 minutes before removing to a plate.
- Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the same pan and add the onion and peppers, stir frying for 5 minutes until the vegetables have softened slightly. Make sure to keep stiring so they don’t burn.
- Keep the heat high & add the beef back into the pan, followed by the black bean sauce. Mix everything well together and cook until the sauce is heated through.
- Serve the beef over boiled rice or noodles and garnish with spring onions.

