Lucas Sin's Black Pepper Beef

Recipe | Feb 11 2022

I love how this dish speaks to the Westernisation of Cantonese cooking. The black pepper sauce is made from a mix of peppercorns, fermented black beans and soy sauce and the stir-fry is made with cubes of wagyu, rather than the usual beef strips.

I use striploin but ribeye would work great too. The meat is seared and then tossed with the sauce, stir-fried peppers and onions.

Serves: 4
Time: 45 minutes

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Ingredients 

Black Pepper Sauce

40g whole black peppercorns
10g whole white peppercorns
6g Sichuan peppercorns
Vegetable oil, for cooking
1 shallot, chopped
4 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
15g Chinese fermented black beans, soaked and chopped
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp abalone sauce
1 tbsp Chinese rice wine (mijiu)
3/4 cup water
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp MSG

Black Pepper Beef

12 oz Westholme wagyu striploin, cut into 2cm (1 in) cubes)
1/2 tbsp Chinese rice wine (mijiu)
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp potato starch (or cornstarch)
1/2 red onion, sliced lengthwise 1cm (1/2 in)
1/4 leek or spring (Welsh) onion, sliced thinly 1/2cm (1/4 in)
1/2 red capsicum (bell pepper), cut in 1cm (1/2 in) strips
1/2 green capsicum (bell pepper), cut in 1cm (1/2 in) strips

To Serve

White rice

METHOD 

Black Pepper Sauce

1. Combine black, white, and Sichuan peppercorns in a spice grinder or a mortar. Grind until medium coarse and set aside.
2. Place skillet with oil over medium heat. Cook shallots and garlic until aromatic, about 30 seconds. Add fermented black beans and peppercorns (add all for a very peppery sauce, less if you prefer) and continue to cook until fragrant. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook over a low flame until the flavours have incorporated and reduced to a thin paste that coats the back of your spoon, about 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

Black Pepper Beef

1. Mix the cubed wagyu with the rice wine, sugar, soy and starch. Let sit for at least 15 minutes and up to 1 day.
2. Place cast iron pan with oil over high heat. Heat until smoking then sear cubes of striploin until medium-rare, about 7 minutes. Set aside and let cool.
3. Preheat cast iron sizzler plate.
4. For the stir-fry, in a skillet or a wok, heat oil over high heat. When smoking, add sliced onions, leeks, and capsicum (bell peppers). Continually stir-fry until the edges pick up a little bit of colour but the vegetables have not yet begun to wilt. Add the cubed steak. Toss for about 1 minute until combined and place the stir-fry onto the sizzler plate.
5. To serve, pour black pepper sauce over the stir-fry until the sauce steams and sizzles. Eat warm with white rice.

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