Chinese Pepper Steak
Tender, velveted strips of beef stir-fried with green and red peppers and onion in a savoury oyster-sauce gravy, finished with plenty of cracked black pepper. A fast, satisfying weeknight wok dish.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Make the beef tender
In a bowl, mix the sliced beef with the light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, cornstarch, baking soda and the water. Leave it to sit for 15 minutes so the beef turns softer.
- 500g beef, sliced
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1½ tsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp water
✅ Done when: beef looks lightly coated and slightly tacky
Mix the sauce
In a small bowl, stir together the , dark soy sauce, sugar, black pepper and the cornstarch-water mixture until smooth. Set aside; you will add it near the end.
- 3 tbsp
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp + 100ml water cornstarch mixed with water
✅ Done when: sauce looks smooth with no lumps of cornstarch
Brown the beef
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Fry the vegetables
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Finish
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Make the beef tender
In a bowl, mix the sliced beef with the light soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, cornstarch, baking soda and the water. Leave it to sit for 15 minutes so the beef turns softer.
- 500g beef, sliced
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1½ tsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1 tbsp water
✅ Done when: beef looks lightly coated and slightly tacky
Mix the sauce
In a small bowl, stir together the , dark soy sauce, sugar, black pepper and the cornstarch-water mixture until smooth. Set aside; you will add it near the end.
- 3 tbsp
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp + 100ml water cornstarch mixed with water
✅ Done when: sauce looks smooth with no lumps of cornstarch
Brown the beef
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Fry the vegetables
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Finish
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The Story Behind the Dish
Stir-fried beef with peppers is a classic of Cantonese home cooking, where it's often made with black bean sauce. Chinese cooks in North America adapted it into 'pepper steak' in the mid-1900s, with a glossy oyster-sauce gravy and plenty of black pepper.
It became a standard of Chinese-American restaurants and family dinners.
⭐ Why It's Famous
It's quick, inexpensive and dependable — tender beef and crunchy peppers in a savoury sauce made for rice.
💡 Fun Fact
Restaurant beef is so tender thanks to 'velveting', a marinade with cornstarch and a pinch of baking soda.
Guangdong & Chinese diaspora
23.13°N, 113.26°E
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