This delicious Cambodian Black Pepper Beef stir fry is a must-try. Tender beef in a savoury pepper gravy served on a bed of crisp salad.
The Cambodian dish us foreigners are crazy over
Lok Lak (Cambodian Black Pepper Beef) is one of Cambodia’s most beloved dishes and it’s easy to see why. You get juicy steak stir-fried in a savoury pepper and slightly sour gravy served over a bed of crispy fresh lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. It’s a dish with simple ingredients, but it promises big flavours and textures, just like most dishes from Southeast Asia.
Just like my Cambodian Lemongrass Chicken, this recipe was from a cooking class I attended with my husband, Tomasi, when we holidayed in Cambodia in 2014.
We had loads of fun and entertainment whilst learning how to cook flavoursome Cambodian dishes. I scribbled the recipe notes on my pad like an outstanding student, and I still have them with me today. I’m surprised my notes are legible because they were serving limitless cocktails during their class, which buzzed me right out. Tomasi boasted it was the best cooking class he attended, but I should add, he had never been to a cooking class prior or after, and he also rarely cooks.
During our visit to Cambodia, we visited Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Battambang and Phnom Penh. We first tried Lok Lak when we were in Siem Reap, and Tomasi and I fell in love with it.
I can’t recall the name of the restaurant, but I clearly remembered the lovely dining experience we had. It was like we walked into someone’s backyard that was decorated with banana leaves and straw huts. We were sipping on fresh chilled coconuts and feasting on beautiful traditional Cambodian food. It was a perfect night.
To bring these exotic flavours and dishes back home with me means so much to me. A piece of beautiful Cambodia that we’ll always have to cherish.
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Bring on the pepper
Most dishes we ordered in Cambodia came with a little bowl of salt, pepper and chilli. When I ordered steamed clams in Sihanoukville, it came with a simple dipping sauce of fresh lime juice with loads of cracked white pepper floating on top.
I never knew how much I love pepper until I visited Cambodia. Perhaps, the reason for this is that Kampot produces one of the finest peppercorn in the world. Kampot is a province in southwestern of Cambodia. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to visit Kampot, but it’ll definitely be on our itinerary next time we visit.
Kampot pepper has made it to Europe and onto dining tables in France. It has a strong but yet delicate pepper flavour with hints of floral and citrus. It’s pretty cool Kampot pepper has earned the ‘Protected Geographical Indication’ status from the World Trade Organisation. This protects the Kampot Pepper trade name, just like champagne. You can’t call it Champagne unless it’s actually from Champagne, a region in France.
Unfortunately, as much as I want to, I don’t have any Kampot pepper in my pantry to use in my Cambodian Black Pepper Beef. This mean regular black peppercorn will have to do!
There are three components to this Cambodian Black Pepper Beef dish. However, each step is fairly simple. Even better, the ingredients are also simple, budget-friendly and easy to get from the supermarket.
Asian cooking made easy with these dishes:
Cambodian Lemongrass Chicken
Chilli Lime & Ginger Chicken
Papaya Salad with Prawns
Thai Chicken and Pumpkin
Ingredients for Cambodian Black Pepper Beef
FOR THE STEAK MARINADE
Steak – I used budget-friendly rump steak and trimmed most of the fat off. Flank, Sirloin, porterhouse, fillet or tenderloin are also great choices for stir-fries
Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) – It’s not common to use bi-carb to tenderise meat (velveting) in Cambodian cuisines, but I added a small amount to the marinade. This helps soften the steak and make it juicy. There’s no need to rinse the meat before cooking and you won’t be able to taste it.
Whole black peppercorn – Using whole black peppercorn results in better flavour and aroma than pre-grounded pepper. I grounded mine in a mini food processor until it resembled cracked pepper. The best way to crush whole peppercorns is by using a mortar and pestle, but a coffee/spice grinder would also work great.
FOR THE STIR-FRY
Light soy sauce – or regular soy sauce but avoid the dark or sweet soy sauce varieties, as these are not interchangeable.
FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE AND SALAD
Salad – Lok lak is usually served on a bed of salad that includes tomatoes, cucumber and iceberg lettuce. Optional garnish use sliced spring onions.
How to make Cambodian Black Pepper Beef
Step-by-step guide with photos
Marinade the steak – In a large bowl, place in the steak with all the marinade ingredients. Combined well and set aside whilst preparing the other ingredients.
Stir-fry sauce – In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar, water, cornflour. Dipping sauce – In a separate small bowl, mix all the dipping sauce ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved. Set both sauces aside.
Heat oil over high heat in a large wok or a deep frying pan. Place the steak and its marinade into the pan. Stir-fry until the meat has mostly browned all over. Give the ‘stir-fry sauce’ a quick stir and pour it into the wok with the steak. Once the sauce has slightly thickened, add in the onion and cook for a minute.
To serve, place the steak and its sauce over a generous bed of iceberg lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and cucumbers. Garnish with spring onions and serve with rice and pepper dipping sauce.
I’ve used a third-party application to calculate the calories and nutritional information, so please use this as an approximate guide only.
Cooking measurements are in Australian standard spoon and cup measurements. For specific details and conversions, visit our Australian Cooking Measurements page.
I would love your feedback and support if you made this recipe. To do this, please rate this recipe and provide a comment by scrolling down this page or by clicking that green circle on the bottom left. An email address is required (for spam), but it won’t be published. I would also love to see your dish, so don’t forget to tag me on my Instagram account ‘3catsfoodie’
Cheers – Cat T
Cambodian Black Pepper Beef
Ingredients
For the marinade
- 800 gm rump steak (sliced against the grain into bite-sized pieces) (NOTE 1)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ tsp bi-carb soda (baking soda) (NOTE 2)
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (NOTE 3)
- 3 tsp whole black peppercorn (grinded or 1 tsp ground black pepper) (NOTE 4)
For the stir-fry
- 2 tbsp peanut oil (or any neutral tasting oil)
- ¼ cup soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- ½ cup water
- 2 tsp cornflour (or cornstarch)
- ½ brown onion (sliced into thin wedges)
For the dipping sauce
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp whole black peppercorn (grinded or 1/2 tsp ground black pepper)
For the salad and garnish
- iceberg lettuce (broken up roughly)
- tomatoes (sliced thinly)
- cucumbers (sliced thinly)
- spring onions (green onions, scallions sliced thinly)
Instructions
- Marinade the steak – In a large bowl, place in the steak with all the marinade ingredients. Combined well and set aside whilst preparing the other ingredients.
- Stir-fry sauce – In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, sugar, water, cornflour. Dipping sauce – In a separate small bowl, mix all the dipping sauce ingredients together until the sugar has dissolved. Set both sauces aside.
- Heat oil over high heat in a large wok or a deep frying pan. Place the steak and its marinade into the pan. Stir-fry until the meat has mostly browned all over. Give the 'stir-fry sauce' a quick stir and pour it into the wok with the steak. Once the sauce has slightly thickened, add in the onion and cook for a minute.
- To serve, place the steak and its sauce over a generous bed of iceberg lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and cucumbers. Garnish with spring onions and serve with rice and pepper dipping sauce.
