Boiled Fiery Beef

Name: Boiled Fiery Beef
Cuisine: China
Ingredients: 30 ml/2 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 30 ml/2 tbsp Shaoxing wine or dry sherry; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 2.5 ml/½ tsp salt; 5 ml/1 tsp cornflour/cornstarch; 5 ml/1 tsp cornflour/cornstarch; 30 ml/2 tbsp chilli bean paste (dou banjiang); 30 ml/2 tbsp chilli bean paste (dou banjiang); 15 ml/1 tbsp light soy sauce; 450 g/1 lb sirloin or rump/round steak, sliced into thin slices across the grain; 100 ml/3½ fl oz/scant ½ cup sunflower oil; 8 dried chillies, seeded if you like, crushed into coarse flakes; 5 ml/1 tsp crushed Sichuan peppercorns

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

China

By Terry Tan

Published 2020

About

The Chinese name shui zhu niu rou means ‘beef boiled in water’, which sounds mild, but in reality it is tongue-tinglingly hot from a blend of two of the region’s most potent ingredients: Sichuan dried chillies and peppercorns.

Ingredients

5 ml/1 tsp cornflour/cornstarch
30 ml/2

Asia
China
Main course

Method

Blend the cornflour, wine or sherry, garlic and salt, then add the beef and toss to coat. Set aside while you prepare the sauce.
Heat half the oil in a wok over medium-low heat. Add the dried chilli flakes and peppercorns and stir for 10 seconds, then pour the oil and spices into a heatproof bowl and leave to cool.
Heat the remaining oil in a clean wo