水煮牛肉
In some regards, the general technique for cooking 水煮牛肉 is similar to the technique for cooking 水煮鱼片. In my experience the flavor profiles end up being slightly different though - 水煮鱼片 tends to slightly lighter/brighter in flavor while 水煮牛肉 tends to emphasize the deep, fried flavor of chili peppers and peppercorns a bit more. This is personally not one of my favorite dishes (although that's likely because I didn't quite cook this correctly), but it's fun to make and satisfying to eat, especially on a cold day.
Active Time: 30 min
Total Time: 30 min
Ingredients
> Beef
> Vegetables, green onion, cilantro
> Ginger, garlic, 豆瓣酱
> Chicken stock
> Dried chili peppers, Sichuan peppercorns
> Egg white, potato starch
> Salt, white pepper powder, soy sauce, chili oil, peppercorn oil
Instructions
1. Prep: Slice green onion into 1.5 inch pieces. Peel and finely dice garlic, roughly chop ginger.
2. Thinly slice the beef against the grain. Coat them with egg white, potato starch, and a bit of salt. Then mix thoroughly with your hands.
3. In a wok, heat some oil over moderate heat. Lightly fry the dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns for a few minutes. Remove them and transfer to a cutting board. Using a cleaver, chop the chili peppers and peppercorns into a rough mince.
4. In the meantime, using the leftover oil, stir-fry the vegetables and green onions. Once they're mostly cooked through, transfer them to a serving bowl.
5. Heat oil over high heat. Lightly fry the garlic, ginger, and 豆瓣酱 until aromatic. Then add a few ladles of chicken stock, until you have just enough liquid to cook the beef. Add salt, white pepper powder, soy sauce, chili oil and peppercorn oil to taste.
6. Bring the stock up to a mixture. Once heated through, turn off the heat and transfer the beef into the wok one slice at a time. Cook for a minute or two until cooked all the way through but still tender. Transfer everything to the serving bowl.
7. Top the serving bowl with the chili pepper and peppercorn mince. Then heat up some oil until smoking hot. Slowly ladle the hot oil over the chili pepper and peppercorn mice to release the flavor into the broth/beef. Finally, top with some cilantro and serve.
Notes/Tips:
> A variety of vegetables work well in this dish. Some form of Chinese lettuce is probably the most traditional, but bean sprouts and bok choy probably work well also. Don't overcook the vegetables when stir-frying - your goal should be to cook them but keep them relatively crisp. They'll continue to cook slightly in the hot broth.
> Be careful when frying the dried chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns - cook them until aromatic but avoid burning them at all costs.
> Be generous with the amount of oil that you add. This dish really needs the oil to maximize its savory impact. Rest assured, you won't consume most of the oil and it will mostly end up in the broth.
> This is my first time cooking this dish, and my beef ended up being a bit tough. You should end up with a very tender result, so in the future I plan to: 1) add more potato starch, 2) be more careful about cutting it against the grain, and 3) avoiding overcooking it in the poaching process at all costs.