Sichuan Water-Boiled Beef
Sichuan Water-boiled beef is actually a dish I was introduced to in Cincinnati at all places. There is really only a couple Chinese restaurants I liked in Cincinnati, Sichuan Gourmet (my favorite) and Grand Oriental (good for dim sum), both in the Fields Ertel area. It sounds like a really bland dish, but it's actually super spicy and savory, and the beef slices should be tender within the chili-spiked red broth.
On my trip to NY, I hunted for a copy of Fuschia Dunlop's cookbook Land of Plenty covering Sichuan dishes, and copied a few recipes from it in the library. One of these was Sichuan water-boiled beef. I was lucky when I made it back in the Netherlands, because I actually had forgotten to buy the celery for it at the mainstream supermarket Albert Heijn. When I remembered, I was in the Asian market and it turned out they had skinny Chinese celery in seasonal rotation! Much more tender and flavorful than the big celery we have in the US, Chinese celery is one of my favorite vegetables.
The recipe turned out really well, though could be a bit more spicy. I think I'll add some more chiles and not de-seed all of the chiles as well, next time. This was also my first time using Thai Knorr bouillon cubes rather than the Dutch ones. I can attest to the fact that the Thai cubes taste a lot more like pure chicken (with garlic) broth, whereas the Dutch cubes have different herb and vegetable flavors in it (along with little green flecks which the Thai version does not).
Sichuan Water-Boiled Beef
from Land of Plenty by Fuschia Dunlop, where the dish is called "Boiled Beef Slices in a Fiery Sauce"
Serves 2 as a main dish, 4 with rice and two or three other dishes
1 head of celery (about 1 pound)
4 scallions, white and green parts
a small handful of dried chiles (8-10 chiles)
about 1 pound lean beef (flank steak is good)
salt
1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine or medium-dry sherry
about 1/3 cup peanut oil
2 teaspoons Sichuan pepper
3 tablespoons chili bean paste
3 cups everyday stock (see page 318) or chicken stock
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
4 tablespoons potato flour mixed with 4 tablespoons cold water, or 6 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 6 tablespoons cold water
1. Clean and remove the fibrous outer edge of the celery stalks. Chop each stalk into 3 or 4 sections, then slice these lengthwise into 1/2-inch sticks. Gently crush the scallions and chop them into 3 sections to match the celery. Wearing rubber gloves, snip the chiles in half, discarding as many seeds as possible. Remove any fat from the beef and cut it, against the grain, into thin slices about 1 inch by 2 inches (you should have about 3/4 pound of beef after trimming). Add a 1/4 teaspoon of salt and the Shaoxing rice wine, mix well, and leave to marinate while you prepare everything else.
2. Heat 3 tablespoon of oil in a wok until hot but not yet smoking. Add the chiles and Sichuan pepper and stir-fry until they are fragrant and the chiles are just beginning to brown (take care not to burn them). Then immediately slide the spices out into a bowl, leaving the oil in the wok. When they have cooled down a little, move them onto a cutting board and chop them finely with a gentle rocking motion, using a cleaver taken in both hands or a two-handled chopper. Set them aside to use later.
3. Return the oily wok to the stove and heat over a high flame. When it is smoking, add the vegetables and stir-fry for a minute or two, adding 1/4-1/2 teaspoon of salt to taste, until they are hot and just-cooked but still crunchy. Then pour them into the serving bowl.
4. Heat another 3 tablespoons of oil in the wok over a high flame, until just beginning to smoke. Turn the heat down to medium, add in the chili bean paste, and stir-fry for about 30 seconds, until the oil is red and fragrant. Add the stock and the dark soy sauce, season to taste with salt, and return to a boil over a high flame. Then add the potato flour or cornstarch mixture to the beef and stir well in one direction to coat all the pieces. When the sauce is boiling vigorously, drop in the beef slices. Wait for the sauce to return to a boil and then use a pair of chopsticks to gently separate the slices. Simmer for a minute or so, until the beef is just cooked, and then spoon it onto the waiting vegetables. Pour over the sauce.
5. Swiftly rinse out the wok and dry it well. Heat another 3-4 tablespoons of oil in the wok until smoking. Sprinkle the chopped chiles and Sichuan pepper over the beef dish and then pour over the smoking oil, which will sizzle dramatically. If you move quickly, the dish will still be fizzing when you bring it to the table.
[I just directly sprinkled the chopped chiles and Sichuan pepper over the beef dish, skipping the extra oil and sizzling effect.]
