Sichuan Water-Boiled Beef

Ingredients

• 500g beef sirloin or rump, sliced 3mm thick across the grain
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 egg white
• 2 tbsp potato starch
• 1 tbsp water, for the marinade
• 300g soy bean sprouts
• 200g napa cabbage or celery, sliced
• 3 tbsp Pixian chilli bean paste, chopped
• 1 tbsp fermented black beans, rinsed
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• 800ml beef or chicken stock
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 20 dried Sichuan chillies, snipped in half and seeds shaken out
• 2 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
• 150ml neutral oil
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped, for the topping
• 2 spring onions, sliced

Before you cook

• Freeze the beef for twenty minutes so it slices thinly and evenly
• Slice the beef across the grain and mix it with salt, Shaoxing wine, egg white, starch and water until the marinade is sticky, then rest it for twenty minutes
• Snip the dried chillies and shake out most of the seeds
• Wash and drain the bean sprouts and slice the cabbage
• Set a heatproof serving bowl beside the stove

Steps

1. Heat two tablespoons of the oil in a wok over medium heat.
2. Add the chilli bean paste, black beans, sliced garlic and ginger, and stir until the oil is deep red and fragrant, about one minute.
3. Pour in the stock, add the soy sauce and sugar, and bring it to a rolling boil.
4. Drop in the bean sprouts and cabbage and cook them for two minutes until barely tender.
5. Lift the vegetables out with a slotted spoon and spread them across the bottom of the serving bowl.
6. Turn the broth down to a bare simmer, so the surface only trembles.
7. Slide in the beef slices one at a time so they do not clump together.
8. Poach the beef without stirring for about ninety seconds, until the slices turn opaque and float.
9. Ladle the beef and all the broth over the vegetables in the serving bowl.
10. Scatter the chopped garlic, dried chillies and Sichuan peppercorns evenly over the surface.
11. Wipe the wok dry, add the remaining oil, and heat it until it is faintly smoking.
12. Pour the smoking oil slowly over the chillies and peppercorns so they crackle and release their fragrance.
13. Finish with the spring onions and carry the bowl straight to the table while it is still sizzling.