Sichuan sauce-fried beef (jiang shao niu rou)
Chinese Cooking Demystified · ♥ 5.2K likes · 162.7K views · 6 min video
Read about round (top, bottom, eye of round, knuckle) in the BrightCulinary Book
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Ingredients
Method
Techniques
- 3 parts Japanese red miso
- 1 parts northern style sweet bean paste
- 1 parts douzhi, black fermented soybeans
Make the sauce paste: red miso and northern sweet bean paste 3:1, plus one part black fermented soybeans.
Substituting for Sichuan sweet bean paste
- 350 g top round beef
Trim the beef and slice about 2 mm thick against the grain; thicker, round turns chewy.
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- ½ tsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp liaojiu, aka Shaoxing wine
- 3 tbsp water
Marinate with sugar, cornstarch, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and 3 tablespoons water (no salt); a half teaspoon of papain or baking soda is recommended but was forgotten here. Coat with a little oil and set aside.
- 1–2 tsp oil
- 15 g dried chilies
- 2 whole large scallions
- 0.167 whole onion
- 1 whole mild chili
Slice the dried chilies; cut the scallions into 2-inch sections, whites and greens apart; cut the onion and mild chili into chunks and wedges.
Aromatics and vegetables
- oil
Pass the beef through oil at about 160C, breaking it apart, for about 20 seconds; drain. A quick oily stir-fry also works.
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1½ tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- ⅔ cup water
Mix the seasoning liquid: salt, sugar, light soy sauce and water.
Seasoning liquid
- 3 tbsp oil
Heat the wok until very hot, turn off the heat, add the oil and swirl.
With the heat still off add the sauce paste and mix, then fry over medium-low about 2 minutes until mostly combined with the oil, without scorching.
Turn the heat to high, add the seasoning liquid; at a light simmer add the beef, bring to a boil (about 1 minute) and cook 1 minute more in the bubbling sauce.
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
Add the onion and pepper, then the cornstarch slurry, then the scallion greens; mix and serve.