Dish of Braised Beef Taiyuan
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Braised Beef Taiyuan


China - Taiyuan   -   Taiyuan men niurou
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2 main
***
45 min
Part		 From the northern city of Taiyuan, this is simply beef with a sauce. The flavor is quite intense, so it should be served with plenty of rice and a less intense side dish.

1
-----
10
1
1/3
1/4
-----
1/2
3
1
1/3
1
1
-----
1/4
#
---

T
c
c
---
T
T

c
T
t
---
in
Beef, lean
---- Marinade
Scallions
Cornstarch
Water
Soy Sauce
----------
Sichuan Pepper (1)  
Oil (2)
Star Anise
Stock (3)
Rice Wine (4)
Sesame Oil
-- Garnish
Ginger root
Prep   -   (30 min)
  1. Remove excess fat from BEEF, chill it in the freezer until quite stiff and slice across the grain 1/8 inch or thinner. Cut slices 3/4 inch wide by up to 2 inches long.
  2. Cut SCALLIONS into lengths of about 1-1/2 inches. Mix all Marinade Items and massage into Beef. Set aside for 20 minutes or so.
  3. Place the Sichuan Peppercorns in a small heatproof bowl. Pour about 1 T Boiling Water over them and let them steep for about 5 minutes. Discard the peppercorns and keep the liquid.
  4. Grate GINGER for garnish.
Run   -   (15 min)
  1. Heat Oil over high flame in a wok or spacious sauté pan. When very hot stir in the Star Anise, then the Beef. Fry stirring until the raw color is gone and any liquid has evaporated (see Note-5).
  2. Stir in Stock, Rice Wine and Sesame Oil. Cover and cook about 1 to 2 minutes until sauce has thickened a bit.
  3. Serve hot, garnished with Grated Ginger.
NOTES:

  1. Sichuan Peppercorns

      These are nothing like black pepper, and are now again legal in the US. See our Sichuan Pepper page for details. In this recipe they aren't so important so could be skipped if necessary.

  2. Oil:

      In Northern China (and nowhere else in China) meat is sometimes fried in sesame oil, and the pattern recipe calls for that. I seriously doubt the sesame oil they use for frying is the dark flavoring kind available here, so I prefer to err on the side of caution and add it as a flavoring at the end of cooking.

  3. Stock:

      The stock called for in the pattern recipe is made from chicken and duck, but any reasonably good stock will do - we are not gourmets of the Imperial Court here.

  4. Rice Wine:

      Use a good, drinkable Chinese rice wine, not that horrid salted "cooking" version. If you don't have this, use a Dry Sherry. Sake is made from rice but is not considered a good substitute. For details see our Chinese Rice Wine page.

  5. Frying:

      The pattern recipe calls for frying 15 seconds - but that's under high end restaurant conditions in China. There's just no way our kitchen stoves can provide anywhere near that much heat that well distributed.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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