Beef with Cumin and Sichuan Broad Beans

Number two in operation “Open a Cookbook at Random”. Spookily Beef with Cumin was one that I first remember seeing (and thinking looked great) in Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook but as I tend to shy away from deep frying as I find it a bit of a faff (and don’t have a deep frying pot and can’t think of where to store the oil after) I never tried it. That’s not to say I haven’t attempted any of Fuchsia Dunlop’s other “deep fried” recipes as I have, namely here. 

Pre deep-frying is a method known as “velveting” which results in tender & juicy meat. When I have done it before the results really do speak for themselves but all the same I was glad to see a version of the same recipe in Every Grain of Rice where just stir-frying is employed. And more, what I found was that if you buy a good cut of beef - a very good sirloin steak in my case - and make sure to cut the slices across the grain, the result will be in my opinion, pretty close to that derived by velveting anyway.

As ever, this is slightly adapted and as I wanted a bit more sauce coating the meat I increased the quantities of marinade (bar the potato flour).

The chilli I had incidentally was quite large so I actually only used half of it in the end... that said, I’m effectively using 4 types of chilli here: fresh, dried and “red pepper” flakes and sedimented oil. The original recipe calls for dried chilli flakes and optional fresh which I’m sure would be quite sufficient. The other two I added for further depth of flavour and the fact that I bloody love Sichuanese chilli oil.

Overall this seems to be another great book from FD, her latest, and concentrates on Chinese (and again largely Hunanese and Sichuanese) “home cooking”. A lot of recipes showcase humble vegetables: very simple preparations that make these simple ingredients sing.

This broad bean recipe (not by the way chosen at random but selected as I had some fresh broad beans in the fridge) is a very good example; admittedly they are probably one of my favorite veg anyway but with just a couple of other ingredients and pretty quick cooking and prep they are taken to a whole other level.

Cumin with Beef - Zi ran niu rou (孜然牛肉)
serves 2

250g v. good quality beef steak, cut into 1-2cm wide slices 

½ red pepper, cut into strips 1–2cm wide on the diagonal
½ green pepper, ditto
4 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 tsp ginger, finely chopped 
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or to taste)
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp chilli oil with sediment
2 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
for the marinade
4 tsp Shaoxing wine
½ tsp salt1 tsp light soy sauce
1½ tsp dark soy sauce
1½ tsp potato flour

Mix the marinade ingredients with 1½ tbsp water in a bowl and stir the meat in. Set aside

Heat a wok over a high heat and when hot add 3 tbsp and swirl it around.

Add the beef (keeping the marinade to one side) and quickly stir-fry to separate the slices. When they have, but are still a bit pink, remove from the wok and set aside.

Return the wok to the flame with the remaining oil.

Add the ginger and garlic and allow them to sizzle for a few seconds until fragrant, then tip in the peppers and fresh chilli, and stirfry for a few minutes.

Add the beef slices and the marinade back into the wok, giving everything a good stir before adding the cumin, chilli oil and chilli & red pepper flakes. 

After a minute or so when it is all sizzling and fragrant add the spring onions. Stir around for 30 seconds then remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve with plain rice and the beans as below.

Sichuan-style Broad Beans with Spring Onion

serves 2

440g broad beans (about 145g podded)

salt

1½ tbsp oil

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

2 spring onions, finely sliced

Sichuan pepper oil

Boil the podded beans in lightly salted water for 3-4 minutes then refresh under cold running water. When they are cool enough to handle, slip the skins off the broad beans.

Heat a small wok over a high flame, add the oil and thrown in the garlic & let sizzle for a few seconds.

Add the beans, the white parts of the spring onions and a little pinch of salt. Stir fry for a few minutes until the beans are heated through.

Add the green parts of the spring onions, stir around and then take off the heat. Sprinkle in a little Sichuan pepper oil and serve with the beef and steamed rice.

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Hunan Feast

Last weekend, as a thank-you for generally being lovely but for also feeding and medicating the little monsters during my recent Italy trips, I had my friends Steve & Linda over for dinner.  The last time I cooked for them it was back in February for Chinese New Year.  They seemed to enjoy the Sichuan dishes I served up that night so this time I thought I would give them a taste of Hunan.

Similar to Sichuan, Hunan cooking is known for its liberal use of chillies.  However it tends to be more "purely hot" rather than málà (hot and numbing) that distinctive taste that Sichuan cuisine is known for. 

As usual when I am cooking either Sichuan or Hunan food I turned to the excellent Fuchsia Dunlop and on this occasion The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.

It should be noted that all recipes below serve four with three or four other dishes, plus rice (or two people with just one or two other dishes).  There were three of us so this was more than plenty. We had: General Tso's chicken, farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers (which I have actually cooked before and can be found here), fisherman's prawns with Chinese chives and stir-fried broad beans with Chinese chives plus steamed rice.


General Tso's Chicken - zuo zong tang ji
This is chef Peng Chang-kuei's General Tso's Chicken, invented in Taipei, Taiwan. This version is hot and sour, more so than the Changsha (capital of Hunan) version which is closer in flavour to the sweeter Americanised dish.

4 boned, skinless chicken thighs
groundnut oil, for deep-frying
2 tsp sesame oil
For the marinade
2 tsp light soy sauce
½ tsp dark soy sauce
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp potato flour
2 tsp groundnut oil
For the sauce
1 tbsp tomato purée
½ tsp potato flour
½ tsp dark soy sauce
1½ tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp clear rice vinegar
3 tbsp stock
8 dried red chillies
2 tsp finely chopped ginger
2 tsp finely chopped garlic

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

Unfold the chicken thighs and lay them what would have been skin-side down, on a chopping board. If some parts are very thick slice them in half horizontally, parallel to the board.

Using a sharp knife make a few shallow criss-cross cuts into the meat to help the flavours penetrate then cut into bit sized pieces about 5cm or so in thickness

Put the chicken pieces into a bowl, pour over the marinade and toss until well coated.

In a large pan or wok, heat enough groundnut oil for deep-frying (it doesn't have to be too deep as you can easily do this in batches) to 180-200C. Add the chicken and fry until golden - remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Mix the tomato purée and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl, then add the potato flour, soy sauces, rice vinegar and set aside.

Use a pair of scissors to snip the dried chillies into 2cm pieces.

Heat a wok with 2-3 tablespoons of groundnut oil. Add the dried chillies and stir-fry briefly until they are fragrant and just changing colour (they will turn dark but don't let them burn). Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds longer, until fragrant.

Pour in the combined sauce ingredients and stir until the sauce thickens. Return the chicken to the wok and stir well to coat the pieces in sauce. 

Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Serve with steamed rice and other dishes.

Fisherman's Prawns with Chinese Chives - yu jia chao xia qiu

500g prepared raw large prawns (you can use frozen but thaw first)

100g Chinese chives, trimmed and cut into 1¼ inch pieces

2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or if you have them 1 tbsp chopped salted chillies)
1 tsp Chinkiang vinegar
1 fresh red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
salt
1 tsp sesame oil
200ml groundnut oil for cooking
For marinade

1 tsp salt
1 tbsp potato flour
1 small egg white

Put the prawns in a bowl with the marinade ingredients, mix well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan or wok over a high flame until it reaches 150C (about 300 F). Drain off excess egg white from the prawns in a colander or sieve then add them to the wok and fry briefly until pinkish but not fully cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Drain off all but 3 tbsp of the oil.  Add garlic and chilli flakes and stir-fry briefly until fragrant.  Add the prawns, stirring well, followed by the vinegar.  

Add the chives and fresh chilli and stir-fry unil they are barely cooked.  Season with salt to taste, remove from the heat, stir in sesame oil and serve.

Stir-fried Broad Beans with Chinese Chives - jiu cai can dou

100g fresh Chinese chives, washed trimmed and cut into 1¼ inch lengths

200g shelled broad beans (about 800g in the pod)

2tsp finely chopped fresh red chilli (or chopped salted chillies, again if you have them)

2tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

2 tbsp groundnut oil

salt

Blanch the beans in boiling water for about 1 minute so barely cooked, drain and set aside.

Heat a wok over a high flame until smoke rises then add the oil and swirl around.

Add the chillies and ginger and stir-fry briefly until fragrant before adding the beans and stir-fry until hot & sizzling. Add salt to taste.

Throw in the chives and stir-fry a little longer until just tender and serve immediately.

And just as a reminder, here's what the farmhouse pork looks like:

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Spicy Lamb Mince & Crushed Broad Beans

This is adapted from a recipe in the Telegraph that I saw online recently - that version didn’t use potato but I thought the beans probably needed bulking out and as it turned out I think I was right.  Floury potatoes such as Maris Piper could, I guess, be used instead so that it has more of a fluffy mash consistency but I think the waxiness of the Charlottes goes well with the slightly waxy texture of the beans.  Further additions I made included a dash of wine and a little harissa as well as using less oil as I didn’t think the amounts in the original recipe were necessary.

This could also of course be cooked outside of broad bean season by defrosted some frozen beans and then treating the same as fresh.

Crushed broad beans & Charlotte potatoes with spiced minced lamb
Serves 2

potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
800g broad beans still in their pods
½ tbsp olive oil
picked leaves from 1 small sprig of mint, chopped
sea salt & freshly ground white pepper
1tsp olive oil
200g minced lamb
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
½ small glass white wine
½ tsp rose harissa
salt & freshly ground pepper
leaves from 2 sprigs of dill

Put the potatoes onto boil in salted water and cook until tender.

Pod the beans and cook in boiling water with a pinch of salt for two minutes. Drain and run under cold water to “shock” (halt the cooking process). Pinch out the beans from their pale green outer jackets discarding the skins (or eat them as you go along if you're me).

Mash the potatoes with two-thirds of the beans, the chopped mint, ½ tbsp of olive oil and then season to taste with salt and a little white pepper.

Set to one side to keep warm, as well as the remaining beans in a separate container.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan, then add the lamb. Cook quite gently for about five minutes, breaking up the clusters of mince with a wooden spoon or fork. After about 5 minutes turn the heat up a little for a further five minutes. 

Once the mince is golden, add the spices and garlic and continue to fry, until it is all beginning to crisp and is fragrant, ensuring that the spices don’t get burnt.

Add most of the dill leaves and stir around for a minute before adding the wine and harissa. Let the wine bubble away until reduced right down (a minute or so). Season to taste.

Divide the potato bean mixture between two plates and flatten down slightly in a vaguely circular shape before spooning over the lamb. Scatter the remaining set-aside beans over the lot with the remaining fronds of dill.

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