Shuizhu Niurou
Sichuan's water-boiled beef: silk-thin beef poached in a fiery doubanjiang broth, drowned in smoking chilli oil at the table.
Overview
Two sensations at once: the bright, immediate burn of dried chilli (la) sitting under the slow numbing-electric prickle of Sichuan peppercorn (ma). That mala pair is the whole point. Beneath that, the broth is salty and fermented-funky from doubanjiang, the deep umami of broad-bean paste that's been aged for months in clay vessels. The hot oil pour at the table is theatre but it does real work: it blooms the dried chillies and Sichuan peppercorn powder right before you smell them, so the aroma arrives in a wave. Texturally: gloriously tender silk-thin beef slices (the cornflour-and-egg-white marinade is what keeps them that way), crisp-on-the-edge bok choy or bean sprouts wilting under the heat, oil swimming on top. Easier than its restaurant-banquet reputation suggests once you have doubanjiang and Sichuan peppercorns in the pantry; the technique is mostly "don't overcook the beef" and "pour the oil while it's smoking". Originates in 1930s Chongqing as a riverboat-worker's dish, water and chillies were cheap, lean cuts of beef tough, then spread through Sichuan in the 1980s as the wider mala movement caught hold.
Ingredients
Beef and marinade
- 500 g beef sirloin, flank, or chuck (sliced across the grain as thinly as possible, 2-3 mm)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing rice wine
- 1 egg white
- 2 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
Aromatic broth
- 3 tablespoons neutral oil (vegetable or rapeseed)
- 3 tablespoons doubanjiang (Pixian-style Sichuan fermented chilli-bean paste)
- 2 tablespoons whole dried Sichuan chillies (broken, seeds shaken out for less heat)
- 2 teaspoons whole Sichuan peppercorns
- 25 g fresh ginger (sliced)
- 6 garlic cloves (sliced)
- 2 spring onions (white parts, cut into 4 cm batons)
- 600 ml chicken stock (or water)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (for colour)
Bed of greens
- 200 g bean sprouts
- 200 g Napa cabbage (or bok choy), torn into wide pieces
Top dressing and finishing oil
- 3 tablespoons whole dried Sichuan chillies (broken)
- 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn powder (or whole peppercorns)
- 4 garlic cloves (sliced thin)
- 2 spring onions (green parts, sliced thin)
- Handful coriander (chopped)
- 4 tablespoons neutral oil (for the final pour)
- 1 tablespoon Sichuan chilli oil with sediment (optional, for extra colour)
To serve
- Steamed jasmine rice
- Cold beer (the heat needs it)
Method
Stage 1 - Marinate the beef
- Slice the beef as thinly as you can across the grain. Freezing the beef for 30 minutes first makes this much easier.
- Combine the beef with the soy sauce, Shaoxing, egg white, cornflour, oil and salt in a bowl.
- Mix with your hand for 1 minute until the cornflour and egg white coat every slice and form a glossy slip.
- Rest 20 minutes at room temperature.
Stage 2 - Bed of greens
- Bring a wide pan of water to the boil. Salt lightly.
- Blanch the bean sprouts for 30 seconds; lift out.
- Blanch the Napa cabbage or bok choy for 60 seconds; lift out.
- Arrange the blanched greens in a wide, deep serving bowl (the kind shuizhu is traditionally served in).
Stage 3 - Fiery broth
- Heat the 3 tablespoons of oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the doubanjiang and stir-fry 1-2 minutes until the oil turns deep red. Don't let it scorch - keep the heat moderate.
- Add the dried Sichuan chillies, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger, garlic and spring onion whites. Stir-fry 30 seconds till fragrant.
- Pour in the chicken stock, light soy, sugar and dark soy. Bring to a simmer.
- Simmer 5 minutes to extract the flavours, then strain through a sieve into a clean pan, pressing the solids (discard solids).
- Return the broth to a gentle simmer.
Stage 4 - Poach the beef
- Add the marinated beef to the simmering broth in a single layer, one piece at a time so they don't clump.
- Poach 60-90 seconds, gently agitating with chopsticks, until each slice has just turned from red to pale brown.
- Tip the beef and broth over the bed of greens in the serving bowl. The greens will partially wilt under the hot liquid.
Stage 5 - The crackle
- Scatter the top of the bowl with the 3 tablespoons of dried chillies, Sichuan peppercorn powder, sliced garlic, sliced spring onion greens, and coriander.
- Heat the 4 tablespoons of neutral oil in a small pan until just-smoking (240°C / lightly fuming).
- Carrying the bowl to the table, pour the smoking oil directly over the dried chillies and garlic at the top of the bowl. They'll crackle, hiss and release a wave of aroma.
- Drizzle the optional chilli oil over for extra colour.
- Serve immediately, with steamed rice on the side.
Notes
- Beef cut and slicing: the most important step. Beef must be cut across the grain in 2-3 mm slices. Sirloin gives the most tender result; flank is the traditional Sichuan choice; chuck is cheapest and most flavourful but needs to be sliced thinner. Freeze the beef for 30 minutes to firm it up before slicing.
- Doubanjiang is non-negotiable: Pixian doubanjiang (the brand in the yellow tub) is the soul of this dish. No substitute gives the same fermented-chilli depth. Generic chilli bean sauce is a poor stand-in.
- The hot-oil pour is the dish: don't skip it. The smoking oil bloomed onto the dry chillies and Sichuan peppercorns is what creates the dish's signature aroma. Serve immediately so the chillies don't go soggy.
- Heat level: moderate-to-high by default. Reduce dried chillies and doubanjiang for less burn; the Sichuan peppercorns (numbing) are part of the experience and should stay at full dose.
Storage
- Best eaten immediately; the beef toughens on standing and the dramatic crackle is gone.
- The broth on its own (without beef) keeps 3 days refrigerated and can be reused as the base for a second batch.
- The flavoured oil left in the bowl is excellent the next morning over noodles with a poached egg.
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