Spicy Sichuan ‘boiled meat’ from Chengdu, China

I arrived in Chengdu, Sichuan province, only a couple days after the big earthquake in 2008. I was expecting the place to be a mess, but was surprised to find so much in the city already running as usual (aside from moments when we’d feel a big aftershock, and people would scurry in a panic, down the apartment stairs and outside). I only mention the food briefly in my novel, mainly because I was fortunate enough to find a bible of a book on the cuisine, and after leafing through it a number of times, I spent most of my energy eating, rather than recording recipes (this is an exception).

The book is Sichuan Cookery by Fuchsia Dunlop, who was the first foreigner to study at one of the culinary institutes in Chengdu. She has beautifully translated much more than recipes, but the culture, history, and many secrets of Sichuan cuisine. I highly recommend the book to anyone with an interest in Chinese and Asian food.

It was explained to me that the name of this dish can be confusing to some, as the meat is hardly boiled, but rather steamed in the remaining vegetable juices after they’ve been prepared.

This may look like a lot of ingredients, but the dish comes together quickly, as long as you cut and chop everything in advance.

The recipe calls for a bit of pea flour: if you don’t have any, you may want to substitute corn starch (if anyone has another suggestion, let me know!).

Sichuan pepper is known to have a numbing sensation in the mouth, but when used in small quantities with red chili powder, it gives off a wonderful aroma and flavour. Sichuan red chillies (both the small ones in the photo and the roundish ones) also have particular flavours that add to the dish, but if you can’t find them, use what you have (Indian chillies aren’t a bad substitute). And don’t be afraid to use a lot of chili: the last step in the dish kills some of its bite.

The meat should be paper thin (I often buy it in Asian markets), and for those who are lucky enough to have an electric meat slicer, you’ll know that it’s easiest to cut the meat yourself if you partially freeze it first (so that it doesn’t fall apart or break into strings).

Finally, the broad bean chili paste can have a strong fermented flavour (I’ve had complaints about it in the past, but there were none when recreating the dish for this blog entry), so use it sparingly, if at all.

Sichuan ‘boiled meat’ from Chengdu, China

thin, tender slices of meat (pork, beef or lamb are great), egg white, Chinese soy sauce, pea flour, sliced ginger and garlic, whole dried red chillies, broad bean chili paste, Chinese cooking wine, a touch of water, half a head of yellow Chinese cabbage cut into 2-3cm strips, cucumber jardinières, garlic greens cut jardinière, spring onions chopped round, ground Sichuan pepper, dried red chili powder, oil

– mix meat with egg white, soy sauce, pea flour, leave 20 minutes
– heat oil on medium, add ginger, garlic, whole dried chillies, chili paste, fry a few minutes without burning
– add wine, a bit of water, cabbage, cucumber, garlic greens, cook covered for a few minutes until cabbage ‘falls’, reserve in serving bowl, leaving liquid in wok/pot
– add meat to wok/pot, boil/steam through (only takes a few minutes), place over vegetables, topped with remaining liquid
– cover meat with generous amounts of red chili powder, Sichuan pepper and spring onion
– heat oil in dry wok/pot/pan, ladle it over the spices (it will make a wonderful sizzling sound, so I usually do it in front of my guests), serve hot with rice

Enjoy!