I made this for dinner early last week. By the time Jacob and I were halfway done, we were already sniffling, with sweat beads ready to form. Even in the pantheon of Sichuan cuisine, this is one helluva spicy dish.
Shuizhu niurou (水煮牛肉) is translated literally into English as “water-boiled beef”, a rather benign name for such a potent tongue-burning dish. Restaurant versions usually come in a clay or iron pot, with about 100 chilis foating on the surface of the bright red broth, and a few pieces of beef poking through. It could more aptly be named “water-boiled chilis with beef garnish.” The fish version can be equally alarming. But for spice fiends and native Sichuanese, this fiery dish is pure delicious comfort food.
Fortunately, the version I made at home is manageable, though just barely. The nice part is that if you don’t care about how impressively red the broth is, you can adjust the spiciness to your tolerance level, by 1) using less chili bean sauce, or 2) leaving the dried chili peppers whole instead of chopping them up and unleashing the beastly seeds.
Bonus impressive ending (stricly optional): after plating the finished beef and sauce, reheat some oil in your wok until just smoking. Pour the oil over your dish so the beef and chilis crackle. If you hurry your dish to the table, it will still be crackling in front of your guests.
Whether you can stand the full heat or adjust the spiciness, this nice soupy meat dish will warm you up before central heating starts.
What is the most tongue-numbing, sweat-inducing, sinus-clearing cooked dish you’ve ever tasted?
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Other Sichuan Recipes to try:
- Cinnamon & Anise Chicken Noodle Soup
- Dan Dan Mian (Spicy Sichuan Noodles)
- Kung Pao Chicken
- Kung Pao Tofu
- Mapo Tofu (Mapo Doufu)
- Sichuan Cucumber Salad
- Sichuan Dry-Fried Green Beans
- Sichuan-Style Snow Peas
- Spicy Wok-Fried Chicken with Chili (Lazi jiding)
- Twice-Cooked Pork (Huiguo rou)
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Sichuan Water-Boiled Beef in Chili Sauce
Adapted from Land of Plenty
Serves 4 as part of multi-course meal
- 1 stalk of celery, stems only
- 4 scallions, white parts only
- 1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced against the grain
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon yellow rice wine
- 5 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil, plus more if needed
- 8 to 10 dried red chilies
- 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorn
- 3 tablespoons chili bean paste
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 3 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in 3 tablespoons water
- Allow beef to marinate in rice wine and salt mixture for 10 to 15 minutes while you prepare other ingredients.
- Slice celery and scallions to 2-inch lengths.
- Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a wok until just smoking. Stir-fry chilis and Sichuan peppercorn until fragrant and the chilis begin to blister, about 1 to 2 minutes. Immediately remove the spices and set aside in a small bowl, leaving oil in the wok. When chilis are cooled, roughly chop them and return to the bowl with Sichuan peppercorn.
- Reheat wok and stir-fry celery and scallions until just cooked, about 1 to 2 minutes. Sprinkle with about 1/4 teaspoon of salt, then transfer to serving dish.
- Add more oil to the wok if needed. Over medium heat, stir-fry chili bean paste until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add chicken stock and dark soy sauce and bring to boil. Lower the heat to simmer. Add cornstarch mixture to beef and mix well. Drop beef slices into wok and simmer until beef is just cooked, about 1 to 2 minutes. Spoon beef and sauce into serving dish over vegetables.
- Sprinkle chopped chilies and peppercorn on top of beef. Working quickly, heat another 2 tablespoons of oil until just smoking. Remove from heat and pour oil over beef dish, causing it to sizzle. Serve immediately; if you’re quick, the dish will still be sizzling a when you bring it to the table.
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
I love this dish, it’s so yummy. But I’m using a shortcut in my version. I make sichuan-chili oil first and use that. So I can skip the step with blistering the chiles and still have all the flavours.
And I’m missing the iceberg lettuce in your recipe. I love the combination of white rice, iceberg lettuce, spicy beef and a sichuan peppercorn. :-)
I made this once but I reduced the amount of chili just in case I burnt my throat! I may make this again as it’s getting cold here.
That dish looks positively incendiary! I’m gathering up courage to cook something like this at home. Thanks for sharing.
This dish is one of my favorites, I’m so glad you shared it becuase I’ve been wondering how to make it for a while now. I love serving it with glass noodles.
Thank you for posting the recipe. I used to eat this dish everytime we’d go to a sichuan restaurant around China, the bubbling of the oil, chillis, and garlic made it look like the dish was alive. I remember having this with fried potatoes with friends from Chengdu, wishing I could ask for a pot of rice to temper the heat. They gave me a bottle of beer, said it would soothe my tongue. I’m definitely going to make this while the weather is relatively cooler in the tropics.
Oh. That is Hot! Fan, fan, fan. I used to push the envelope but now I think your balance is just right. I like the word “manageable,” still hot though. Sounds great!
Robin – I don’t think I’ve had iceberg lettuce in this dish. Though I’m imagining how much throat-scorching sauce it will either cradle or sponge up. Would need to get the Kleenex ready…
mila – I need both rice and beer with my shuizhu niurou. Fried potatoes with this spicy beef sounds spectacular.
I’ve eaten this in restaurants and it is still the spiciest dish I’ve eaten!
i grew up in Chengdu. I have been missing this dish so much. Thank you to post the recipe, otherwise I don’t know how I can make it at home. The tremendous sensation in the mouth like making you high in a different way. i am thinking I can make this dish and bring it to potluck party.
Wonderful food to share with us.
Thanks
Do you think this would work with frogs legs?
The original version calls for 6tbsp of corn starch. I don’t know what she was thinking. It’s like glue!
This was delicious and almost as good as the the 2 szechuan restaurants near us here in Chicago. I made a change to the vegetables to make it more like the dish as it’s served here, though. I used bok choy (just the white part) instead of celery and leeks instead of scallions. That’s the only way my husband and I have ever had it. Next time I think I would reduce the amount of chicken stock to 2 cups or less, it was really soupy.
Holy cow, I just made this. It was good, at least for my standards since I normally am not a very good cook at all. I’m pretty sure I messed up the recipe somewhere, but I think as long as it is within the general guidelines, the dish comes out pretty good. I have to say though, that the flavor comes out a bit different from if you eat it at a restaurant. For some reason, the rice wine taste was not subtle at all when I made this dish. I could taste it right when I bit into the meat, and I don’t recall that when I eat this dish at restaurants. But overall, a great recipe and not very complex once all the ingredients are gathered.