One of the best parts about revisiting recipes from previous years is seeing how little changes can make a big difference. Take, for example, this Spicy Hunan Beef with Cumin dish. The version from June 2010 involved fresh red chilis with crushed red pepper flakes. Over the weekend, I tweaked the recipe with dried red chilis with chili oil and a bit of chili sauce. The result was an even better dish, with a hint of smokiness from the dried red chilis and chili oil that the first version didn’t have. It’ll be my go-to version from now on.
When I moved into my new apartment a few months ago, the first thing I did was take inventory of the cupboards. (The previous tenants had left a decent supply of spices, oils, and condiments.) The second thing I did, even though it was almost 10pm by the time I was done unpacking, was march over the Trader Joe’s and buy ground cumin. I had not planned on cooking that night. It just made me sleep better, knowing my kitchen was no longer egregiously understocked.
Other than sea salt, cumin is the spice that I cannot with without. If I were only allowed two spices on a deserted island (with an otherwise fully-stocked kitchen), and had to choose between cumin and a pepper grinder, the former might win out. Just a whiff of toasted cumin seeds brings back a flood of memories of the best foods I have ever eaten: melty lamb shoulder from a Yemeni restaurant in Brooklyn, late night beef kebabs from a street vendor in Beijing, or pilau from an Afghani restaurant near Boston.
On this blog already I have already made a good number of salads and other vegetarian dishes with cumin, but here’s one for red meat eaters. Cumin is normally used in western Chinese cooking, such as that from Xi’an or the Xinjiang province, but periodically shows up in Hunan and Sichuan cooking as well.
Hunan’s version of stir-fried beef with cumin combines cumin with the fresh and dried chilis the province is known for. My version is pretty spicy, but manageable (maybe 2 out of 3 chili pepper rating.) Buy the tenderest beef you can find and slice it very thin, for quick stir-frying. (Throwing it in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes before preparation firms it up to make slicing easier.) And feel free to add more fresh and dried chilis if you can withstand it.
- 1 pound flank steak, sliced thinly against the grain (about ¼-inch thick)
- 1 tablespoon peanut or vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoons finely chopped ginger
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
- 6 to 8 dried red chilis
- 2 scallions, green parts thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
- 1 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
- 2 teaspoons chili oil
- 1 teaspoon chili sauce
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Marinate the beef: In a large bowl, combine the marinade ingredients. Add the beef and toss well to coat. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes.
- In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the sauce.
- Heat the peanut or vegetable oil in a wok or pan over medium-high heat. Add the beef and spread it out over the bottom of the wok. Let it sear untouched for 1 minute. Stir-fry for another 1 minute. When the beef is still a little pink in the middle, add the ginger, garlic, and dried red chilis. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant).
- Add the sauce and stir to coat. Continue cooking just until the beef is no longer pink, about another 1 minute. Remove from the heat, garnish with scallions, and serve.
Dude, what magic Traders Joe’s is open at 10pm! ;-)
This is slightly off-topic, but I really, really love cumin + chili + barbecue. I could eat the powder with a spoon… slowly. :P
Wei-Wei
The one on Court St. and the one in Union Sq are both open til 10pm. :) Got there right before.
I’m also a huge cumin fan, and this sound wonderful!
A Szechuan place down the street makes a killer, spicy cumin lamb dish. I’ll be this would be great with lamb as well.
use spices and condiments left over from the last tenant? Haha, there’s probably nothing wrong with that, but I’m very personal about my spices! ;)
Hi, will it be okay to substitute the beef with firm tofu? I would need to fry the tofu first right?
Thanks! =)
Yes, you can definitely substitute with firm tofu. Just find the firmest tofu available, or even try tofu skin (available in Chinese supermarkets) or tempeh.
wow…your photography is amazing! I just want to reach in and take a piece…
Hi, could you tell me the Chinese name for cumin? I’m in China now for a few months and am finding it quite hard to cook at home. This looks like something I’d like to try!
The Chinese for cumin is "zi ran", written as 孜然. Hope that helps!
thank you! :)
An excellent recipe!! Obviously I haven’t been using cumin enough. Thanks!
I had a dish similar to this in a Hunan restaurant in a foodcourt somewhere in Shenzhen with my fiancee and a colleague of hers.
The beef was cut almost to the size of corn-flakes and as far as I could tell there was only beef, red peppers (cut into thin thin rings) and (red) onion. I think it was prepared in an oven though and it was quite spicy but not too a flash-ignition level :-)
I have no idea what the marinade was made of though. If I go back with my (now wife) I’ll try and visit the same restaurant and order the dish again (and analyze it).
I think I have a picture of it somewhere…
Yes, please send a link to your photo. I’ve never had this (or any other Hunan beef dish) baked. Sounds like a great dish!
This stir fried beef is very delicious and fairly easy prepare. The ingredient that I used is very similar to yours, however the cooking steps may be slightly different. After marinating stage, I dusted the beef with generous amount of corn flour and dipped it into hot oil for 3-4 min or until it is light golden brown. After this I stirred fry the rest of ingredient (garlic, ginger & chilli flakes) and return the beef to the wok again. Once I removed the meat from the heat, I garnished with scallions and lot of freshly grinded szechuan peppercorn. I tender the beef with my new purchased meat mallet
Tried a variant using lamb and whole cumin seeds last night, (which I had had in a Hunan restaurant in Dong Guan), and it was amazing.
I honestly had no clue that cumin was used in Chinese cooking – my primary interaction has been when eating Indian dishes (courtesy of grad school classmates). Obviously my stomach needs some genetic calibration ;-) I’m adding this to my must try list thanks!
Interesting. I thought the use of cumin is more Dongbei than Hunan. But you would know best. I remember having some great dish with cumin at one of the Flushing restaurants. Mouth-watering as I write. Cumin is essential when making a bean dish too. Thanks for the recipe.
Love this dish! This dish is widely served in authentic Chinese restaurants nowadays and I am constant amazed by the number of variations I see.
I’d agree that dry chili could bring a little more heat and also keep the dish from getting too watery (especially cooking in a home kitchen).
Love your picture and thanks for sharing the recipe!
Sounds delicious! I just noticed I have the same exact plate mat as you do!
I didn’t know cumin was used a lot in Chinese dishes. Good to know.
Fantastic recipe. The cumin and wine really bring out the flavors in this dish. Thanks for the inspiration!
This is our regular go-to recipe for Hunan Beef…It is soo tasty! We usually use less cumin, just our preference. Since finding this recipe, we have made this dish weekly (so about 7 times now!).
Mopi – I’m so glad you’re enjoying this dish enough to make it on a weekly basis!
I need to sleep. For a few minutes, I seriously thought it said ‘Human beef’….
It looks good! Bookmarking your blog. :)
Did you get this recipe from Fuchsia Dunlop’s book?
Emily – Fuchsia Dunlop has a similar beef with cumin recipe in her book, though looking at it now, hers involves dry-frying the beef, draining it, then stir-frying it with the other ingredients. I learned a simpler Hunan cumin beef stir-fry when I was living in Beijing and teaching at a cooking school there, which became this recipe after a couple years of tweaking. (Whenever I do adapt from Dunlop’s books, I include a credit in the recipe.) I prefer the lighter, cleaner flavors in this stir-fry, though Dunlop’s seems like it would be good for a heartier winter dish.
Love this dried chili twist on the classic recipe.
Also a big fan of NOT “velveting” in a domestic kitchen. Stir-frying is definitely the way to go.
A Shanghainese foodie friend with a real love for Hunan cooking once persuaded a chef to serve us a (purportedly) Hunanese dish where the beef slices (probably about 2 lbs) were dished up in what I think was a clay pot, with the beef entirely concealed beneath a 1/2″ layer of dried chilies – perhaps 100 in all. The beef beneath was astoundingly hot, but very moist and succulent. I don’t recall any flavourings beyond the usual, but I’m not sure I’d've noticed their presence or absence with all that chili.
In my excitement while eating this remarkable dish, I forgot to ask what it was called. I’ve been hunting for it for several years now, without many leads. Have you ever heard of such a dish?
happydemic – Hmm, I don’t think I’ve had this dish, but it sounds like the Hunan version of this Sichuan dish, dryer but just has fiery.
i love chinese food and this dish looks amazing.. want to try it out. I live in India and it’s difficult to get both chinese rice wine and dry sherry here. Would you please suggest any non alcoholic substitute?
i love chinese food and this dish looks amazing.. want to try it out. I live in India and it’s difficult to get both chinese rice wine and dry sherry here. Would you please suggest any non alcoholic substitute?
Ann – Are you able to get regular dry white wine? That would work as a substitute. Otherwise, for this recipe, I would just leave it out of the marinade and substitute 1 tablespoon of water for it in the sauce. (There really isn’t a good non-alcoholic equivalent.) Hope that helps!
This was crazy delicious! Thank you for the recipe! It’s going to be a new favorite in our household.