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Hóng Kitchen

Water-Boiled Beef

Chinese · Medium · Serves 4

Water-Boiled Beef
Water-Boiled Beef
The Sichuan canon's most misleading name and the chilli-oil doctrine's fiery classroom: thin-sliced beef velveted and poached in a broth that carries the doubanjiang's red, the dried chillies' heat, and the Sichuan pepper's numbing — the shui zhu niu ("water-boiled beef," the name's innocent lie, for the "water" is the reddest chilli-oil broth in the canon) ladled over a bed of bean sprouts and celery, and finished with the raw chilli's scatter and the smoking oil's pour. The technique is the beef's gentle poach (the velvet's coat in the broth's fierce), and the finish's own theatre (the raw aromatics' smoking pour).

Quantities live in the recipe card.

The beef and its velvet

  • 30 minutes

The broth's red

The vegetable bed

  • blanched 1 minute and laid at the deep bowl's base

The finish — the raw aromatics and the smoking oil

- The velveted beef, the blanched vegetables, and the raw aromatics in their separate bowls — the dish's five-minute finish is the sequence's fastest. - The wok at the doctrine's full smoke.
Step 1. The broth's red build — 3 minutes. The oil's splash, the doubanjiang's 45-second bloom, the dried chillies and the Sichuan pepper for 20 seconds, the garlic and ginger through, and the stock poured in — the boil's rise and the red's full flush. Checkpoint — the broth is a deep, red-brown, its surface's oil carrying the chilli's red and the fragrance carrying the doubanjiang's fermented depth — the "water" its own fierce argument.
Step 2. The beef's gentle poach — 90 seconds. The velveted slices, one at a time, slid into the simmering red — the slices' separation the velvet's own argument — and poached 90 seconds at the bare simmer (never the boil — the velvet's coat and the slice's tenderness the gentle's own law). The whole — the broth and the beef — ladled over the blanched vegetables' bed. Checkpoint — the beef's slices are just-cooked (the pink's disappearance the clock, the velvet's gloss holding each slice's shape and juice), and the broth's ladle carries the red over the vegetables' bed.
Step 3. The raw's finish and the smoking oil — the table's theatre. The raw garlic, the chilli flakes, the ground pepper, and the scallions scattered over the bowl's surface — and the oil, at its first smoke in the small pan, poured in a stream over the raw's pile: the violent sizzle, the aromatics' explosion, and the dish's own fragrance at the table. Checkpoint — the eating test: the first slice's beef — the velvet's tender in the red's fire, the doubanjiang's depth and the pepper's numbing riding the chilli's heat — and the vegetables' crunch beneath — the shui zhu's whole argument (the "water's" innocent name and the red's own fierce truth) in one bowl. Chef’s Note — the velvet's coat in the broth's fierce is the shui zhu's own extension: the egg white and cornstarch sheath protects the slices not against the wok's dry heat but against the broth's boiling liquid, the starch setting to a translucent glove that holds the juice while the broth's fire flavours through. The gentle poach is the glove's law.

Doneness & Quality Checkpoints

  • The broth: the doubanjiang's 45-second red, the chillies' and pepper's 20-second bloom.
  • The beef: the velvet's full coat, the 90-second gentle poach at the bare simmer.
  • The finish: the raw's scatter and the smoking oil's pour — the sizzle the signature.

Finish & Plate

The deep bowl to the table immediately, the sizzle's last note fading, and the rice the fire's own vehicle. The leftover keeps 2 days (the beef's tenderness holding, the broth deepening).

Water-Boiled Beef

Water-Boiled Beef

Prep: 25 minutes, plus 30 minutes marinating · Cook: 15 minutes · Total: About 1 hour 10 minutes · Serves 4

Ingredients

The beef and its velvet

  • 500 g beef flank or sirloin, sliced thin across the grain (3–4 mm)
  • 1 tbsp (15 ml) light soy, 1 tbsp (15 ml) Shaoxing, 1 egg white (35 g), 2 tbsp (20 g) cornstarch — 30 minutes

The broth's red

  • 3 tbsp (45 ml) neutral oil
  • 2 tbsp (30 g) doubanjiang, mashed
  • 10 whole dried chillies, and 1 tbsp (10 g) Sichuan peppercorns
  • 4 cloves garlic, 1 thumb ginger, sliced (30 g)
  • 600 ml / 615 g beef or chicken stock
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) light soy, a pinch of sugar

The vegetable bed

  • 200 g bean sprouts, 150 g celery (cut to batons) — blanched 1 minute and laid at the deep bowl's base

The finish — the raw aromatics and the smoking oil

  • 2 tbsp (15 g) garlic, minced (the raw's own heat)
  • 1 tbsp (8 g) dried chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp (3 g) Sichuan pepper, ground
  • 3 scallions, sliced
  • 4 tbsp (60 ml) neutral oil, at its first smoke

Instructions

  1. The broth's red build — 3 minutes. The oil's splash, the doubanjiang's 45-second bloom, the dried chillies and the Sichuan pepper for 20 seconds, the garlic and ginger through, and the stock poured in — the boil's rise and the red's full flush. Checkpoint — the broth is a deep, red-brown, its surface's oil carrying the chilli's red and the fragrance carrying the doubanjiang's fermented depth — the "water" its own fierce argument.
  2. The beef's gentle poach — 90 seconds. The velveted slices, one at a time, slid into the simmering red — the slices' separation the velvet's own argument — and poached 90 seconds at the bare simmer (never the boil — the velvet's coat and the slice's tenderness the gentle's own law). The whole — the broth and the beef — ladled over the blanched vegetables' bed. Checkpoint — the beef's slices are just-cooked (the pink's disappearance the clock, the velvet's gloss holding each slice's shape and juice), and the broth's ladle carries the red over the vegetables' bed.
  3. The raw's finish and the smoking oil — the table's theatre. The raw garlic, the chilli flakes, the ground pepper, and the scallions scattered over the bowl's surface — and the oil, at its first smoke in the small pan, poured in a stream over the raw's pile: the violent sizzle, the aromatics' explosion, and the dish's own fragrance at the table. Checkpoint — the eating test: the first slice's beef — the velvet's tender in the red's fire, the doubanjiang's depth and the pepper's numbing riding the chilli's heat — and the vegetables' crunch beneath — the shui zhu's whole argument (the "water's" innocent name and the red's own fierce truth) in one bowl.

Storage, Make-Ahead & Variations

- The broth's base (the fried doubanjiang and aromatics) holds 3 days — the poach and the pour on demand. The water-boiled fish (the suan cai yu's own cousin) and the frog version run this master's doctrine. - The canon's seat: the chilli-oil broth's master — the velvet's gentle poach and the smoking pour — at the Sichuan canon's fiercest table.