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Ze Ran Niu Rou - Hunanese Beef with Cumin

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Ze Ran Niu Rou - Hunanese Beef with Cumin

I learnt to make this sizzling and seductive dish in the kitchen of an old restaurant in the Hunanese capital, Changsha.

Preparation time:
15 minutes to 20 minutes
Cooking time:
4 minutes to 6 minutes
Total time:
19 minutes to 26 minutes 30 minutes
Serves:
 2

Ingredients

  • 350g Sirloin or fillet steak, trimmed
  • 400ml groundnut oil
  • 2cm fresh root ginger, finely chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 salad onions, sliced
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • Marinade
  • 1 tbsp chinese cooking wine or Shaoxing wine
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp dark soy sauce
  • 1½ tbsp corn flour

Method

  1. Cut the beef into thin slices. Mix the marinade ingredients with 1 tbsp cold water; stir thoroughly until smooth and blended, then stir into the beef.
  2. Heat the oil in a wok to about 140°C or until a cube of bread turns brown in about 1 minute. Add the beef and stir gently for 1 minute – this process "velvets" the meat, giving it a soft texture. When the pieces of beef have separated, remove from the oil and drain well.
  3. Pour off all but 3 tbsp of the oil. Over a high flame, add the ginger, garlic, chilli and cumin and stir-fry briefly until fragrant. Add the beef and stir well for 2–3 minutes, seasoning with salt to taste, until cooked through. When all is sizzlingly fragrant, add the salad onions and toss. Remove from the heat, stir in the sesame oil and serve.

Drinks recommendation

Choose a light, fresh and juicy wine (slightly chilled if you like) which will work well with the spicy beef strips.

Comments and images

Average user rating 3 stars out of 5

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clonidine

clonidine 29 March 2008 09:45

For a vegetarian version, replace the beef with 150g shiitake mushrooms and 250g chestnut mushrooms, cleaned and cut in half to absorb the marinade (for which I made 50% more than in the recipe). I used 2 red chilis but would would use 3 next time. I also omitted the "velveting" step. This serves 2 generously or 3. Though I'm sure this variant loses authenticity, I don't think even meat eaters would be too disappointed.

beanie88

beanie88 14 February 2008 16:05

Although its a lot of oil, you need it to make the beef the velvet softness it should be. Otherwise, its just stir frying and that results in slightly tougher meat.

Hippolyra

Hippolyra 13 February 2008 16:36

Lovely recipe. I just stir fried the beef in a little oil then poured the marinade, spices and spring onions over. Next time I am making this with the addition of red peppers and extra spring onions.

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3 stars out of 5

Average user rating Based on 23 ratings

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Nutritional Info

Typical values per serving:
Energy 618.0kcal
Sugars 1.4g
Fat 40.0g
Saturated Fat 11.0g
Salt 2.4g

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This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in January 2008