Learn how to make hot and numbing Sichuan style water boiled beef (Shui Zhu Niu Rou) at home. Sichuan style water boiled beef is one of my favorite dishes in restaurants. If you ever tasted it in China, you will crazily love the tenderness of the beef slices and shocked by how well they are flavored in the hot and red broth.
“Water boiling” (水煮) is a unique cooking method originated in Sichuan cuisine. Of course, delicious beef slices cannot be achieved via “cooking in water”. The meat (fish, pork and beef) is well coated with a “protection shell” made from water and starch. This special layer of shell, on one hand, prevents the beef from being spoiled by the hot broth and on the other hand helps to keep the juice inside.
Another surprise of the dish, in addition to the beef slice, is the vegetables at the bottom. They can absorb enough flavor form the broth, even though they are not boiled in the broth directly. Popular options about bottom vegetables are cabbage, bean sprouts, celery, mushrooms and lettuce head.
Instructions
Cut beef steak into thin slices against the grains. Transfer to a bowl, add pinch of salt, white pepper, sugar, light soy sauce and oyster sauce. Mix well until all the sauces are absorbed. Then add 1 egg white and combine well. Then add 2 tablespoons of starch (recommend using sweet potato starch). Mix well.
Heat 12 to 20 dried chili peppers with 1 tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorn in wok until slightly aromatic. (place peppers firstly and then Sichuan peppercorn) Move out, cool down and then roughly chop.
Bring a large pot of water to a boiling and then blanch the celery and mushrooms for minute. Transfer out and place at the bottom of serving bowl.
In a wok, add 2 tablespoon of oil, fry doubanjiang and hot pot seasoning if you are using with slow fire until the red turns red, then add ginger, scallion sections, garlic, fry for 1 minute until aromatic too. Then place 1/3 of the chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorn we prepared in the first step. Then pour hot water and let it simmer for 5-8 minutes.
Add 1 teaspoon of oil in the marinated beef and mix them again to make sure they are evenly coated. Turn up fire and add the pork slices in and cook until the broth begin to boil again. Wait for around 20 to 30 seconds and transfer them out immediately. Pour the sauce until the container is almost full.
Heat up around 2 tablespoons of cooking oil again in small pot. Evenly pour the oil on the surface of the serving bowl. Be careful during the process; do not get burnt!
Shui Zhu Beef (Sichuan Boiled Beef)
Ingredients
- celery and oyster mushrooms , for the bottom
Beef marinating
- 200 g beef steak or tenderloin , cut into thin slices, against the grain
- pinch of salt
- dash white pepper
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. oyster sauce , or slightly more if needed.
- 1 egg white
- 2 tbsp. sweet potato starch , or cornstarch
刀口辣椒 chopped pepper and peppercorn
- 12-20 dried chili pepper
- 1 tbsp. Sichuan peppercorn
Soup base
- 4 green onions , white part cut into 2cm long and green pert chopped
- 2 tbsp. Doubajiang or half doubanjiang half hot pot soup base
- 4 tbsp. cooking oil , divided
- 4 garlic cloves , finely chopped and keep half for garnishing
- 1 thumb ginger , finely chopped
- Coriander and green onion for garnishing
- 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
- 1 L hot water
Instructions
- Cut beef steak into thin slices against the grains. Transfer to a bowl, add pinch of salt, white pepper, sugar, light soy sauce and oyster sauce. Mix well until all the sauces are absorbed. Then add 1 egg white and combine well. Then add 2 tablespoons of starch (recommend using sweet potato starch). Mix well.
- Heat 12 to 20 dried chili peppers with slow fire for half minute and then add 1 tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorn in wok until slightly aromatic. Move out, cool down and then roughly chop.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boiling and then blanch the celery and mushrooms for minute. Transfer out and place at the bottom of serving bowl.
- In a wok, add 2 tablespoon of oil, fry doubanjiang and hot pot seasoning if you are using with slow fire until the red turns red, then add ginger, scallion sections, garlic, fry for 1 minute until aromatic too. Then place 1/3 of the chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorn we prepared in the first step. Then pour hot water and let it simmer for 5-8 minutes.
- Add 1 teaspoon of oil in the marinated beef and mix them again to make sure they are evenly coated. Turn up fire and add the pork slices in and cook until the broth begin to boil again. Wait for around 20 to 30 seconds and transfer them out immediately. Pour the sauce until the container is almost full.
- Lay garlic, green onion and chili pepper prepared in step 2.Heat up around 2 tablespoons of cooking oil again in small pot. Evenly pour the oil on the surface of the serving bowl. Be careful during the process; do not get burnt! Serve hot!!
Notes
Nutrition
Best recipe for shui zhu niu I have found! I have tried cooking it before but it has never turned out as well as your recipe. Delicious mala and spicy flavor without being too spicy. Thank you for posting such good recipes that are so good to follow and quick to prepare!
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback, Mark!!! I am so happy it runs out good for you. This series is one of the best ones to cook.
great timing! I just opened a package of hot pot seasoning the other day to make dry pot. this looks so delicious!
Will be a master of Shui Zhu dishes.
This looks like a great recipe. Can you clarify how much hot water to use in step 4, and also the recipe has 4 cloves of garlic used in 2 steps (step 4 soup and step 6 garnish). How much garlic is used in each step?
Around 800ml to 1000ml hot water as listed in ingredients list. Divide garlic into two portions and use in step 2 and step 6.
I’m a bit confused about steps 3 and 4, the celery is blanched Ina separate pot then placed in the serving dish, meanwhile the wok is started up to cook the peppers and such, then water is added then pork- where does the celery go in? Are the things mixed in the wok added to the serving container, and then everything is cooked in that?
Following the instructions as written would leave a wok of boiling soup plus a second serving container of blanched vegetables 🙁
The celery is placed at the bottom of serving bowl 😄
Great and easy to follow.
Thanks Dayne!
I’ve made this a couple of times now. I really like it! I learned something about it this time, though. It really is better to use sweet potato starch. It makes the broth stick to the meat so much better, and it keeps the meat more tender.
This recipe looks awesome, I’ll make the time to try it real soon! One question: I had this dish with chicken instead of beef in a restaurant once, and it became my favorite. Any suggestions for how to make this with chicken?
Hi，
Michael, chicken is much tender meat compared with beef. So you need to cook chicken in a shorter time, similar to fish slices. You can go to this Shui Zhu fish and simply replace fish with chicken .
What type of chilli peppers?
I use erjingtiao from China.
Do you have a recommended substitute for the pepper? Would Guajillo or dried cayenne work? Unfortunately the mentioned pepper is not available here.
Hi, Martin
Guajillo or dried cayenne peppers can be suitable substitutes for the mentioned pepper. They can provide a similar level of heat and flavor to the dish. Just be mindful of the heat level of the substitute and adjust the quantity to suit your preference.
How much celery and mushrooms should be used?
celery 100g and 6-8 mushrooms are ok.