Spicy Chinese Beef With Cumin

Bold and well spiced

Course dinner

Keyword Cayenne Pepper, Thai Pepper

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Servings servings

Calories 591kcal

Ingredients

For the beef

4 fresh red cayenne peppers sliced into 1/8-inch rounds, seeds and all
20 whole, dried, red bird’s eye chilies finely ground in a pestle and mortar. The ones I used were all about ½-inch long.
2 pounds rump steak cut against the grain into ¼-inch slices. The single piece of steak I used was a good one-inch thick, and I took some care to be pretty consistent in cutting those ¼-inch slices.
3 heaped teaspoons ground cumin
4 heaped teaspoons fresh ginger root finely grated
6 cloves garlic peeled and very finely sliced
4 scallions or green onions. Cut away the root stem, and any of the green parts which aren’t firm and freshly crisp. Then slice the lot into sections about 1 ½ inches long.
6 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 ½ tablespoons sesame oil
3 cups water

Marinade for the beef

2 tablespoons rice wine often sold under the Shaoxing tag
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons water

Instructions

Making the marinade for the beef

This is really straightforward. I start here, and let the beef sit in the marinade while I prep the cayenne peppers, dried bird’s eye chilies, garlic, and ginger.
So, mix together all the marinade’s ingredients in a mixing bowl that’s easily big enough to hold the marinade and all the beef. I used a balloon whisk to make sure that the cornflour gets thoroughly combined with the marinade’s liquid ingredients.
Once that’s done, add the sliced beef to the marinade, and give the bowl a good stirring so that all the slices get coated with the marinade. Set the bowl aside and let it stand while you prep the cayennes, bird’s eye chilies, garlic, and ginger.

Cooking your Chinese beef with cumin

For this, I used a heavy-based, deep-sided 12-inch skillet.
First of all, remove the beef from the marinade and set it in a colander so that the marinade drains from the beef back into its bowl. You’ll be adding that marinade to the sauce a little later — so don’t discard it. Give the beef a few minutes to allow most of the marinade to drain off. Good.
You’re now aiming to give batches of the sliced, marinated beef some fast, searing heat to lock in their juices, and to add a little — and I mean a little — charring color. I did this in three batches — that was just fine in my big, wide skillet.
So, set your skillet on high heat and add 5 tablespoons sunflower oil — the sixth and final tablespoon of oil comes a little later. As soon as the oil starts barely smoking, drop the heat to medium-high, and add the first batch of beef in a single, even layer.
Fry the slices for 30 seconds on each side, then quickly remove them with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate. Try to leave as much of the oil as you can in the skillet for the next lot of beef. Repeat this fast-fry process for the remaining two batches. Time now to quickly make the sauce.
With the skillet set on a medium heat, add the sixth tablespoon of sunflower oil, then swiftly stir in the cayennes, ground bird’s eye chilies, garlic, ginger, and cumin. You’ll find that the mix is fairly thick and pretty dry — that’s fine. Keep stirring over that medium-high heat for about 90 seconds until the mix starts to give off its bloom of spicy aromas.
Now add the water and the marinade, and stir everything thoroughly until the sauce starts to bubble. As soon as that happens, turn the heat to high and add the sliced scallions / spring onions, the beef, and any juices from its plate. Give the skillet a couple of good stirs to coat the beef and the scallions with the sauce.
Keep the heat on high until the sauce begins to bubble rapidly. Turn off the heat and add the sesame oil. Give the skillet one good final stir and serve at once over cooked rice.

Nutrition