45
1 For braised beef, cut beef
into 3cm chunks and blanch
in a saucepan of boiling water
(4-6 minutes). Tip into a
colander and rinse well.
2 Heat oil in a saucepan over
WORDS & RECIPE TONY TAN PHOTOGRAPHY BEN HANSENSTYLING BHAVANI KONINGS ILLUSTRATION LAUREN HAIRE medium-high heat. Add spring onion and ginger
Chongqing noodles
This dish is usually served on its own, but I’ve added a
recipe for braised beef, a popular accompaniment.
Prep time 15 mins, cook 45 mins (plus cooling)
Serves 4-6
1 tbsp green Sichuan peppercorns
40 gm ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and coarsely chopped
1-1½ litres (4-6 cups) chicken stock
500 gm fresh thin wheat noodles (see note)
60 gm roasted peanuts, crushed
100 ml sesame oil
50 ml soy sauce
150 gm (^1 / 3 cup) Sichuan preserved vegetable
(see note), thinly sliced
3 tbsp (¼ cup) salted vegetable (see note)
1 spring onion, thinly sliced crossways
Braised beef
700 gm stewing beef or beef shin
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 spring onions (white part only), cut into
2cm pieces
5 thin slices ginger
2 tbsp Sichuan chilli bean paste (doubanjiang)
1 star anise
60 ml (^1 / 4 cup) Shaoxing wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce
½ tsp five-spice powder
1 litre (4 cups) chicken stock
1 tbsp rock sugar, or to taste
Chilli oil
100 gm small dried red Sichuan chillies
500 ml (2 cups) sunflower oilSTEPSHenry Bib
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Olive Dish in Teal
(step 2) and Custom
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and Teal (step 3) by
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own. Stockists p175.12346789though they can be pulsed in a food
processor). Place the chilli flakes in a large
heatproof bowl. Heat 2 cups of sunflower oil
until smoking. Turn off the heat and leave to
cool for 5 minutes, then pour the oil over the
chilli flakes and stir well. Leave this to infuse
overnight before use.
Next dry-roast green Sichuan peppercorns
over low-medium heat, stirring, until they’re
aromatic. Cool them, then grind them to a
fine powder. After this, process the garlic and
ginger in a blender to a fine purée.
The rest is pretty straightforward.
Organise your just-made ingredients, and
soy sauce, sesame oil, peanuts, preserved
vegetables, and spring onions in bowls.
Heat the chicken stock – typically strong-
flavoured homemade stock – and bring a
saucepan of water to the boil. Meanwhile,
add chilli oil and some of the flakes, soy
sauce, sesame oil, peanuts and preserved
vegetables to taste into serving bowls.
Divide the noodles into serving portions
and blanch them in boiling water. Place the
noodles in the serving bowls. Ladle in the
chicken stock and sprinkle the soup with
spring onion to serve.
You can other add toppings such as
braised beef and stewed chicken, and most
Chongqing restaurants top the dish with two
tablespoons or more of chilli oil. This dish
can be challenging for the uninitiated or for
the faint-hearted but once you’ve overcome
the initial hot and numbing sensation, it’s
packed with intricate layered flavours. Grab
your chopsticks and start slurping.and stir-fry until tender (1-2 minutes). Add chilli
bean paste, star anise and Shaoxing wine and
stir-fry until fragrant (1-2 minutes). Add beef and
remaining ingredients, bring to the boil, reduce
heat to low, partially cover with a lid and simmer
until tender, adding extra stock or water if sauce
reduces too quickly (1¾-2 hours). Keep warm.
3 For chilli oil, snip off chilli stems and cut chillies
into thirds with kitchen scissors, discarding any
exposed seeds (or they’ll burn).
4 Heat a wok over low heat, add chillies and
stir-fry until fragrant and toasty (4-7 minutes).
Add 1 tsp oil and stir-fry until chillies turn glossy
and a shade darker (1½-2 minutes). Transfer to a
mortar and pestle, cool for 5 minutes, then pound
into coarse flakes and return to wok.
5 Heat remaining oil in a saucepan until it begins
to smoke (10-12 minutes). Turn off heat and cool
for 5 minutes, then carefully pour oil over chilli
flakes and stir (be careful, hot oil may spit).
Set aside to cool and infuse for 2-3 hour).
6 Return wok to medium heat, add Sichuan
pepper and stir-fry until fragrant (3-5 minutes).
Set aside to cool, then crush to a fine powder with
a mortar and pestle.
7 Blend ginger and garlic in a blender with
250ml water and a pinch of salt to a thin purée.
8 Bring chicken stock to the boil in a saucepan,
then reduce to a gentle simmer. Cook noodles
in batches in a wok of boiling water until tender
(4-5 minutes).
9 Divide peanuts, sesame oil, soy sauce, Sichuan
preserved vegetable, salted vegetable, 2-3 tbsp
chilli oil with crushed chillies, crushed Sichuan
pepper and 1-2 tbsp ginger-garlic purée into
warm serving bowls. Add hot noodles, ladle in
hot stock and top with beef and spring onion.
NoteLook for Yang Chuen wheat noodles.
Sichuan preserved vegetable (zha chai) and
salted vegetable (ya cai) are available from
Asian grocers.#5STEP
BY
STEP