FOODlog #220: Sichuan Beef Stir Fry

The other day I made lunch for the staff. I wanted to make a mainland China Chinese dish called 'Da Pan Ji' which literally translates to 'Big Plate Chicken'.

There's a restaurant that we go to that serves this dish and I wanted to try to cook it. I had beef to use at the kitchen so I made this dish with beef instead of chicken.

I used some Brazilian striploin that's thinly sliced and very tender. I marinated it with soy sauce, oyster sauce, and some dark soy sauce.

For the sauce I toasted in the pan some oil together with sichuan peppercorns, dried chili, cloves, and star anise. I toasted it until is fragrant which takes about 3 minutes or so.

Next I add in the beef and stir fry it to get some nice caramelisation and flavor. Next, I add in potatoes which I simply slice, some onions roughly chopped, and some julienned red capsicum to give it color as well as flavor.

Cook everything covered on medium heat for about 7-8 minutes until the capsicum and potatoes are soften. You still want to maintain a little crunch from the capsicum yet the potatoes need to be soft and not crunchy at all. This takes a bit of timing and technique so just make sure you get the right textures at the end.

Season the dish to taste with some salt and the dish is done. Although I used beef instead of chicken, the flavor profile for this dish was spot on. It was spicy, savory, and super delicious. I will definitely cook this again and the next time I'll use chicken as the original recipe is made with. A fairly simple dish and a must try.