Although Chinese cuisine is perceived by most Europeans as one thing, this is not true. There are several regional cuisines in China with very different traditions. For example, the dishes of the Sichuan province are distinguished by a large amount of spices and pungency - chefs in this region actively use hot red pepper, ginger root and other seasonings.
Sichuan beef
You will need:
- 400 g of beef tenderloin;
- 2 tbsp. Chinese round grain rice;
- 2-3 cloves of garlic;
- 1 onion;
- 1 carrot;
- 2 stalks of celery;
- 1 red bell pepper;
- 1/2 hot red Sichuan pepper;
- 1 tsp chili sauce;
- 2 tbsp. sesame oil;
- vegetable oil;
- 2 tbsp. soy sauce.
Cut the meat into cubes across the grain. Remove excess grease and films. Combine soy sauce and sesame oil, add 1/4 cup water and pour over the marinade over the meat. Put in the refrigerator for an hour, covered with a lid. Peel the carrots, cut into strips, chop the onion into cubes. Slice the celery as well. Peel the bell peppers and hot peppers from seeds and partitions, cut. Heat vegetable oil in a skillet and fry the onions in it for 4-5 minutes. After that, add carrots, hot and bell peppers and celery there. Remove from heat. Fry the beef in oil with chunks of garlic for 8-10 minutes, then add vegetables, a little water and chili sauce and simmer until tender.
Boil rice in salted water. Serve it on a separate platter with meat.
When serving, beef can be sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Sichuan Peanut Chicken
You will need:
- 300 g chicken fillet;
- half a hot red Sichuan pepper;
- 3-4 cloves of garlic;
- 2 cm fresh ginger root;
- a little flour;
- balsamic vinegar;
- 1 tbsp. peanuts;
- soy sauce;
- 300 g of Chinese wheat noodles;
- Sesame oil.
The amount of red pepper can vary depending on whether you like more or less spicy food.
Start with peanuts. Fry it in a dry skillet for 10 minutes, cool and peel it. Wash the chicken fillet, remove excess fat if necessary, and cut the meat into cubes. Pour 4 tablespoons over it. soy sauce and sprinkle with a little flour. Stir and let sit for 15 minutes. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken in it for 4-5 minutes until half cooked. Remove the meat from the pan and transfer to a separate container.
Peel and chop the garlic. For hot peppers, remove the seeds and chop the pepper as well. Cut off the tough crust of ginger and grate the root itself. Sauté the ginger, pepper and 2/3 of the garlic in oil for 2-3 minutes. return the chicken to the pan, add 4 tablespoons there. soy sauce and 1, 5 tbsp. balsamic vinegar. Add a little more flour and simmer everything together for a couple of minutes. Then add the peanuts, pour in some water and cook the chicken until the sauce thickens.
Boil the Chinese noodles until half cooked in salted water. Then drain the water, transfer the noodles to the skillet, add the oil and remaining garlic, and fry for 5 minutes. At the end of cooking, pour 2 tbsp. soy sauce. Serve the peanut chicken with stir-fried noodles.
