Sesame seed beef with vinegared potato shreds
We can’t decide which of this pair of complementary recipes we love the most... we adore tender slices of juicy beef fillet, but those stir-fried, vinegary potato shreds? They get us every single time. And if you’re not familiar with this rustic Chinese approach to potato cooking, where potatoes are soaked to get rid of some starch, dried off, then wok-fried until they’re cooked but still sort-of crisp, they’re a complete revelation. The spuds need to be cut evenly for the dish to cook properly and a mandoline helps heaps with this. Otherwise, it’s a sharp blade and Ace Knife Skills all the way and there’s only one path to those. Practise! On a travel aside, we wish more people would venture to China and get themselves to regional boltholes... or even less-polished, canteen-style eateries in major cities. Where you’ll get up-close to the kinds of home-style cooking and regional dishes you might not necessarily assume are ‘Chinese’, if you get our gist. There’s so much more to the cuisine of this incredible country than black bean this and sweet and sour that and, because you’re intelligent LSC readers, we know you know that. We’re just spitballing so thanks for your indulgence.
The beef part is a fun way to cook eye fillet and it goes further than it would if you were serving it conventionally as thick, seared steaks. We are big fans of beef fillet, a.k.a. tenderloin... it’s so lean and beefy, has minimal waste from trim and is exceedingly hard to stuff up. Unless you overcook it. Then, it’s well and truly effed. Never cook it past medium or you’ll end up with dry, gray, uninteresting meat but again. Because you LSC devotees are the smartest people ever, y’all know this already. Serve these two dishes with a big bowl of steamed rice, a quick wombok stir-fry – or even a green salad – and you’ve got a bloody fancy, delicious feast on your hands. Trust us on this.
SERVES 4-6 as part of a shared meal
500g beef eye fillet, trimmed
2 tsp salt
90g (½ cup) rice flour
155g (1 cup) sesame seeds
2 eggs, beaten well
500ml (2 cups) vegetable oil
Chilli oil, to serve
Vinegared potato shreds
2 tsp salt
500g waxy, or all-purpose, potatoes such as desiree, peeled
2½ tbsp white rice vinegar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp Sichuan pepper oil, or to taste
60ml (¼ cup) vegetable oil
6 small dried red chillies
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 green onions, white part only, trimmed and cut into thin long shreds
Line a large tray with baking paper. Cut the beef across the grain into 1cm-thick slices, then season with the salt. Put the rice flour and sesame seeds on separate plates, and put the egg into a bowl. Working with one slice at a time, dip the beef into the flour, shaking off excess, then dip into the beaten egg, allowing excess to drain off. Finally, dip into the sesame seeds, pressing to coat all over. Repeat with the remaining beef slices, placing them on the lined tray in a single layer as you go. Cover the tray with plastic wrap then refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight to firm up the coating.
Meanwhile, for the potato shreds, combine 1 litre (4 cups) cold water and the salt in a large bowl and stir to dissolve the salt. Using a large, sharp knife, cut the potatoes into even slices about 2mm thick. Working in batches, stack the slices on top of each other, then cut the potato into 2mm wide matchsticks, placing them in the salted water as you go. Stand the potatoes for 15 minutes to get rid of some of the starch then transfer them to a colander and rinse well. Shake the excess water from the potato, then place them on a clean kitchen towel and roll the towel up loosely, gently squeezing to get rid of as much excess liquid as you can.
Combine the vinegar. soy sauce, sugar and Sichuan pepper oil in a large bowl and stir to combine well. Set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a wok over medium heat, then add the chillies and garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the potatoes and stir fry for about 3 minutes or until the potatoes no longer look raw but are still crunchy (potatoes will change colour slightly). Remove to the bowl with vinegar mixture and green onions and toss to coat well. Transfer to a serving platter and serve at room temperature.
To cook the beef, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat until just beginning to smoke. Add enough beef to fill the pan in a single layer, then cook for 2 minutes or until golden on the base. Turn and fry for another minute or until browned and just cooked through. Remove, drain on paper towel, then cover loosely to keep warm while the remaining beef cooks. Serve with chilli oil for dipping and the potato shreds.
