Husband and Wife Lung Slices (Fuqi Feipian, 夫妻肺片)
The Mala MarketIngredients
For the Braised Beef
- 10 ounces (300g) beef shank
- 5 ounces (150g) beef honeycomb tripe
- 5 ounces (150g) beef tongue
- 2 pods star anise
- 1 small stick Chinese cinnamon (cassia bark)
- 1 teaspoon whole Sichuan peppercorns
- 3 pods Chinese white cardamom (bai dou kou; optional)
- 1 pod smoked black cardamom (caoguo/tsaoko; optional)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds (optional)
- 4 thick slices of fresh ginger
- 1 scallion, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
For the Sauce
- ¼ teaspoon whole Sichuan peppercorns
- ¼ cup (60 ml) Sichuan red chili oil
- 1½ teaspoons light soy sauce (preferably Zhongba)
- ¼ teaspoon MSG
- ¼ teaspoon white sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
To Assemble the Dish
- 3 ounces (90g) tender celery with leaves, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon toasted white sesame seeds
- 1 tablespoon toasted peanuts
- Fresh cilantro
Instructions
Braise the Beef
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the beef shank, tripe and tongue and blanch for 5 minutes, skimming off any foam and impurities that rise to the surface. Drain the meat and rinse it.
- Place the star anise, cassia bark, Sichuan peppercorns, and the white cardamom, black cardamom and fennel (if using) into a spice bag or tea infuser. Return the meat to the pot and add 4 to 5 cups of water (enough to fully submerge everything). Add the spice bag, ginger, scallion, Shaoxing wine and salt.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover the pot and cook everything over medium-low heat for about 1½ hours, until the beef is cooked through but still firm enough to slice. Turn off the heat, remove the meat from the liquid with tongs or a spider, and reserve about ¼ cup (60 ml) braising liquid (you can discard the rest). Let the meat cool completely to room-temperature before assembling the dish; you can store it in the fridge to speed up the process.
Make the Sauce
- Toast the Sichuan peppercorns until fragrant (about 30 seconds), then grind them finely in a spice grinder.
- Combine the reserved braising liquid, chili oil, soy sauce, MSG, sugar, salt and ground Sichuan pepper in a bowl and mix well.
Assemble the Dish
- Cut the celery into 1-inch pieces, keeping the tender leaves attached. Toast the sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until lightly golden and fragrant. Grind them to a coarse powder using a mortar and pestle or spice grinder. Roughly crush the peanuts.
- To prepare the beef shank, slice it against the grain into very thin pieces, about ⅛ inch (3 mm). To prepare the tongue, peel off and discard the tough white outer membrane before slicing it to about the same thickness as the shank. To prepare the tripe, lay it flat and hold your knife at about a 30° angle to slice it into thin pieces (of about the same thickness). Trim the tongue and tripe into uniform sizes for neat plating, if you like.
- Line the bowl with the most attractive slices of the shank and offal, arranging them in alternating rows and layering them neatly. Place the celery and any smaller or irregular pieces of meat in the center of the bowl. Place a large serving plate (larger than the rim of the bowl) over the bowl, and carefully invert both, so the bowl is upside down on top of the plate. Lift off the bowl so that the sliced meat forms a domed mound on the plate. Spoon the sauce evenly over the top and sprinkle on the ground sesame, crushed peanuts and fresh cilantro.
Notes
For this dish, I use homemade Sichuan red chili oil, which is less spicy and more fragrant than most pre-made options (and doesn’t include salt). If you’re using Mala Market’s chili oil, which includes a mix of other ingredients and is pre-seasoned, adjust the soy sauce and salt amounts in the sauce.