Sichuan Beef

📍 China

Wok-fried beef with peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, giving its signature tingling heat.

💬 Tell us on the Wall

The tingle of Sichuan pepper meets the burn of chili.

The ritual

1
Slice & sear
Thinly sliced beef is seared fast over a fierce flame.
2
Chili & Sichuan pepper
Dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns are toasted until fragrant.
3
The má là sauce
A numbing-and-spicy sauce blends chili, garlic, ginger and soy.
4
Vegetables & finish
Peppers and spring onion join at the end to stay crisp.

A journey through time

✦
An ancient pepper
Sichuan pepper has been used in China for millennia.
XVI–XVII w.
Chili arrives
Chili reaches Sichuan via trade routes and transforms the cuisine.
✦
Má là is born
The famous “má là” — numbing and spicy at once — flavour is born.
dziś
One of the great cuisines
Sichuan cooking is now one of the world’s most celebrated cuisines.

Good to know

Sichuan pepper doesn’t burn — it makes your tongue tingle.

Chili peppers only reached China a few centuries ago.

High heat and constant motion give it “wok hei” — the breath of the wok.

Chinese Dragon

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