Fuqi Feipian: Husband and Wife Beef

Ingredients

• For the proteins
• 400 g beef brisket or shank, in one piece
• 200 g honeycomb tripe, cleaned
• 200 g beef tendon, trimmed
• 200 g beef heart, trimmed of fat and sinew
• For the master stock / spiced water
• 2 litres water
• 4 spring onions, bruised
• 30 g fresh ginger, sliced
• 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, whole
• 2 star anise
• 1 cassia bark or cinnamon stick, broken
• 15 g salt
• For the dressing
• 3 tbsp chilli oil, with its sediment
• 1 tbsp sesame paste, stirred smooth
• 1 tsp ground roasted Sichuan peppercorn
• 1 tbsp black vinegar
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• For the garnish
• 150 g celery, strings removed, cut into 5 cm batons

Method

1. 1
   Combine the water, spring onions, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cassia bark, and salt in a large pot and bring to the boil. Add the beef brisket or shank and simmer over a moderate heat until just tender — a chopstick or skewer should meet slight resistance, not pass freely. Remove and cool completely in the strained liquid.
2. 2
   Simmer the cleaned honeycomb tripe in a fresh batch of the same spiced water until tender but still possessed of a distinct chew — pressing a piece between two fingers, it yields but springs back slightly. Remove and cool in the liquid.
3. 3
   Cook the beef tendon in the spiced water for up to 3 hours. This is where the dish lives or dies: the tendon must become completely gelatinous and translucent throughout — held to the light, it is glassy with no remaining white opacity — yet it must not collapse. Remove and cool; it will set to a firm, sliceable jelly.
4. 4
   Simmer the beef heart in the spiced water until cooked through and firm. Cool in the liquid. All components must be fully cold before slicing — residual warmth causes tearing.
5. 5
   Slice all chilled components against the grain to a uniform 2–3 mm thickness. The set tendon should yield clean, translucent slices; the brisket should separate into distinct fibres; the tripe should hold its honeycomb pattern without curling.
6. 6
   Blanch the celery batons briefly in boiling water — no more than 30 seconds — then refresh immediately in cold water. Drain. The celery must remain vivid green and audibly crisp when snapped.
7. 7
   Whisk together the chilli oil with sediment, sesame paste, ground roasted Sichuan peppercorn, black vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar until the sesame paste is fully incorporated and the dressing is uniform. Taste: it should be simultaneously numbing, hot, sour, savoury, and faintly sweet — no single note dominant.
8. 8
   Arrange the sliced proteins and celery on a serving plate at room temperature. Spoon the dressing over, ensuring every component is coated. The finished dish should carry the vivid red gloss of the chilli oil and present the full range of textures — gelatinous tendon, chewy tripe, firm brisket, crisp celery — in every portion.