RECIPE: Numbing Beef and Bean Stew

Chinese based, Indian technique, Italian tweaked. Fusion gone mad.

For 5 minutes, dry roast 3 tablespoons of szechuan pepper, 1 teaspoon of pepper, 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, 1 teaspoon of coriander seeds, 1 star anise, 1 quarter of a cinnamon quill. Blend to a fine powder.

Wrap a head of garlic in foil and roast until soft. Cut in half and squeeze out the goodness. Discard the badness. Blend with 1 brown onion, 1 thumb of ginger, 1 deseeded red chilli and 1 deseeded green chilli.

Brown off 1 kilo of thick chunks of stewing beef (rump) over a high heat in a large pot. Prior to removing, add a splash of soy sauce and shao hsing rice wine and a sprinkling of the spice mixture, stir and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Once done, deglaze the pot with rice wine. Pour this over the beef, which is sitting aside to rest.

Head some grapeseed oil in the pot and fry the onion/garlic/etc mixture over a medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Add the remaining spice blend and mix. Add the beef and mix.

Add 150mls of dark soy, 50 mls of light soy, 50 mls of rice wine and enough weak beef or vegetable stock to cover the meat. Reduce to a low simmer and cook for approx 4 hours or until the beef can be split easily with a spoon.

With around 20 minutes remaining, add a can of canellini beans, 1 tablespoon of fermented black bean and generous splashes of sesame and chilli oil.

Serve with coriander leaves and finely sliced spring onions.