Thanks to El Niño, we are experiencing continuous hot and humid weather in Southern California but not much rain yet. As the summer heat wears on, here is another refreshing cold appetizer that has a spicy kick. The best thing to do is to have the AC on full blast in your cool dining room and eating some Sichuan spicy beef tendon to open up your appetite. I can usually eat two bowls of rice with just this appetizer dish because it’s so good. The tendon is tender but not mushy and the sauce is salty, flavorful, and has a numbing punch at the end. Yum!

I think if you don’t have easy access to purchasing beef tendon, then your next best option is using beef shank or the five spice tofu as a vegetarian alternative. Anyway, what matters here is the sauce. Always make extra for dipping and for putting on rice (yes, that’s a taboo for the older generations).

Ingredients:

Braising

• 2 lbs beef tendon
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 tbsp rock sugar
• ½ tsp Chinese five spice powder
• 2 cloves of star anise
• 2” ginger root
• 3 stalks of green onion
• water

Sauce

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp black vinegar
• 2 tbsp chili oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp freshly ground ginger
• 1 stalk of green onions julienne
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns

Directions:

For a more in-depth info on braising, check out the Braised Beef Shank Appetizer recipe. For this recipe, I will employ a simple braising technique. Find a pot that can just fit the tendons so you don’t waste too much braising liquid. Slice up the ginger to ⅛” thick slices and cut the green onions to about 2” long and add into pot. Next, add in the remaining ingredients of five spice powder, star anise, rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, and soy sauce. Lastly add enough water so that it just covers the tendon. Bring the pot to a boil and then turn down the heat to a low simmer. Cover and simmer for about 3 hours until the tendon has softened and can easily be pierced with a fork. If you have a pressure cooker, you can set it for about 45 minutes on high and let it release pressure naturally.

Remove the tendons and let it cool to room temperature. Take a plastic wrap and tightly wrap each tendon individually, squeezing out any air bubbles and rolling it out so it’s evenly thick. Pro Tip: This step will make the slicing process easier as each piece will be similar width and shape. Put the tendons in the freezer for at least 2 hours until it has started to freeze up. Remove from freezer and remove the wrap and slice thinly. Tendons are hard to slice so best to use a serrated knife. Allow tendons to come back up to temperature.

Since this whole cooking and prepping process for the tendon takes a long time. You can find time in between to make the dressing. I usually make 2 or 3x the sauce so I can use on other things like my five spice tofu or even just mixing this with white rice.

For making the sauce, first, we dry roast the ground peppercorns on medium heat for about 30 seconds to release the flavor. As soon as you start to smell the aroma, toss in the toasted sesame seeds. Pro Tip: Even though we buy toasted sesame seeds, I always toast them just a little more because it’ll make a huge difference in flavor.

Next, we mix all the ingredients for the sauce and keep stirring until the sugar has dissolved.

Toss the dressing with the tendons, adding enough to your liking. You can also adjust the amount of soy sauce, vinegar, chili oil, or sugar to taste.

Leave in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to allow the tendons to soak up the sauce. This dish should be served chilled as an appetizer or a side dish.  

5.0 from 1 reviews

Sichuan Spicy Beef Tendons (涼拌牛筋)

 

Author:

Mike Hsu

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Chinese

Serves: 2-4 Servings

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 3 hours

Total time: 3 hours 30 mins

Print

 

Sichuan spicy beef tendon has a delicious and spicy flavor and a nice gelatinous texture. The dressing is what makes this dish amazing!

Ingredients

Braising

• 2 lbs beef tendon
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup Shaoxing rice wine
• 1 tbsp rock sugar
• ½ tsp Chinese five spice powder
• 2 cloves of star anise
• 2” ginger root
• 3 stalks of green onion
• water

Sauce

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp black vinegar
• 2 tbsp chili oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp freshly ground ginger
• 1 stalk of green onions julienned
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns

Instructions

1. Place beef tendon in a pot
2. Slice ginger and chop green onions and add to pot
3. Add in five spice powder, star anise, rock sugar, Shaoxing wine, and soy sauce
4. Add water until beef tendon is covered
5. Turn up heat until sauce boils then turn down to a low simmer
6. Cover and simmer for about 2 ½ to 3 hours until you can pierce with a fork
7. remove and let it cool
8. tightly wrap the tendons individually with plastic wrap and freeze until partially frozen
9. remove wrap and thinly slice the tendons
10. For the dressing: dry roast the peppercorns in a small pan for about 30 seconds to release the flavor, add in the sesame seeds for another 30 seconds
11. mix all the dressing ingredients together, keep stirring until sugar has dissolved
12. toss the sliced tendons in the dressing and plate

3.3.3077