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Szechuan beef pie

An Asian twist on the classic beef pie.

Szechuan beef pie
Prep time20 min
Cook time100 min
Total time120 min
Servings4
01

Ingredients

  • 800 g beef chuck, trimmed of fat, 2.5cm diced
  • 1 teaspoon sunflower oil
  • 1 tablespoon Szechuan peppercorns (or black peppercorns)
  • 2 onions, cut into wedges
  • 2 carrots, chopped on the diagonal
  • 2 cups parsnip, peeled and diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 1 long red chilli, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon toasted sesame paste (or tahini)
  • 500 ml salt reduced beef stock
  • 2 heaped teaspoons cornflour
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • 4 steamed choy sum (or similar Asian green), to serve
02

Step-by-step method

  1. 01
    Drizzle beef with sunflower oil in a bowl and toss to coat. Toast Szechuan peppercorns in a small frying pan until fragrant, do not burn. Tip into a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder.
  2. 02
    Place a large cast iron casserole dish or wok over medium high heat. Brown beef in 2-3 batches, add ground peppercorns, onions, carrots, parsnip, garlic, chilli, soy, sesame paste and stock and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 1 hour 15 minutes or until beef is tender.
  3. 03
    Mix a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid with the cornflour to a smooth paste and stir into mixture. Cook for 5-10 minutes until mixture thickens. Add spring onions.
  4. 04
    Meanwhile steam sweet potato and mash with ginger. Preheat oven to 200oC. Divide pie filling between 4 x 1 cup-capacity ramekins and top with sweet potato topping.
  5. 05
    Bake pies for 15 minutes or until golden and serve with steamed greens.
03

Chef's tips

  • Szechuan peppercorns are available from Asian grocers or the Asian section in supermarkets. If you don't have a mortar and pestle to crush the peppercorns you can place them in a zip lock bag and whack them with a rolling pin.
  • If you don't have toasted sesame paste or tahini substitute 1 teaspoon sesame oil mixed with 1 teaspoon peanut butter.
  • Make one large pie by using a 4-cup capacity baking dish or 8-9 inch pie plate.
  • Save time and use lean beef mince instead of chuck. Reduce the cooking time to 30 minutes and only use half the stock.