Steamed Beef in Rice Flour Crumb
蒸肉粉
English: Steamed Beef in Rice Flour Crumb
Chinese: 蒸肉粉
Pinyin： zheng rou fen
Literal: Steamed meat and powder
Steamed Beef in Rice Flour Crumb, or zheng rou fen (蒸肉粉), is a comforting, traditional dish from Gansu — though you’ll also find versions in Sichuan and Hubei. On a recent trip to Chengdu, I tried a similar take made with pork, dried chilli and a hint of sweetness, but in Gansu, where the cuisine is largely influenced by the Hui Muslim community, beef is the star of this dish, with lamb making an occasional appearance. Gansu is far out West, pressed up against the Mongolian desert. It’s food is a blend of cultures, and this dish shows exactly that: cumin and fennel drifting in from Xinjiang to the West, ginger, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine riding in from China’s Eastern kitchens.
Steamed meat may not sound especially inviting, but there’s so much going on: delicate and tender slithers of brisket, somewhere the hint of spice, of anise, of toasty cumin, all packaged in a dusty coating of toasted rice flour. Trust me, it’s amazing.
The rice flour is the unique ingredient: raw rice is toasted in a wok until golden brown. Once tossed with the beef, it adds a nutty, aromatic crust to the meat - kind of like a healthier breaded nugget. The marinated beef is then steamed in its crust over a bed of sweet potato for hours until soft and tender.
It’s one of my favourite beef dishes in China, a dish that tastes of the landscape: of windswept grasslands, slow-grazing cattle, of the dry desert air, of the vast blue sky over snowy mountains and of Lanzhou city’s bustling night markets, where this dish has probably been sold for thousands of years to travellers along the Silk Road.
Serves 3 - 4
Ingredients
500g Beef - brisket or stewing cut
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground fennel
1 tsp chili flakes
3 cloves garlic - finely chopped
1 thumb ginger - finely chopped
½ tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns
1 spring onion - finely chopped
For the rice flour
150g (½ cup) uncooked short- or medium-grain rice
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp five spice powder
For the base
1 medium sweet potato - cut into 2cm rounds
1-2 louts leaves (optional)
Method
Slice the beef against the grain into slabs 2–3cm thick, then cut each slab into strips about 8cm long and 2–3cm wide.
In a large bowl, combine the beef with the soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, salt, cumin, fennel, chilli flakes, garlic, ginger, and Sichuan pepper. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, preferably 1 hour.
Heat a dry pan or wok over medium heat. Add the rice and salt, and toast until golden and fragrant, about 10–12 minutes, shaking or stirring regularly to prevent burning. In the last 2 minutes, add the five-spice powder and toast briefly.
Let the rice cool slightly, then grind it coarsely in a food processor until you have a sandy texture, rather than a fine flour.
Toss the marinated beef with the spiced rice flour until each piece is coated in a slightly damp, clumpy crust. You may not need all the rice flour — a couple of tablespoons might be left over.
Line the base of your steamer with parchment paper or lotus leaves. Arrange the sweet potato rounds in a single layer, then place the coated beef on top.
Steam over medium heat for 1½–2 hours, checking the water level periodically and topping up as needed. The beef should be tender but still hold its shape.
Scatter the chopped spring onion over the beef and serve hot.
