Boozy Peppercorn Steak with a Chinese Twist!

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frenchguycooking

Senior Cook
Joined
Mar 21, 2013
Messages
152
Location
Paris
Hi Lovely members of DC !

My recipe today is an Asian twist on a classic peppercorn steak, or as we call it in France « un steak au poivre ». A creamy and spicy sauce over a medium rare beauty.

You will need these Ingredients :
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- 2 sirloin steaks (thick)
- 3 tsp sichuan peppercorns
- 1 tsp black peppercorn
- 1tsp green peppercorn
- 1 cup cream
- salt
- Raw greens like lettuce or cucumbers
- Coriander
- 1/3 cup of a Strong alcohol ( baijiu, brandy, cognac, whisky everything’s good)


Instructions
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MEAT FIRST :

Get the meat out of the fridge at least half an hour before cooking.
It should not be stone cold when we throw it in the pan.
I am using sirloin because it’s my favorite cut of meat for a good steak.
Feel free to use yours.
Just remember that a thick piece of steak is the only way to achieve a nice brown crust and a pink juicy center.


PEPPERCORN SAUCE :

A Peppercorn is actually a fruit. The differents colors of the peppercorns correspond to different states of this fruit :The Black one is actually cooked and dried, the Green one is only dried, and the White one is the seed of it.
I’m using chinese sichuan peppercorns, They actually look like flowers And their perfume is outstanding.

If you can’t find these, you can also use green, pink or jamaica pepper.

Directly on the board :
3 tsp sichuan peppercorns
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp green peppercorns
Crush them with a rolling pin or with a frying pan
We are looking for crushed peppercorns, Not powdered, not whole, just crushed.

STEAK (PAN FRYING)

Usually a steak au poivre is done by breading the steak in crushed black or white peppercorn.We won’t do it.

I find it much more convenient to cook speratly the meat and the peppercorn sauce
This way the meat will be cooked properly, and you won’t burn the peppercorns.
Coat the meat with oil and season lightly with salt.
Take the beef steak and lay it in a very hot pan.
Turn it over every minute or so, but in between, don’t touch it.
The cooking time here really depends on the thickness of the steak you have chosen.
For this one, it’s about 4 minutes in the pan.
When it’s done, set it aside and cover with foil.

The boozy peppery and creamy sauce !

Just lower the heat and drop the peppercorns in.
Dry fry them a few seconds, just for the smell to intensify.
Add half a beef stock cube diluted in a bit of water.
Gently Grate the bottom of the pan.
To amplify the taste of the sauce, it could be nice to add a bit of spirits.
In the classic recipe, we use brandy but not this time.
We use a third of a cup of a chinese alcohol.

warning, take care of you when dealing with flames
I recommend to turn off the heat before adding any liquor to the pan.
Pour the liquid in, and to avoid setting your place on fire,
Let it boil first for 10 seconds.
Then blaze it. Much more manageable this way.
When the flames stop, add a cup of cream.
The idea is to reduce it, and to get about the color of a latte.
When you have it, simply pour it over the steak.

FINAL TOUCH
The final touch is adding a few raw greens on the side,
Lettuce, Cucumber whatever you have in the fridge
and some coriander leaves on top for the freshness.

There you have it : the boozy peppercorn steak with a chinese twist.

Hope you like it !
Please ask questions if you need to, I will be glad to answer ;)
 
Sounds delicious. I like the idea of just toasting the peppercorns a bit, instead of frying them on the steak.

What does "Gently Grate the bottom of the pan." mean? Do you mean "deglaze" (get all the yummy brown bits off).

Grate, as a verb, means "râper".
 
Sounds delicious. I like the idea of just toasting the peppercorns a bit, instead of frying them on the steak.

What does "Gently Grate the bottom of the pan." mean? Do you mean "deglaze" (get all the yummy brown bits off).

Grate, as a verb, means "râper".

ARgh ! You are so right I meant deglaze (is "scrape" alright too ?)
 
Not to be too picky. Taxi is correct, but I just want to note that there is a subtle difference between using the terms "deglaze" and "scrape".

Where "scrape" means just that alone, "deglazing" means the entire act of adding a liquid AND scraping the bottom of the pan.

So in your recipe, you might say something like "Deglaze the pan with a little bouillon".

Or I think you could simply replace the word "grate" with "scrape" and it would make perfect sense.

Your recipe sounds wonderful, by the way. I have sichuan pepper in the cupboard, but don't use it very often.
 
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Not to be too picky. Taxi is correct, but I just want to note that there is a subtle difference between using the terms "deglaze" and "scrape".

Where "scrape" means just that alone, "deglazing" means the entire act of adding a liquid AND scraping the bottom of the pan.

So in your recipe, you might say something like "Deglaze the pan with a little bouillon".

Or I think you could simply replace the word "grate" with "scrape" and it would make perfect sense.

Your recipe sounds wonderful, by the way. I have sichuan pepper in the cupboard, but don't use it very often.

Thanks. Now I fully understand the difference. The word Deglaze is the exact same one as the word we use in french. But I didn't use it because I thought this could be difficult to understand for non-cooking-freaks...
 
Thanks. Now I fully understand the difference. The word Deglaze is the exact same one as the word we use in french. But I didn't use it because I thought this could be difficult to understand for non-cooking-freaks...
But most of us here are cooking-freaks. ;)

What is the correct French word "déglacer"? Or is that for removing/melting ice. Google translate isn't all that reliable. My Petit Larousse only lists the ice removal for déglacer.
 
But most of us here are cooking-freaks. ;)

What is the correct French word "déglacer"? Or is that for removing/melting ice. Google translate isn't all that reliable. My Petit Larousse only lists the ice removal for déglacer.

IMO : "Déglacer" exactly means Deglaze.
 
Well I enjoyed reading this thread but it has nothing to do with what I thought it was.

When I saw the title I mis-read it.

I thought this thread was about Boozy Popcorn :ohmy:

Carry on - sorry for the interuption !! :huh:
 
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