Tender slices of beef poached in a chilli-bean broth over a bed of greens, then heaped with dried chilli and Sichuan pepper and doused in smoking oil.
What makes it water-boiled beef
Beef sliced thin and coated with egg and starch, so it stays silky.
Poached in a broth of chilli bean paste, over blanched greens.
Topped with dried chilli and Sichuan pepper, and doused in smoking oil.
Where it comes from
Zigong has been a salt town for some two thousand years, its brine drawn from deep wells and once hauled up by oxen. Shuǐzhǔ niúròu is usually traced to the salt workers there, said to have cooked the meat of worn-out draught oxen in salted, spiced water.
'Water-boiled' undersells it: the finish is a heap of ground chilli and Sichuan pepper with very hot oil poured over, so it's still sizzling when it reaches the table.
How it varies
Shuǐzhǔ yú
The same with slices of fish — now as common as the beef.