Dry-fried beef

This is adapted from a traditional Szechuan dish, with a longer cooking time and less sauce. This is an unbelievably strange-looking dish, and absolutely amazingly delicious!

• Ready In: 3 hrs
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1⁄2 lb carrot
• 1⁄2 lb celery
• 1⁄2 lb  flank steak
• 1  bunch scallion
• 10  tablespoons gingerroot
• 1⁄4 cup soy sauce (not Kikkoman)
• 2  tablespoons palm sugar
• 3  tablespoons  sesame oil
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 2  tablespoons  ground szechuan peppercorns
• 6  tablespoons  peanut oil

Directions

1. Slice the carrots, celery, ginger, and flank steak into very thin matchstick-size pieces, 1 inch long.
2. (Be patient. This takes a long time.) Slice the scallions lengthwise, and then cut them into 1 inch long pieces.
3. Heat 2T of the oil in a wok, and flash-fry the carrots until they are limp.
4. Do not brown them.
5. Wipe the wok out, and repeat for the celery.
6. Wipe the wok out again, add the remaining 2T oil and the palm sugar.
7. When the oil is hot, and the sugar is bubbling, add the scallions and the flank steak.
8. Stir-fry 3 minutes, then add the soy sauce, and continue to stir-fry until the liquid is reduced, about 5 minutes.
9. Return the carrots and celery to the wok.
10. Add ginger root.
11. Turn the heat down very low, and continue cooking, stirring continuously, for 1/2 hour.
12. The ingredients will lose most of their remaining liquid turn dark.
13. In the traditional version of this dish, at this point the cooking is complete.
14. Continue cooking and stirring, over extremely low flame, for another hour, until the ingredients become brittle and dark, like a pile of burnt sticks.
15. Toss the remaining ingredients into the dish and serve with steamed rice.