Baked beef fillet Szechuan style

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 450 g beef fillet(s) or loin
• 6 mushrooms (dried shiitake mushrooms)
• 3 carrots
• 3 stalk(s) Celery
• 1 clove(s) garlic
• 4 tbsp sauce (sweet bean sauce, available in Asian stores)
• 3 tbsp sherry, fino
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• ¾ tsp pepper (Szechuan pepper), coarsely ground
• some salt
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp chili oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 20 minutes

Wash the meat, pat dry with kitchen paper, wrap in foil, and freeze briefly in the freezer. Then cut the meat into approximately 4 cm pieces. Turn the pieces and cut thinly across the grain. Soak the mushrooms in boiling water and let them soak for 30 minutes. Then rinse under running water and drain well. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and cut the caps into thin strips. Clean and thinly slice the carrots and celery stalks. Peel and chop the garlic clove. Whisk the bean sauce with the sherry, soy sauce, pepper, and salt. Heat the wok and pour in the oil and chili oil along the top edge. Add the garlic and toss until it has browned. Add the carrots and celery and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Then stir in the mushrooms and fry for another 2 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the wok with a slotted spoon. Add half of the meat to the wok and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Remove the meat and stir-fry the other half in the same way. Push all the meat to the side of the wok and pour the sauce into the center. Mix the meat and vegetables with the sauce and bring to a boil. Serve hot on a warmed platter. Serve with cooked Chinese egg noodles.