Fuqi Feipian

Introduction

Fu Qi Fei Pian (Simplified Chinese: 夫妻肺片; Traditional Chinese: 夫妻肺片; Pinyin: Fu Qi Fei Pian; Other name: Sliced Beef and Ox Tongue in Chilli Sauce / Mr and Mrs Smith;). As early as the late Qing dynasty, many vendors were already selling beef slices served cold in the streets of Chengdu, using beef offal because they were relatively inexpensive. Because of its low cost, the dish was popular among rickshaw pullers and poor students.

In the 1930s, a married couple in Chengdu became famous for making beef slices. The husband, Guo Zhaohua (郭朝華), and wife, Zhang Tianzheng (張田政), were particular about the beef slices they made, and often experimented with new ingredients. As a result, their beef slices had a distinct taste from the other beef slice vendors, and their business boomed. Often though, mischievous children would pull a prank on the couple, and stick paper notes that read fuqi feipian ("husband and wife lung pieces") on their backs, and sometimes people would yell the words out. Later on, a merchant tried the fuqi feipian and was so satisfied, he gave them a gold-lettered plaque that read fuqi feipian, and the name has stuck ever since.

To suit their customers' tastes, the couple made many improvements on the dish, and offal slices were eventually replaced by various beef or lamb slices. Many people still preferred calling the dish fuqi feipian, thus the name is still used today.

The meaning of fei was originally waste parts or offal (廢) but later changed to lung (肺) so the dish sounded less repulsive. The lung could be a part of this offal, but fei is not lung by itself in this dish's meaning.

Taste

Spicy

Characteristics

The color is red and bright, the texture is soft and tender, and the taste is spicy and fragrant.

In Chinese(Pronunciation)

Simplified Chinese: 夫妻肺片;

Traditional Chinese: 夫妻肺片;

Pinyin: Fūqī fèi piàn;

In English

Sliced beef and ox organs in chili sauce

Nutrition

Calories (kcal) 152.28(Per 100 grams)

Carbohydrate (g) 5.03(Per 100 grams)

Fat (g) 7.95(Per 100 grams)

Protein (g) 15.92(Per 100 grams)

Cellulose (g) 1.06(Per 100 grams)

Calories

Fu Qi Fei Pian (夫妻肺片) is estimated to be 152 kcal per 100 grams of calories.

Recipe

Step 1

Rinse and clean tripe. Place in a large stockpot and cover with water. Bring to a boil then remove tripe from heat and set aside. Discard water.

Step 2

In the same pot, add 4 cups of water, Chinese cooking wine, cinnamon stick, star anise, beef bouillon cube, ground black peppercorn, and ginger. Bring to a boil over high heat, mixing ingredients thoroughly.

Step 3

Return tripe back to pot and simmer over medium low heat for 2 hours until tender. Turn off heat and transfer tripe to a cutting board. Allow it to cool to room temperature before slicing.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid after straining it. In other words, discard the hard ingredients like the cinnamon stick, star anise and ginger and reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid only.

Step 4

Make the dressing. Place Szechuan peppercorns in the same large pot and toast over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Turn off heat then add 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid from Step 3, Szechuan chili oil, black vinegar, and light soy sauce to the pot. Mix well to combine then set aside.

Step 5

Slice tripe into 1-inch wide pieces. Transfer them to a serving bowl and pour dressing over it. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds and minced scallions. Enjoy cold or at room temperature!