Hunan beef is a term commonly used by Chinese people but hardly ever in our regions. In fact, I’m afraid it might not work well for search engine optimization on Google since absolutely NO ONE types “Hunan Beef” or “Cumin Beef” in their browser, haha. Too bad for them, it’s delicious and they don’t know what they’re missing.

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Close-up of cumin beef — Here’s what they’re missing

Where does cumin beef come from?

Hunan is a little-known Chinese province. This province is mainly known (in China) for its cuisine with very flavorful foods and tastes that were (according to legend) inspired by the observation of kebabs and other marinated meats from the Middle East.

spices in the wok for cumin beef — The delicious spice blend simmering, perfectly illustrating the diversity of the dish

Cumin beef is therefore very spicy due to the addition and use of very strong chili peppers, in combination with cumin and ginger.

Cooking technique used

This recipe employs the “shallow frying” technique, a method used in many traditional Chinese dishes and the secret behind many unique flavors. But don’t worry! It’s much less complicated than it seems.

The process for cumin beef is roughly composed of two steps: First, briefly frying the meat to produce a sort of soft breading very important for the texture, and then stir-frying it again with all the vegetables to really crystallize these flavors.

beef being seared — A shallow layer of oil is enough for the “brief frying”

If you like this kind of dish, I think you’ll also really enjoy my beef with scallions as well as my beef with onions.

Both compensate for fewer spices with more flavors! If the different types of soy sauces scare you, come discover my complete article on the different types of soy sauces

The ingredients for cumin beef

Dark and light soy sauce: my article on the subject

Shaoxing wine: click here to learn more

These three ingredients add a lot to the taste and it would be a shame to substitute them. However, in the article about Shaoxing wine, I give some substitutes, and dark soy sauce can be replaced with Japanese “tamari” sauce

Cumin beef almost finished — The dish is almost finished! Just plate it and enjoy

How to accompany cumin beef?

Personally, I recommend rice in all its forms. It’s the best accompaniment for the type of sauce/juice that cumin beef produces

If you want something more neutral, I have two Cantonese rice recipes:

Cantonese fried rice — Traditional Cantonese rice

quick Cantonese rice — Express Cantonese rice

All three are very good options, but you can also simply opt for plain rice as an accompaniment. Especially if you have a rice cooker, it requires almost no effort and you’ll be well-satisfied afterward.

I recommend using sushi rice well washed before cooking (so that the grains separate well)