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Szechuan Beef Tenderloin Stuffed with Peking Duck
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Edamame ragout:
1 pound edamame (immature soybeans in their pods)
2 cups chicken stock
Rice:
2 cups glutinous rice (sushi rice from the Asian section of store)
3 3/4 cups cold water
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon minced fresh tarragon leaves
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
4 tablespoons butter
Stuffed filet mignon:
1 ready cooked Peking duck (from a Chinese restaurant or vendor)
2 scallions, white and tender green parts only, cut thinly on the bias
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon Ming's Ginger Soy Syrup, recipe follows
6 (4 to 6-ounce) filet mignon steaks
1/2 cup wasabi peas
2 tablespoons red, green and black peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup demi-glace
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
Carrots:
1 liter canola oil, or enough as needed to deep-fry
12 baby carrots
Special equipment: A spice mill, mortar and pestle, or coffee mill dedicated to grinding spices and butcher's string
For the edamame:
Add soybeans in their pods to a pot and cover with water. Boil until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove soybeans from their pods and add to a pot (reserving about 1/2 cup for texture in a separate bowl) along with chicken stock. Set aside until needed, at which time you will heat and then puree just before serving.
For the rice:
Rinse rice in strainer under cold water. Add rice, 3 3/4 cups cold water and salt to a saucepot. Cover and let soak for a half hour. Remove lid, then turn heat to medium and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 15 minutes without removing the lid. Transfer to a mixing bowl, stir in tarragon, vinegar, and cover with a clean damp kitchen towel and keep at room temperature.
For the stuffing:
Remove the meat from the Peking duck, reserving the skin and bones in a saute pan. Finely shred enough duck meat to make 6 tablespoons shredded duck, and place in a mixing bowl. Stir in scallions, hoisin sauce, and ginger soy syrup and set aside at room temperature until needed.
For the filet mignon:
Cut a slit in the top center of each steak to hold the stuffing. With a spice grinder, with a mortar and pestle (if you are strong and persistent), or with a coffee grinder dedicated to grinding spices, pulverize the wasabi peas, peppercorns, and salt, together. Stuff the steaks with even amounts of the duck mixture and tie up with butcher's string to help them keep their shape through the searing process. Coat each filet with the wasabi/peppercorn mixture and set aside briefly.
Return to the edamame and heat the beans and chicken stock over medium-high heat until the chicken stock is reduced by half. Remove from heat and keep warm.
For the sauce:
To the pan of duck skin and bones, add enough water to cover and the demi-glace. Cook until the liquid is reduced by half and strain through a chinois. Discard the skin and bones. Season the reduction with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a small bowl and keep warm by nesting the bowl in another bowl of hot water.
To cook the filet mignon:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Heat 1 tablespoon of the grapeseed oil over medium-high heat in a saute pan with oven safe handles (reserving the other tablespoon of oil). When the oil begins to shimmer add the steaks to the pan, stuffed side down first, and sear, leaving undisturbed for the first 2 minutes or so to let the caramelization process begin to allow the stuffing to integrate into the meat and to prevent tearing the beef. Add the reserved grapeseed oil and flip the steaks, searing the other side in the same way, leaving undisturbed for about 2 or 3 minutes. Transfer to the oven to finish to an internal temperature of 125 degrees F as measured with an instant-read thermometer, about 8 to 15 minutes depending on the thickness. Remove from oven and let carryover cook to about 132 degrees F for medium-rare, or cook to your liking.
When you have placed the filet mignon in the oven, puree the edamame with an immersion blender and toss in the reserved whole beans for texture. Cover and keep warm.
Remove steaks from oven, if done, and let rest as indicated above.
For the rice:
Using a 3-inch circle cutter, form the sushi rice into "cakes." Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and lightly fry the rice circles until golden brown on each side. Leave each side undisturbed for the first 2 to 3 minutes to prevent the "cakes" from breaking apart.
For the carrots, heat the canola oil in a saute pan and deep-fry carrots.
Spoon some edamame puree in the left center of serving plate and some duck essence (sauce) on the right center of plate. Place a sauteed circle of rice in the center topped with a stuffed steak and 2 fried carrots on the very top.
Ming's Ginger Soy Syrup:
(Recipe courtesy Ming Tsai):
Grapeseed oil (as needed to lightly coat pan)
3 tablespoons minced garlic (about 6 to 9 garlic cloves)
2 tablespoons peeled, minced fresh garlic root (about a 1 1/2 to 2-inch piece
1 bunch scallions (white and tender green parts only), sliced
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup naturally brewed soy sauce
1 cup honey
2 limes, juiced
In a pan lightly coated with oil, combine garlic, ginger, and scallions over medium heat, season with salt and pepper, and let sweat. Deglaze pan with soy sauce, honey and lime juice. Let reduce by 30 to 40 percent until the mixture becomes a syrup, about 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool and transfer to a bottle. Store in the refrigerator.
Yield: about 2 cups or 32 servings of 1 tablespoon each.
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