Husband and Wife Lung Slices
“Cold beef offal — tongue, tripe, heart — sliced thin and dressed in red chili oil with Sichuan peppercorn and toasted sesame.”
The bite
Translucent slices of beef offal layered into a shallow plate, slick with red oil and pooled with chili sediment. The offal is tender but with bite — tongue chewy, tripe softer, heart densest. Sichuan peppercorn numb arrives 5 seconds after the chili heat. Cilantro and crushed peanut on top for crunch and green. Served at room temperature; cold from the fridge dulls the spice.
Where it comes from
Created in 1930s Chengdu by Guo Chaohua and his wife He Tinghong — street vendors near Liaoning Road who turned discarded offal cuts (lungs, tendon, tripe — the 'fei pian' literally means 'lung slices') into a famous tapas-like cold dish. Customers nicknamed the couple 'Mr. and Mrs. Fei Pian'; the name stuck. Modern versions usually omit lung but keep the name.
What makes it work
The slow brine isn't seasoning — it's collagen conversion. Beef heart and tongue have heavy connective tissue that needs 2+ hours at 85°C to break into gelatin while the muscle stays sliceable. The chili-oil dressing depends on the brine: a spoon of the spiced cooking broth in the sauce ties the offal's flavor to the dressing instead of letting them sit separately. Skip that and the dish tastes like two things in one bowl.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
4 steps · Show ↓30 min active · 210 min waiting
How it's made
4 steps · Show ↓- 1150 min
Simmer cleaned beef tongue, tripe, and heart in water with star anise, cassia bark, fennel seed, ginger, scallion, Shaoxing wine for 2.5 hours until tender. Cool in the broth.
- 28 min
Slice the cold offal as thin as possible against the grain — 2mm or thinner. Arrange in a shallow bowl.
- 33 min
Mix the dressing: red chili oil with sediment, light soy, black vinegar, sugar, ground roasted Sichuan peppercorn, minced garlic, and a spoon of the cooking broth.
- 42 min
Pour dressing over the offal. Top with chopped peanuts, toasted sesame, scallion green, and cilantro. Serve cold.
