Chinese Braised Beef

Finally a weekday off!! I've been swept off my feet at work, not that I'm complaining. Especially since I am self-employed; if I don't work, I don't earn.  So what do I do on my day off?

I experiment with a new dish of course.

For two weeks, my B and I have been surviving on takeaways and microwave meals, since I finished work at 7pm everyday, I really did not fancy slaving away in the kitchen for an hour for a meal which would only last 15 minutes.

However to my amazement my B actually cooked last week, in fact twice! I was in awe with his kind gesture, as we have dated for 5 and 1/2 years, and he has only cooked twice, once was from a "Chicken Tonight" jar of sauce and the other was steak on The Lean Mean Grilling Machine.

So last week he cooked me chorizo bolognese pasta, albeit it was from a jar of Dolmio.  Even so, it was kind of a disaster for him.  He cut up one whole chilli into the sauce and to even it out, he added in two teaspoon of sugar.  Least be said, I think I managed half a bowl, if that.  It was the thought that counted!

The second meal was much more desirable.  He followed my recipe for roasted honey garlic chicken thighs.  The both of us finished 8 chicken thighs plus roast potatoes. He definitely had improved over a matter of days.

In fact I think he caught the cooking bug, as he has offered to cook me dinner tomorrow.  He was disappointed with his first attempt at the chorizo pasta, so he is determined to win me over with his second attempt tomorrow, with a few suggestions from me to tweak his recipe.

Anyways back to my day off today.  I felt like I have neglected my challenge of improving my skills as a housewife and my exploration of new and exciting recipes.

I have been craving Chinese Braised Beef since my parents Skyped me from Hong Kong about their food adventure so far.  Once they mentioned eating a bowl of Chinese Braised Beef Brisket 牛腩
 Ho Fun noodles soup, my tummy was rumbling.

I scoured the internet for blogs and recipes for Chinese Braised Beef.  I had a good idea of the ingredients already as my Dad is awesome at making this dish.

In fact as the Beef was cooking today in my kitchen, the smell wafted through the whole house.  It brought back memories of when I was younger, when we lived above a Chinese Takeaway.  Whenever my Dad cooked this dish, the smell would travel upstairs into our living quarters, and my brother and I would run downstairs to find a big vat of Braised Beef Brisket on the counter top.

It's funny how smells can conjure up distant memories you never thought you possessed or had long forgotten.

So to honour this recipe I invited my brother over to mine for dinner so we could share this memory of our childhood.  Needless to say it went down a treat; my brother devoured 3 bowls of rice just because of this dish.  I think I need to start charging him every time he comes over for dinner, or at the very least he should buy a sack of rice next time he comes over, especially the amount he eats.

Even with two eating machines (my B and my brother) at dinner tonight, I still had plenty left over.  I froze these portions for emergency rations, in case of another hectic week at work and my laziness to cook dinner.

In the traditional recipe of Chinese Braised Beef, brisket is the usual choice of cut.  The fat and tendons of the brisket gives the whole recipe a thicker and softer texture to the meat.  I couldn't find it at any of my local markets so I opted for a mix of braising steak and beef shin.



The steak did melt slightly by the time it finished cooking but was still yummy.  Due to the long cooking time it needed to braise the meat, I opted in using my trusty slow cooker.  On the plus side it meant whilst it was cooking I managed to catch up on all the TV series I missed over the last two weeks. Score!
 





Chinese Braised Beef

• 1.5kg beef brisket (I used 1.2kg braising steak and 0.3g beef shin, any slow cooking cuts with some fat is fine) - cut into large chunks
• 1/2 long turnip/daikon (peeled and cut into chunks)
• 2 carrots (peeled and cut into chunks)
• 4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
• 5 slices of ginger
• 3/4 cup shaoxing wine
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 3-4 tbsp Chu Hou sauce
• 2 star anise
• 1 stick cinnamon stick
• small piece rock sugar
• corn starch mixture (mix a little water with 1-2 tsp of corn starch until dissolved) 

Place cut turnip and carrots in the bottom of a slow cooker.  Place lid on and turn slow onto low to heat up.

Meanwhile, brown the beef chunks in some oil in a wok.  You may need to do it in batches.  When the meat is browned, put aside.  

In the same work add a little oil and fry the ginger and garlic until fragrant. 

Then add in the shaoxing wine.

When the alcohol has started to evaporate, add the beef back into the wok

Next add in the Chu Hou sauce and mix into the beef.  Add 1/1-1 cup of hot water to the mixture.

Now add the soy sauce, star anise, cinnamon stick and the rock sugar.  Mix to incorporate all the ingredients.

Once the sauce is boiling, turn off the heat and pour all the ingredients into the slow cooker.  The sauce should cover the turnip and carrots at the bottom of the slow cooker.  You can add a little more water if the sauce is not covering the vegetables.  

Turn the slow cooker to high and leave to cook for 3-4 hours.  Keep checking every hour to stir the ingredients.

After 3-4 hours, turn the slow cooker to low and cook for another hour.  

When time is up, add the corn starch mixture to the sauce and mix it in.  This should thicken the sauce slightly.  I prefer the sauce to be slightly thinner, so I can incorporate it into a bowl of plain boiled rice.

Dish up and serve.  This dish is great on just a bed of rice, or on top of a bowl of plain noodle soup.  Delish!!