Braised Beef | 红烧牛肉
Braised beef is another extremely popular dish on every Chinese family's dining table. For the different preference of every households, it has the flexibility to be adjusted sweeter or spicier. Now when I don't feel like exploring I would just do some braising as workday's bento box. It has a balanced nutrition of meat, veggie and carbon, not too much oil so pretty healthy. I always take the waiting time for braising to wash the dishes, clean up the kitchen space and do other chore that I normally hate. Then, after a long while, the meat turns tender and richly seasoned -- the waiting time is just worth it.
Ingredients
STEPS
1.
Put the beef chunks in a pot, add cold water until cover the beef. Add some fresh ginger slice and white wine. Bring to boil on high and keep it boiling for another 1-2 min.
2.
In the mean time, wash and cut potato and carrot into chunks the same size as beef chunk. Wash and cut scallion in rings, separate green and white. Peel and cut garlic in small pieces. Cut fresh ginger in slices.
3.
Boil another 1L water in a kettle. In the mean time, turn off the heat, transfer out the beef and wash off the foam with running water (warm water preferred.) Drain the beef on strainer or kitchen paper.
4.
Heat a wok on high. Add two teaspoons of oil. If you like spice, add several pieces of dried chili. Add scallion white, garlic and ginger, stir until fragrant. Add beef chunks and continue stir frying for 2-3 min.
5.
If you have Pixian County Bean Paste , add one teaspoons of bean paste, stir until fully mixed with meat.
6.
Add the freshly boiled water into the wok, until the water covers the meat. Add soy sauce, dark soy sauce, some sugar, and cooking wine. Addstar anise.
7.
Cover the wok with lid. Bring the water to a boil on high, then reduce heat. Simmer for around 30 min until you can thrust through the meat easily with chopstick or fork.
8.
Add potatoes and carrots, add water to cover all ingredient. Again, cover the wok with lid. Bring the water to a boil on high, then reduce heat. Simmer for around 15 min until potatoes and carrots are cooked and soft.
9.
Uncover and heat on high to boil the liquid away into a thicker texture. Be mindful don't turn it completely dry. Transfer all ingredients and some broth into a bowl and serve!
TIPS
The best kind of beef for braising is those with fat and lean meat interwoven, which will lead to a tender texture.
Pixian County Bean Paste is a kind of bean paste made with faba bean, salt and chilly. It is available in most Asian groceries. Bean paste is the soul of many Sichuan dishes, from stir fry, braising to steaming. It provides a special salty and slightly spicy taste.
The amount of seasoning sauces are flexible, all depending on your preference. Some people would just taste the broth as they add the sauces, until they feel the right salty level. The common soy sauce is to add salty taste, and the dark soy sauce is to add dark color.
For different ingredients, different time is needed to be cooked. Thus we stew meat first, then add the veggies later.