Chinese Braised Beef (Asian Beef Stew)

I cooked this dish for the second time yesterday. The first time I tried cooking it was in Brisbane last year with some good quality Black Angus beef. It's hard to find beef in Poland, because the staples for the locals are chicken and pork, not beef. I spent quite some time looking for a good butcher around Krakow just for cooking this dish with the right cut of beef. Tender melt-in-the-mouth beef with a ginger kick. One of the best stews to have on a chilly night. Here's the recipe.

Beef stew on the right. Photo courtesy of Ivy.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients
A thumb of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 bulb of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 onion, chopped
2 large carrots, cut into chunks
2 full stalks of spring onion
5 star anise
1 stick of cinnamon
4 tbs of Chinese 5 spice
1-1.5kg of stewing beef (choose the round or chuck cuts, and cut into cubes against the grain)
1.5l beef stock
4 tbs of oyster sauce
2 tbs of dark soya sauce
2 tbs of sugar (rock sugar is preferred)
Olive oil
Chinese white rice wine (if available)

Steps
1. Marinate the beef cubes with the Chinese 5 spice, a good lug of olive oil, and the rice wine. Rub the spice into the beef.
2. Heat up a deep stewing pot. Add a lug of olive oil and brown the beef cubes in batches. The aim is to not let the pot lose heat. It's okay if the beef starts to stick to the base of the pot, but do not let it burn or else the stew will taste bitter. If necessary, add more oil before browning each batch. After browning each batch, set aside.
3. When all the beef cubes have been browned, add more oil into the same pot. Add in the chopped onions, garlic, and ginger. Fry till fragrant. Then add in the star anise, rock sugar and cinnamon, followed by the spring onion. While doing this step, scrape the base of the pot for all the delicious brown bits from the browning process.
4. Return the beef cubes to the pot and mix into the stuff in the pot. Add the oyster sauce and dark soya sauce.
5. Add in the chunks of carrot and stock. On high heat, allow the whole mix to boil. Using a skimmer, remove the scum and throw it away.
6. Turn the heat down and allow the whole stew to simmer and reduce for another 2 hours.
7. Remove the star anise seeds and cinnamon. Serve with steamed rice.
8. Enjoy.

Basic Stew

A good hearty stew always warms me up, especially when served with toasted bread or steamed rice. It makes a great meal when you have friends over. What's more, it's easy to cook and you'll get a balanced meal in a pot! Here's the basic recipe for the basic chicken stew. Of course, you can substitute chicken for beef or lamb, or add more stuff, such as sausages, to the stew.

Photo courtesy of Marilyn

Ingredients

1kg of chicken legs, bone-in or deboned. Keep the bones if you have deboned them

1.5l of chicken broth

3 mid-sized tomatoes, diced

5 potatoes, skinned and cut into chunks

1 large carrot, cut into chunks

1 onion, finely chopped

1 to 2 Bay leaves

Olive oil

Dried thyme

Ground paprika

Red or white wine (optional)

Steps

1. Heat up a pot deep enough for stewing. Add a good lug of olive oil and add in all the chopped onions. Fry till soft. 

2. If you have deboned the legs, add the bones to the onions. 

3. To the pot, add in the tomatoes, followed by carrots and potatoes.

4. Add all of the chicken stock into the pot. Use a long spoon to scrape the base of the pot. That is all the caramelized stuff with the best flavours. 

5. Add the bay leaves in. Allow the stew base to boil and let it simmer

6. Meanwhile, season the chicken with paprika and thyme. Brown them in a frying pan and add into the stew base. 

7. Allow the stew to work itself out as it simmers over low heat. Reduce the liquid till about 2/3 is left. Add some flour to thicken the liquid.

8. Serve together with toasted bread or steamed rice. 

Forest Risotto

Greetings from Krakow, Poland! It's so much cheaper to cook than to eat out here in Poland, especially so when I have friends to split the cost of the ingredients. There's generally a good selection of locally produced fresh tomatoes, dried and fresh mushrooms, things like rhubarb and parsnips (which are usually rare in Singapore). Oh, and the herbs too, excellent choices available. So for tonight, we decided on Forest Risotto, which is just a fancy name for mushroom risotto. Here's the recipe for fans of mushrooms and risottos, and for those who are interested in trying out.

Photo courtesy of Marilyn

Ingredients (Serves 4) Approx cooking and prep time - 1 hour
400g of Arborio rice (available at good supermarkets)
300g of fresh mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
50g of dried mushrooms (porcini is preferred), reconstituted in hot water
1 to 1.5l of chicken or beef stock
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
Olive oil
A knob of butter
Pinch of dried thyme
Grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Steps
1. Heat up an open pan on high heat. Add the knob of butter along with some olive oil. The purpose is to help control the browning of the butter. Add the chopped onions to the pan and fry till transparent and lightly browned.
2. To the onions, add the rice and fry till the rice becomes slightly translucent.
3. Add the liquid and the reconstituted mushrooms into the rice mixture
4. Add enough chicken stock to the pan till it just covers the rice. Keep agitating the rice by gently shaking the pan instead of stirring it to prevent the rice from releasing too much starch into the risotto, making the dish too sticky
5. Repeat step 5 till the rice is cooked through. Sprinkle some thyme over the risotto and fold it in.
6. Heat up another frying pan. Add the sliced fresh mushrooms and fry till the liquid from the mushrooms dry out. Add a small amount of butter and thyme to lift the flavour and aroma.
7. Serve the risotto direct on the pan, or on a warmed deep-dish. Top it off with the sliced mushrooms and grated parmesan cheese, or a raw egg yolk or poached egg. Drizzle some olive oil or truffle oil.
8. Enjoy.