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.