Chinese-style braised beef one-pot

Cheap cut recipe for 6 people, takes only 30 mins; recipe has olive oil, garlic clove, root ginger, spring onion, red chilli, beef, plain flour, chinese five-spice powder, star anise, light muscovado sugar, sherry, soy sauce, beef stock and bok choi.

Chinese-style braised beef one-pot

Chinese-style braised beef one-pot

Recipe by Chef Soomro Course: Cheap cut
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

10 mins

Ingredients

  • Beef: 1 1/2 kg braising beef, cut into large pieces (we used ox cheek)
  • Garlic Clove: 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • Red Chilli: 1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
  • Olive Oil: 3-4 tbsp olive oil
  • Spring Onion: 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
  • Soy Sauce: 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, plus more to serve
  • Root Ginger: good thumb-size piece fresh root ginger, peeled and shredded
  • Plain Flour: 2 tbsp plain flour, well seasoned
  • Bok Choi: steamed bok choi and steamed basmati rice, to serve
  • Beef Stock: 500ml beef stock (we used Knorr Touch of Taste)
  • Chinese Five Spice Powder: 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
  • Sherry: 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
  • Light Muscovado Sugar: 2 tsp light muscovado sugar (or use whatever you've got)
  • Star Anise: 2 star anise (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large, shallow casserole. Fry the garlic, ginger, onions and chilli for 3 mins until soft and fragrant. Tip onto a plate. Toss the beef in the flour, add 1 tbsp more oil to the pan, then brown the meat in batches, adding the final tbsp oil if you need to. It should take about 5 mins to brown each batch properly.
  2. Add the five-spice and star anise (if using) to the pan, tip in the gingery mix, then fry for 1 min until the spices are fragrant. Add the sugar, then the beef and stir until combined. Keep the heat high, then splash in the wine or sherry, scraping up any meaty bits. Heat oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2.
  3. Pour in the soy and stock (it won't cover the meat completely), bring to a simmer, then tightly cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 1 1/2 -2 hrs, stirring the meat halfway through. The meat should be very soft, and any sinewy bits should have melted away. Season with more soy. This can now be chilled and frozen for up to 1 month.
  4. Nestle the cooked bok choi into the pan, then bring to the table with the basmati rice straight away and tuck in.