Chinese Beef Stew

Chinese Beef Stew

I like sharing basic recipes that you can add your own flavours and make it something out of this world. A basic Chinese beef stew is one of those recipes that you are able to magically transform from a simpleton bowl of wholesome goodness to a 5 star restaurant gourmet dish.  

I used carrots to accompany my beef for this stew as I find the flavour of white radish rather overpowering sometimes. You could use a combination of both if you like. You could also add dried beancurd sticks which will add texture to the dish or flavour the beef with cinnamon bark and star anise if you like spices.

As for me, the plain ol' beef stew is good enough!

Chinese Beef Stew Recipe

Ingredients:

1 kg stewing beef

3 carrots

3-4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 shallot, minced

1 tsp peppercorn (optional)

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp superior soy sauce

1 tsp dark soy sauce

1 tsp of brown sugar

Water, enough to cover half the beef in pot

Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Before you cut the beef into chunks, blanch in hot water to get rid of any impurities. Then cut the beef into large chunks. Skin and cut the carrots into 1" pieces.
2. Heat up a tbsp of cooking oil. Saute garlic and shallot mince. Add beef and stirfry for 1 minute or until you see juices flowing out of the beef. Add carrots, sauces and brown sugar.
3. Add enough water to cover half the beef and lower heat to simmer. Stew for minimum 1 1/2 hour or until beef has softened to your liking.
4. Add salt & pepper to taste when ready. Beef stew taste best overnight so do keep the leftover for later!

Stirfried Black Pepper Beef Cubes

Stirfried Black Pepper Beef Cubes

Vietnamese Cold Rice Noodle Salad

Vietnamese Cold Rice Noodle

I love Vietnamese food especially the Cold Rice Noodle Salad or Bun as they call it in Vietnam. If there's an excuse for me to eat this noodle everyday I would. I love the freshness of the raw vegetables and herbs topped with this heavenly sauce that's sweet, salty, sour and spicy at the same time. However, I'm told I have a 'cool' body and cannot consume too much cold or uncooked food... so there goes my dream of having bun and gui cuon everyday!

I usually have a vegetarian Bun only but if you are familiar with this noodle dish (or you might wish to google it now :p), it comes with a variety of toppings! There's the all time favourite Grilled Lemongrass Pork/Beef, Sugarcane Prawn, Fried Vietnamese Springroll (Check out my Vietnamese Spring Roll post here!), Vietnamese Meatballs, etc... You could also add your own leftover meat from last night's dinner!

Vietnamese Cold Rice Noodle Salad

Ingredients

Basic Bowl of Noodle:

120gm Vietnamese rice noodle (this would even be enough for two person when you add all that salad in)

Lettuce

Carrot

Cucumber

Beansprout

Mint leaves

Crushed roasted peanuts

Nuoc Cham Sauce:

(I've posted this recipe with my Gui Cuon post before)

3 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bird's eye chili (cili padi), chopped finely

Lime Juice

!/2 bowl of warm water

 

Method:

1. Soak the rice noodle in hot water until it softens. In the event that you are using rice noodle from other sources, please follow the instructions to cook the noodle.
2. Using a grater, grate the carrots and cucumber into thin strips. I grated about half a cup each.
3. Cut the lettuce into strips. 
4. Prepare the sauce ahead. Place all the ingredients in a bowl. Using the back of your spoon, press on the garlic and chili to release the flavours. Then add the warm water. 
5. Place all the ingredients in a serving bowl. Pour sauce over the noodle only when serving.

Beancurd Roll with Fish Paste (Fu Chuk Roll)

Fu Chuk Roll

Beancurd roll with fish paste has become quite popular in small Chinese eateries serving fried noodles and rice. However, don't expect it to be filled with fish paste like the homemade ones though! If you've mastered making fish paste, do prepare the rolls and keep extras in the freezer. You'll never know when your drinking buddies or visiting relatives are dropping by! 

To prepare your own fish paste, you could try out my homemade fish paste recipe or purchase some from the Asian supermarkets.

Beancurd Roll with Fish Paste Recipe

Ingredients:
300gm fish paste
A packet of dried beancurd sheets
Oil for frying


Method:
1. First, soak the beancurd sheets in water until it has softened. I used 3 sheets of 10"x12" large sheets.

2. Then, carefully place the sheets flat on your working table. Pat the sheets dry with kitchen towel. If it's wet, the fish paste will not stick well.

3. Using a butter knife, spread a thin layer of fish paste from the bottom end of the beancurd sheet.

4. From the bottom end, roll the sheet upwards until the roll is about 3cm in diameter. The size of the roll depends on how thick you like it to be. I like it bite size.

5. There are two ways of cooking the rolls. If you plan to keep them for later use, steam the rolls for 10 minutes. Then let the rolls cool down before keeping them in the freezer.


6. Otherwise, fry them raw in oil until the skin is golden brown

Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Green (Mui Choy Kou Rou)

Mui Choy Kao Yoke

Do you know that there are 2 kinds of preserved mustard greens, one sweet and one salty. For me, I like my braised belly with 1 part sweet and 2 part salty mui choy. I find that with the combination, I do not need to add as much sugar as how some recipe would call for to balance the rather salty dish.

The traditional way of preparing this dish is time consuming as you'd need to deep fry your pork separately, tend to the mui choy, then braise and steam the dish. I know that most of you would have stop here but don't be afraid to try this dish as I have also included a much simpler version for a quick dinner fix as well. 

Stirfried Pork with Lemongrass

Vietnamese Style Stirfried Pork with Lemongrass

I was making Vietnamese Cold Rice Noodle (Bun) but didn't have enough time to prepare the lovely BBQ pork or shredded beef to go with it. So instead, I took out a piece of lean pork and made this appetizing stirfry which I must say, goes quite well with the noodle. It is slightly sweet and very fragrant from the bruised lemongrass that I added.

Stirfried Pork with Lemongrass Recipe ( 2 servings)

Ingredients:

250gm lean pork, sliced thinly

1 stalk of lemongrass, bruised and sliced very finely (only take the white part)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp cornstarch

A dash of salt & black pepper

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp brown sugar/ palm sugar

1/2 bird's eye chilli (optional)

Cilantro for garnishing

Method:

1. Marinade pork with cornstarch, salt & black pepper.
2. Mix the fish sauce and sugar well.
3. Heat a tbsp of cooking oil in wok. Saute garlic then add lemongrass, constantly stirring.
4. When fragrant, add pork and fry for 30 seconds before adding sauce.
5. Coat the pork well and fry for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle some water if required. Add chili just before plating.
6. Garnish with cilantro before serving. I like to squeeze a bit of lime on top too!