Cook’s notes
I saw a one-pot Chinese-style braised beef recipe on BBC Good Food and I immediately experienced an adrenalin rush. It looked so good. I checked the ingredients and, in my mind, I just knew that the dish would taste good too. I was out of Chinese five-spice powder, but, what the heck — I had ALL the spices needed to make the spice mix.
If you have Chinese five-spice powder, use a teaspoon of the spice mix and omit the star anise, fennel seeds, cloves, cinnamon bark and Sichuan peppercorns.
This beef stew can be cooked on the stovetop from start to finish. You may also do the browning and sauteeing on the stovetop and finish cooking in the oven. A third option is to use a slow cooker. And a fourth option, the one I chose, is using a pressure cooker.
Chinese five-spice beef stew
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1½ kilograms stewing beef (3.3 pounds) I used short ribs but crest, shank or shoulder blade will also be good
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil
- ¼ cup chopped scallions
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 two-inch knob ginger peeled and julienned
- 2 bird’s eye chilies chopped
- 2 star anise
- 1 two-inch piece cinnamon bark
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- ½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns toasted in an oil-free pan
- 4 cloves
- 1 generous splash rice wine
- 2 cups bone broth
- 4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- finely sliced scallions to garnish
Instructions
- Place the beef in a single layer in a container with a tight lid.
- Sprinkle salt and pepper generously.
- Sprinkle the flour on the meat, cover the container tightly and shake to coat each piece of meat with flour. Alternatively, use a resealable plastic bag.
- Heat the cooking oil in the pressure cooker. Brown the beef in batches.
- Scoop out the beef and keep warm.
- Reheat the cooking oil in the pan and add the ginger, garlic, scallions and chilies. Drop in the cinnamon bark, star anise, cloves, fennel seeds and Sichuan peppercorns (or sprinkle in five-spice powder, if that’s what you’re using). Cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about two minutes.
- Pour in the rice wine. Scape the bottom of the pan to loosen the brown bits. Allow the rice wine to almost evaporate, about a minute.
- Return the browned beef to the pan. Pour in the broth and soy sauce. Add the sugar. Stir.
- Taste the sauce and add salt, as needed (I don’t recommend adding more soy sauce because that will make the dish too dark and rather unattractive).
- Seal the lid on the pressure cooker, wait for the valve to whistle, then turn down the heat to a simmer and cook for 60 to 65 minutes.
- Turn off the heat, wait for about ten minutes for the pressure to die down then remove the lid.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings, if needed.
- Transfer the beef stew to a serving bowl garnish with more scallions and serve. Best with rice.
Rice paper spring rolls