Chinese-style braised beef one-pot

Chinese-style braised beef one-pot

By Jane Hornby
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(222 ratings)
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Prep: 10 mins Cook: 2 hrs - 2 hrs, 30 mins

Easy

Serves 6

Great for casual entertaining, when you fancy a warming beef stew but with some more vibrant flavours

Nutrition and extra info

  • Freezable

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal513
  • fat29g
  • saturates10g
  • carbs9g
  • sugars4g
  • fibre0g
  • protein54g
  • salt2.39g
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Ingredients

  • 3-4 tbsp olive oil
    olive oil

    Olive oil

    ol-iv oyl

    Probably the most widely-used oil in cooking, olive oil is pressed from fresh olives. It's…

  • 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • good thumb-size piece fresh root ginger, peeled and shredded
  • 1 bunch spring onions, sliced
    Spring onions

    Spring onion

    sp-ring un-yun

    Also known as scallions or green onions, spring onions are in fact very young onions, harvested…

  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
  • 1½ kg braising beef, cut into large pieces (we used ox cheek)
    Beef

    Beef

    bee-f

    The classic choice of meat for a British Sunday roast. Beef is full of flavour, as…

  • 2 tbsp plain flour, well seasoned
  • 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
  • 2 star anise (optional)
    Star anise

    Star anise

    star an-eese

    Star anise is one of the central spices in Chinese cooking. It has a strong anise flavour, with…

  • 2 tsp light muscovado sugar (or use whatever you've got)
  • 3 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or dry sherry
  • 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, plus more to serve
    Soy sauce

    Soy sauce

    soy sor-s

    An Asian condiment and ingredient that comes in a variety of of varieties ranging from light to…

  • 500ml beef stock (we used Knorr Touch of Taste)
  • steamed bok choi and steamed basmati rice, to serve

Method

  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 1½-2 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.

  • Recipe Tip

    Braising beef

    When stewing, look for meat marbled with good streaks of fat and sinew throughout – these will break down during slow cooking and give you the most tender meat. If you can get it, ox cheek is fantastic value and rich in flavour – perfect for this dish.

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Comments, questions and tips

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Serraphim
31st Mar, 2020
5.05
Delicious! Our favourite recipe on this site. Always turns out beautifully and a real winner.
Liz Noble's picture
Liz Noble
2nd Aug, 2019
5.05
Lovely! Added more 5 spice and cooked in Instant Pot! Only added half the stock no flour and cooked for 40 mins with 30 mins NPR was gorgeous!
Sarah Moore's picture
Sarah Moore
20th Jun, 2019
5.05
I made this and it was lovely, I added a little more five spice and instead of sherry I used red wine Everyone loved it and i will be making it again :)
pepsrich
28th Apr, 2019
4.05
The beef was ridiculously tender. Decent flavour but just seemed to be lacking something - think next time I’ll add a bit more sugar and reduce the oil, skimmed a lot of fat off the sauce but still ended up with quite an oily sauce.
garjacalan
27th Mar, 2019
5.05
Superb!
Dutch101
15th Oct, 2018
Yes yes yes! Absolutely lovely! Very tender beef full of flavour. If you like a bit of heat you van easily throw in an extra chilipepper. I also did add a bit more 5 spice and soy sauce and turned out wonderful. Says it feeds 6, I’d say more like 4 (good) adult eaters. Definetely will make again.
subtitle
7th Sep, 2018
5.05
I've made this recipe three or four times now using sliced braising beef which I cut up myself into largish chunks. Sometimes if I don't have bok choy I add a diced courgetti to the recipe. The whole family loves this. Serve up with plain rice boiled with quarter tsp of 5 spice powder and half a veg stock cube. Delicious on a cool Autumn or Winter evening
Brian 44
3rd Sep, 2018
4.05
Used slow cooker for this recipe then reduced down on the hob for a bit and served with carrots and Chinese cabbage. It turned out very nice!
heatherwillson's picture
heatherwillson
2nd Sep, 2018
5.05
This is melt in the mouth and a good crowd feeder. I love cooking with soy it gives it that bit extra depth of flavour.
Char New's picture
Char New
4th Aug, 2018
Im going to be making it for around 8 people today im going to double up on everything so shall i double the time in the oven

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Char New's picture
Char New
31st Jul, 2018
It says well seasoned flour am i missing the point lol what is it seasoned with
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
3rd Aug, 2018
Thanks for your question. You season the flour with salt and pepper.
watermelon
26th Oct, 2014
Loved the recipe. Great flavour. Does the calorie count include the rice?
KED
5th Sep, 2014
Hi, I have braised my beef, now to about 3 hours, it is still tough, is it me? or have i just bought rubbish beef? please help?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
16th Sep, 2014
Hi there, thanks for your question. You may have bought some poor quality beef or it may just need a little longer cooking time. Keep simmering and check every 30 minutes or so, when it's ready it should be easy to pull apart with two forks, sometimes this can take a little longer. Hope this helps.
emilyrblackburn
5th Jan, 2014
Any suggestions on a good swap for the cooking wine/sherry? Or would it be okay without it? I don't fancy buying a whole bottle of it just for one recipe, and not sure I would use it in anything else.
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
13th Jan, 2014
Hi there, thanks for getting in touch. You could use regular wine, either white of red, if you have a bottle, or you could try mirin, or leave it out altogether and add 1 tbsp of red or white wine vinegar. Enjoy the recipe! BBC Good Food web team
danlukey
11th Oct, 2013
this does sound good has anyone tried it in a slow cooker???? if so how long would you cook it for???
regaljester
20th Jul, 2015
This dish is best when done in a slow cooker. I used Ox cheeks and after doing the initial steps and got it all together in the pan, I put it into my 'slow-oven' and left it all day. About 8 hours later it was sooooo melt in the mouth delicious! It does need at least 6 hours slow cooking to bring out the best and the longer the better, so if having for dinner, prepare in the morning stick it in a low oven and forget about it till evening. Make sure there's a tight fitting lid on.
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
13th Jan, 2014
Hi there, thanks for getting in touch. This recipe would work well in a slow cooker. Try cooking it on low for eight hours. Best wishes, BBC Good Food web team
GirlAnachronismE
15th Jul, 2017
5.05
I love this. I tend to use 2 tsp of five spice and only 1 of sugar. Plus I put in the chili seeds for a bit of a kick. Absolutely delicious
eilidhb1
4th Jan, 2016
Fantastic recipe! I had a bit of Teriakyi marinade (bought from main supermarket) that I put in at the time of the soy and stock. I also had no sherry so I put in half a can of Guinness and luckily it worked a treat! Everyone loved it, tasted really authentic! Will definitely be using this one again!
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