Chinese-style braised beef one-pot

Chinese-style braised beef one-pot

By Jane Hornby
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(182 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 cut of meat for a British Sunday roast, beef is full of flavour, as well as being a…

  • 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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laws.a
5th Jun, 2017
5.05
Used powdered ginger as I didnt have any fresh and didnt add the wine or sherry but it tasted delicious...my husband loved it, easy recipe!
Kim Bambrough
14th Apr, 2017
5.05
I made this with pork shoulder steaks which I chopped into chunks before frying. I also cooked for an extra half hour. It was delicious and the pork melted in your mouth. Definitely make this again and pork is also a much cheaper cut than beef.
itsybitsy
5th Mar, 2017
5.05
Been meaning to cook this for a long time and wasn't disappointed! Used dry white wine as no sherry here in France. Left it to cook for nearly 4 hours and it was delicious.
natalieflondon
29th Nov, 2016
5.05
Can't really understand the negative reviews on this one....I read the feedback and adjusted accordingly for two people (halved the quantity of beef but used one large chilli for this (it was quite fiery but we liked it), and two teaspoons of 5 spice)...cooked it with a 300mls of stock for 4 hours. It was melt in the mouth, rich and tasty and we were annoyed we hadn't got any left for a second helping. This one is going on the regulars list....
subtitle
25th Oct, 2016
5.05
I made this today using half the meat and flour but the same amount of spices, stock and everything else. After 2 hours in the oven the sauce had reduced quite a lot and upon tasting it seemed very strong. I added more water to reduce the strength of the taste to my liking and cooked for another half hour. It was gorgeous. Both saucy and flavoursome. We loved it and I'll most certainly make it again. We just had it with boiled rice. Next time I will add pak choy as an accompaniment.
suecaunt
14th Jun, 2016
I cannot understand the negative reviews of this dish - I cooked this today with Waitrose Beef bolas (a stewing beef cut) and it was absolutely delicious. It certainly was not sweet at all and certainly not tasteless, as some people claim - a lovely balance of flavours, with superb tender beef. A fantastic way to cook one of the cheaper cuts of meat, which I will most definitely cook again.
hjlwalker
20th May, 2016
5.05
My husband loved it! The thing my mother taught me about softening meat was that you need to drain as much blood as possible from the meat before you cook. She recommended soaking it in water for a few hours then letting it sit in the fridge (sealed in a container) overnight. For those of you who found the meat tough even after 2 hours of cooking may want to try this. I actually drained the blood from the blade steak we had for only a couple of hours but it was beautifully tender when I brought it out of the oven. I have a box of Chinese thirteen spices and I am looking for a dish to make with that. If anyone knows of any recipes using Chinese thirteen spices please let me know. : )
browse-read
3rd Mar, 2016
Great article. Thanks for sharing this :) BTW what you think about Chinese five spice add to meals?
Becky0295
8th Feb, 2016
5.05
Chose this recipe as wanted to do a Chinese for the Chinese New Year. Already had braising beef in so this fitted the bill. I did this recipe in a slow cooker - prepared in the morning, to eat late evening; beef had all day to tenderise and was falling apart when we came to eating. The house smelt absolutely amazing all day! Taste lived up to the smell, very fragrent - served it with thin rice noodles instead of rice to mop up the lovely sauce. Vegetable spring roles and prawn crackers with a sweet chilli sauce to serve... perfect Chinese New Year feast - everyone thoroughly enjoyed.
jfowler12's picture
jfowler12
24th Jan, 2016
5.05
This recipe is an absolute stonker! It's just the most deliciously rich and tasty way to enjoy a cheaper cut of beef. Perfect. I've since made it with pork and goat, and I'm pleased to say that it works just as nicely.

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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!