Brisket needs time and liquid, and not much else. The one technique worth keeping is splitting the tomatoes: one diced small so it melts into the sauce, one cut in chunks so there is still something to eat at the end. Potato goes in late, or it turns to paste.
Chinese · Main
Tomato and Potato Beef Stew Braised Until the Meat Gives Way
Brisket browned in caramel, then simmered with two kinds of tomato, potato and carrot until the sauce thickens enough to coat rice. The long braise is what makes a cheap cut taste expensive.
- Prep20 min
- Cook90 min
- Serves4
- LevelEasy
Ingredients
| 500 g | beef brisket , cut into small chunks |
| 3 to 4 slices | ginger |
| 2 | star anise |
| 2 | bay leaves |
| 6 to 8 | rock sugar crystals |
| 1 tbsp | dark soy sauce |
| 3 tbsp | light soy sauce |
| 1 tbsp | oyster sauce |
| 2 | tomatoes , one diced, one in chunks |
| 1/2 | onion , sliced |
| 1 | potato , cut into chunks |
| 1/2 | carrot , cut into chunks |
| to taste | salt |
Method
- Put the brisket in cold water with ginger and scallion, bring it to the boil, skim off the foam and drain.
- Heat a little oil, melt the rock sugar and cook until it foams and turns amber.
- Add the beef and turn it in the caramel until every piece is coated, then add the onion and the diced tomato and fry until the tomato collapses.
- Stir in the light soy, dark soy, oyster sauce and salt.
- Add the star anise, bay leaves and enough boiling water to cover, bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about an hour.
- Add the potato, carrot and the chunked tomato and cook for another 20 to 30 minutes, until the sauce is thick and the beef pulls apart.
- Taste for salt and serve with rice, since the point of the dish is the sauce.
Notes
- Use boiling water, never cold, once the meat is browned. Cold water tightens the muscle and stalls the braise.
- A pressure cooker takes the first stage down to 30 minutes, then finish with the vegetables on the stove.
Ratios and technique checked against 婧妞美食 on Douguo (番茄土豆炖牛腩). The method here is written by Stellaok and the illustration is ours; no text or photograph from the source is reproduced.