Asian Style Beef Stew

Our lunch today was absolute-finger-licking-goodness. I wanted to try a Chinese recipe for a change and came up with this dish that uses beef and daikon as the main ingredients. As there aren't any daikon in my fridge, I took the liberty to use sweet potato instead.

The result was so damn good! Everyone loved it. The beef was sweet and so tender, I'm practically drooling now just thinking about it. It needs only simple flavoring but the result was spectacular! I am not kidding. O_o

You may think I'm just exaggerating things. Well, give it a try. Then you tell me... It was easy to prepare, you'll just leave them to cook *but don't forget to check on it!* As I promised, here is the the recipe of the dish I mentioned in "Something Is Boiling".

Cantonese Braised Beef with Sweet Potato

Adapted from here

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 lbs. beef shank, cut into 1/2" thickness
• 5 slices ginger
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 3 heaping Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1Tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp palm sugar
• 4 cups water
• 1 sweet potato, cut into 1" cubes
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch + 1/4 cup water to make slurry

1. Heat oil in a heavy bottom stew pot. On high heat, brown the meat on all sides
2. Then, add ginger slices and smashed garlic into the pot, stir to cook until fragrant
3. Add the chicken broth + oyster sauce + dark soy sauce + light soy sauce + star anise + cinnamon stick + black pepper + palm sugar + 4 cups water
4. Lower the heat to medium low and let it simmer for 2 hours, partially covered with lid ( I checked at 1 1/2 hour and the meat was already tender )
5. The sauce should be reduced by half now. Add cubed sweet potato and let it cook for another 1/2 hour or until the sweet potatoes felt tender when prick with fork
6. Make the slurry, then add to the pot. Simmer about 1 or 2 minutes until thickens 
7. Taste the gravy. If it too salty, add some water. Allow to boil for a bit, then remove from heat
8. Serves hot over rice...*You'll want seconds!*

Happy cooking! ^_^