RECIPE: SICHUAN BRAISED SHIN OF BEEF WITH CHINESE CABBAGE

Well, this is it! I have always wanted to have my own blog but kept putting it off as I thought it would be too hard, I would not have the time, nobody would read it (there is still that chance!), blah, blah, blah but there is no holding back now. So here we go, let the trumpets blare......tan tara.......my very first blog.

For my first blog, I had this vision of grandeur of posting a really detailed recipe that I was going to whip up in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I am sick today (seems to be an occurance recently)and Mr G has volunteered to cook tonight (for a male, he is an excellent cook....oops, I am going to get into trouble for this). He has decided to make Sichuan Braised Shin of Beef with Chinese Cabbage. I am impressed. Even with my degraded taste buds, it is yummy. So here it is.


SICHUAN BRAISED SHIN OF BEEF WITH CHINESE CABBAGE
1 kg beef shin (in one piece)
1/2 cup peanut oil
1/2 chinese cabbage or wombok
3 tbsp rice wine (omit for any muslim readers)
5 - 6 cups water (enough to cover the meat in the pot)
3 tbsp chilli bean paste
1/2 cup light soy sauce (add more if needed)
1 tsp chinese sesame oil
1 tbsp corn flour dissolved in 2 tbsp water

Method:
Cut the shin into pieces (about 5 cm wide and 2 cm thick). Do not cut it too small as it would dry the meat up in the lenghty cooking process (2 hours).

Heat the oil in a fry pan and fry the beef over high heat until it is well browned on both sides.

Wash the wombok, place in a large saucepan of hot water and boil till just tender. Refresh in cold water and cut lenghtways into two strips per leaf. Squeeze gently to get rid of excess water.

Place the meat in a large deep frying pan, add the wine, water and bean paste. Bring to boil quickly on high heat, uncovered.

As soon as the water comes to a boil, turn down the heat to low, remove any scum from the surface. Cover the pan and simmer slowly for 1.5 hours (yes, 1.5 hours)

When the beef is quite tender, place the wombok strips on top of the beef and add half the soy sauce while stirring (actually swirling).

Cook for another 30 minutes. Add remainder of the soy sauce, adjusting the amount to your own preference. Add the sesame oil.

Dissolve the corn flour, draw the cabbage in the pot aside and pour in the corn flour (thickening mixture). Stir in and once the sauce has thickened, lift from heat and serve hot with rice. Viola!

Let me know what you think.