Tasty Bytes

My butcher and I share a common heritage. Last Friday he talked me into buying some beef scraps for stew. Lots of tendons in those scraps which turn very gelatinous after simmering for hours. In China you used every part of the animal – in fact most of the non muscle meat parts of the animal are very nourishing. Those tough connective parts are mostly protein and in your body can be used as the building blocks for your joints and connective tissue. Sure beats buying Chondrotin supplements and tastier too! Maybe it’s an aquired taste as I grew up eating stews from gelatious cuts like these and more – like oxtails. This is my family’s comfort food 🙂

Here is the recipe for the stew I made from these scraps along with some oxtails

Beef – Sichuan Red Cooked

Serving Size : 8

Amount Measure Ingredient — Preparation Method
——– ———— ——————————–
2 1/2 pounds beef — (stew, chuck, ox tail, tendon)
1 tablespoon oil
3 inch ginger — peeled and sliced 1/4″
5 each garlic — smashed
6 each scallions — cut into 1 1/2″ sections
1 stalk celery — sliced 1/2″ thick
5 each star anise
1 1/2 teaspoons sichuan peppercorns — toasted
1 1/2 inch cinnamon stick
8 each cloves
1 each black cardamom (got this idea from the blog Tigers and Strawberries)
2 strips orange peel — 1 1/2″ long, peel using a vegetable peeler
1/4 cup shaoshing wine
3 tablespoons sichuan chili bean paste
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinkiang black vinegar
1 quart beef stock — chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon sucanat
1 pounds daikon radish — (or watermelon radish, black radish, turnips, potato, yucca, sweet potato.) Peeled and cut into 2-3″ chunks

***Garnish***
cilantro springs
scallion — sliced thin
sliced jalapenos — optional

Boil 2-3 quarts of water in a 6 quart pot. Blanch beef in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse.

Heat oil in the 6 quart pot. Sauteed ginger, scallion, garlic and celery over medium high heat until fragrant, about 4 minutes.

Add star anise, sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves. Saute for another minute.

Add chili bean paste and saute for 20-30 seconds.

Add remaining ingredients except radish.

Simmer on low heat for 2 – 3 hours until meat is tender. Skim fat.

Add daikon and simmer until cooked through.

Serve with steamed rice or on egg noodles. Garnish with cilantro and scallion.

Enjoy!