Braised beef brisket with white radish

Ingredientsserves 4

Method

1. Blanch the beef: cover with cold water, bring to the boil, simmer five minutes, drain and rinse off the scum. Cut it into pieces after blanching if the piece was whole, so it does not shrink to nothing.
2. Heat two tablespoons of oil in the pot, fry the ginger, garlic and shallots until fragrant, then the chu hou paste for half a minute so it loses its raw-bean edge.
3. Add the beef and turn it in the paste until coated; splash the wine down the side of the pot.
4. Add water to just cover, the star anise, dried peel, rock sugar, oyster sauce and soy; bring to the boil, skim, then lid on and the lowest heat for an hour and a half. The hotel chef's rule: do not stir during the braise, or the paste at the bottom catches.
5. Add the radish and braise another thirty to forty minutes until a chopstick goes in without resistance; it goes in late so it holds its shape and does not water the sauce.
6. Lid off, raise the heat and reduce the sauce until it coats the meat; add a cornflour slurry only if it is still thin. Scatter spring onion.
7. If cooking for tomorrow, stop after step five, cool, refrigerate, lift off the set fat, and reduce when reheating.

Take care

• Contains soy, wheat and sesame (chu hou paste); oyster sauce contains mollusc (oyster).

The story

Braised brisket is the Hong Kong weekend dish and the two-night dish: braised on Saturday, better on Sunday, and the rest goes over noodles or rice. Chu hou paste is the Foshan braising paste, the radish drinks the beef's juices, and in winter it is the pot that most makes people want to go home.

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Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.