Braised Beef with Star Anise
Ingredients
6 Star Anise
1 Cinnamon Stick
2 Lemongrass Stalks
Vegetable Oil
2Kg Diced Shin of Beef
500ml Beef Stock
20g Fresh Ginger, Grated
2 Red Chillis, deseeded and sliced
6 Lime leaves, torn
35ml Fish Sauce
100ml Light Soy Sauce
100g Light Brown Soft Sugar
Method
Roast the star anise and cinnamon stick until dark and fragrant. Tie together with butchers string or place in a piece of muslin so they can be easily removed at the end of cooking. Cut the lemongrass into 4cm lengths.
Heat a heavy based pan with some vegetable oil to a high heat and brown the shin of beef all over. Once browned remove the meat and deglaze the pan with beef stock.
Add the star anise, cinnamon, lemongrass, ginger, chillis, lime leaves, fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar to the stock. Bring to the boil, add the shin of beef and simmer slowly for 2 ½ hours. Alternatively you can cook this dish in the oven at 160°C covered for 2 hours and then uncovered for 45 minutes, adding more liquid if necessary.
Take the meat from the pot. Strain the sauce, check seasoning and return the meat and sauce to the pot. Garnish with sliced red chillis and coriander. Serve with rice.