We recently discovered a cut of beef at our local supermarket that revived our love for braised beef. A good braised beef recipe needs to have tender meat, a lot of natural flavour, and not too much fat. In this recipe, we use a cut of beef shank, bone-in, and horizontally cut into a steak around 1-1.25 inches thick. Slowly cooked with carrots, daikon, and green radish, it makes for a hearty and flavourful dish.

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1.5lb Bone-in beef shank (you can use different cuts of beef as well)
• 1 large carrot
• 1-1.5lb daikon
• 1-1.5lb green radish
• Green onion
• Ginger
• Garlic
• 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar (can use white vinegar to substitute)
• 1/2 tbsp cooking wine
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp cooking wine
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tbsp black vinegar

Directions

1. Trim off excess fat from the edges of the shank. You don’t have to do this, but it makes for a healthier and less heavy dish without downgrading the taste.
2. In a pot of boiling water, place in the shank and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add a 1/2 tbsp of white or rice vinegar and cooking wine to the water. The point of this is to get rid of some of the excess blood and junk from the meat.
3. In the meantime, prepare the other ingredients. Cut a few pieces of green onion heads, slice ginger and garlic, and set aside. Then, peel and cut the carrots, daikon, and green radish into chunks.
4. To a hot pan, add some oil and the green onion heads, ginger, and garlic. Stir fry on medium low heat for 2-3 minutes to extract the flavours, and then remove from the oil.
5. On medium heat, sear both sides of the beef for around 2 minutes on each side.
6. Add in the light and dark soy sauces, 1/2 tbsp cooking wine, salt, white sugar, brown sugar, and black vinegar. Then, pour in hot water to cover the beef.
7. Put in the root vegetables and add more water if necessary to cover everything. Simmer on low heat for 1.5 hours. During this time, if your pot or pan is starting to dry out, add in some more water.
8. After 1.5 hours, both the beef and the root vegetables should be quite soft. Use a spatula to break through the daikon and if it’s soft all the way through, it has been cooked enough. Otherwise, continue to simmer.
9. At this point, you may notice that there’s a layer of oil that has accumulated. Again, this is optional, but we prefer our home-cooked meals to be as healthy as possible. Add in more hot water to raise the liquid level and skim away the oil. Then, on high heat with the lid uncovered, reduce the sauce until there’s only a bit left at the bottom of the pan. Turn off the heat, and you’re presented with a great tasting and healthy dish.