Spiced Beef Shin (Chinese Cuisine)

A reader of my Chinese food blog left a message to request the English recipe of this Spiced Beef Shin. How can I miss to translate this recipe? It’s a popular Chinese appetizer and my favourite snack. Some Chinese restaurants would offer this famous dish before main course. They would replace beef shin with braised tofu or peanuts for the sake of price, of course. I used to cook some in advance and keep them in fridge for serving at any time. It can be a very popular party food too.

Ingredients:

• 400 gm beef shin
• 3 to 4 cloves garlic
• 4 slices old ginger
• 18 gm rock sugar
• 2 cups water
• 10 Sichuan pepper/Szechuan pepper (花椒)
• 1 star anise (八角)
• 1 Tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 4 Tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce

Method:

1. Remove the connective tissue of beef shin if any in order to have softer texture after cooking. Blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain well.
2. Use a large saucepan and add all ingredients except beef shin. Bring to a boil. Add beef shin. When it boils again, slower heat to medium-low and simmer until softens. The sauce should cover the beef shin. If not, turn beef shin occasionally. Bear in mind that the cooking time is quite long, so you might like to use vacuum pot to save energy if you have one. Cook until sauce reduced and thickened. Remember to taste by yourself.
3. Let beef shin cool completely and chill in fridge. Then you can easily cut into thin slices. This dish can be served cold or reheat to warm. Serve on a platter and pour (warm) sauce over it.

Tips:

1. The sauce can be kept in fridge for one to two weeks.
2. Use the sauce to cook hard boiled eggs, chicken wings or peanuts. The taste of them is tremendously delicious too.