Beef Tendon and Brisket Stew

If you are too accustomed to the traditional beef brisket / tendon in chu-hou paste (柱侯醬) like me, and can’t think of another alternative way of cooking, this recipe is for you.

When one of my fans posted a question asking for a recipe of tendon, instantly I recalled the tasty tendon and brisket dish that my mother-in-law cooked for me a while back in Hong Kong.

If you are too accustomed to the traditional beef brisket / tendon in chu-hou paste (柱侯醬) like me, and can’t think of another alternative way of cooking, this recipe is for you.

I loved at first bite literally. This dish goes really well with steamed rice or noodles.

Clockwise: top left: tendon, red fermented beancurd, stir-fried sauce paste, ground bean sauce

To make this dish, you need these special ingredients: beef tendon, available at Asian butchers, red fermented beancurd (南乳) and ground bean sauce (磨豉醬), available at Asian grocers. Or you might get it from Amazon.

Italian Beef Stew Recipe

(Printable recipe)
By Christine’s Recipes
Course: Beef, Stew
Cuisine: Western
Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 32 mins + plus rising pressure time
Yield: 2 to 3 serves

Ingredients:

• 900 gm beef brisket, chopped into chunks
• 500 gm beef tendon, chopped into chunks
• 2 to 3 pieces red fermented beancurd (南乳), mashed
• 1 Tbsp ground bean sauce (磨豉醬)
• 4 cups water
• 4 pieces ginger
• 20 gm rock sugar, thumb-sized
• 1 carrot or diakon, roughly chopped

Sauce:

• 2 tsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp cornflour / corn starch
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 2 Tbsp water
• salt, to taste

Method:

1. Blanch beef brisket and tendon in boiling water for about 3 minutes to remove the blood and impurities. (Remark: blanch in batches if your wok or pot is not large enough.) Rinse and drain well.
2. Heat oil in a heavy-based pot over medium heat. Sauté ginger, red fermented beancurd and ground bean sauce. Add the brisket and tendon and stir fry for about 5 minutes. Add water and rock sugar. Bring it to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to simmer for about 3 hours, until the brisket and tendon turn soft. Add boiling water if the water lever is too low. The water should be enough to cover the tendon. Add carrot or radish. Continue to cook for another 20 minutes. Stir in the sauce and cook to your preferred consistency.

Notes：

• It takes quite a while to cook the beef tendon until softened. You might like to use the residue heat in the pot to save energy. Cover and cook for half an hour. Turn off the heat with cover on and let the residue heat inside continue the cooking for about 20 minutes. Repeat this step until the tendon is softened.
• Along the way of cooking, the water should be enough to cover the tendon. Otherwise, it’d hardly be softened. Or stir occasionally and help heat the tendon evenly.
• If using a pressure cooker, cooking time can be cut by half at least.
• Red fermented beancurd and ground bean sauce are available at Asian grocers.