The rich flavors of tomato and beef, mingled with the subtle aromas of various vegetables, create a lingering, memorable taste with a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
This dish is said to have evolved from the Western braised beef in red sauce. Indeed, Western cuisine often uses strongly flavored vegetables like carrots, onions, and celery for soups and stews. While highly nutritious, their taste and texture can be a bit astringent and unremarkable on their own. However, when paired in this dish, they truly shine, not only doubling the savory flavor of the beef but also giving the broth a vibrant color and a refreshingly bright taste—absolutely perfect!
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
1000 g (about 2.2 lbs) beef brisket
Beef brisket with layers of fat and tendon is the best choice.
Additional Ingredients
1 carrot
Half an onion
2 small sections of celery stalk
3 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes
For the best flavor, try to have all the aromatic vegetables—carrots, onions, and celery—ready to enhance the beef.
Seasonings
15 g (about 1 tablespoon) yellow wine
10 g (about 2 teaspoons) sugar
3 g white pepper (about 1 teaspoon)
3 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
6 g salt
Scallion and ginger: to taste
to taste
butter to taste
This dish is adapted from Western cuisine, so using butter to cook it gives it a richer, more aromatic flavor.
Feel free to add extra black pepper, as it enhances the aroma and cuts through the richness.
Instructions
Instructions
Preparation
Step 1: Cut the carrot into large chunks, celery into large sections, onion into large slices, and cut each garlic clove in half; set aside (Image 2).
Step 2: Cut the beef brisket into 5 cm (about 2-inch) chunks, add a little scallion and ginger, and place in a pot with cold water (Image 3). Bring to a boil over high heat and blanch for 3 minutes, skimming off any foam promptly, then remove the beef and reserve the blanching liquid (Image 4).
*Bianching the beef in cold water allows the blood to fully release, effectively removing any unpleasant odors.
*After making the beef broth, you can use it to braise the meat, so be sure to skim off all the foam thoroughly in this step to minimize any off-flavors. The broth should also be strained through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any small particles.
Simmer the beef brisket over low heat until tender, then add the tomatoes and continue cooking until the sauce thickens and the flavors meld together.
Heat a wok or large skillet over medium heat, melt some of the butter (Image 5). Add the carrots, onion, celery, and garlic, then increase the heat to high and stir-fry for 1 minute until fragrant (Image 6). Add the blanched beef and stir-fry for another 1 minute (Image 7).
*Note: When melting the butter, make sure the pan isn't too hot, otherwise the butter will develop a burnt flavor; turn up the heat to high only after adding the vegetables to the pan.
④ Pour the beef blanching liquid into the pot, then add cooking wine, sugar, white pepper, bay leaves, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to low heat and simmer for about 2 hours (Figure 8).
*The braising liquid should cover the beef; if there isn't enough beef broth, add boiling water—don't skimp on the liquid. Adjust the cooking time depending on the quality of the beef brisket.
Stir-fry the tomato puree.
When the beef brisket is nearly done, blanch the tomatoes in boiling water, peel them, and chop them finely. Heat a separate pan over high heat, melt a little butter, add the chopped tomatoes, and stir-fry for 1 minute (Image 9).
*The finer you dice the tomatoes, the better — they'll break down into a rich, sandy texture when stir-fried.
When the beef is fully braised, pour in the prepared tomato puree (Image 10), add some tomato paste to enhance the color, bring the sauce to a boil, then simmer over medium heat for about 15 minutes (Image 11).
*Adding tomato paste is mainly for color, so you can skip it if you prefer. Add the tomatoes during the last 15 minutes of cooking; if added too early and simmered too long, they will lose their flavor.
A lazy cook's trick
If you are short on time, you can use a pressure cooker for this dish. First, stir-fry all the aromatics except the tomatoes in a wok, then add broth and seasonings. Pour everything into the pressure cooker and cook for about 25 minutes. Turn off the heat, wait for the steam to fully release, then add the stir-fried tomatoes. Cook again over medium heat for 15 minutes, this time without the pressure valve.