Chinese Beef Brisket - Gu-lam "牛腩"
- sixstrings17
- Jul 13, 2016
- 2 min read
A real treat in most noodle houses is beef brisket with noodles, either with soup or the dry Hong Kong "lo mein" style. Going to Ling Nam in Binondo as a kid with Diko, I would always have the wanton noodles and she would have the beef noodles (gu-mami) soup. She'd always let me taste the beef and I've been hooked ever since, and have had sleepless nights wondering if i should have beef or wanton noodles. This dish is likely my all time favorite noodle dish, and always ordered with wanton. Why choose between wanton or beef when one can just order both, eh? Well, here is a simple recipe that makes delicious Chinese beef brisket. This has been slightly modified from the cookbook "My Angkong's Noodles" - an excellent book about the history of Chinese cooking and recipes of the Fujianese immigrants in the Philippines, centred around Manila, with dishes we are all familiar with. This is essentially a Fujian dish, but variations of this can be found wherever there are Chinese eateries all around the world.
Ingredients:
1kg beef brisket or stewing beef cut into cubes. (Beef should have medium marbling of fat, not too lean. Fat gives this dish its richness and flavour. I find plain "stewing beef" too lean but it'll work if that's all you can find.)
3-4 pieces star anise (This makes the signature flavour of this dish so don't skip this)
1/3 cup dark soy sauce
1/3 cup water (or beef stock)
1 TBSP light soy sauce (optional)
4 slices fresh ginger
1 medium size onion
1 TSP black pepper corns (optional, if you like a bit spicy)
(Optional) 1 pack bean curd skin (Tau-pe) or 1 pack fresh medium-firm tofu, cut into cubes. I used fresh bean curd skin, not the dried ones. Either fresh or dried ones will do, just have to soak the dried ones first before using.
1 TBSP sugar
Now, instead of using 1kg of brisket, try using .5 kilo brisket, and .5 kilo beef tendons, if you like beef tendon.
To Do:
1) In a heavy casserole/pot, sautee onions and ginger until flavours are released
2) Brown the meat with the onions
3) Add the soy sauce, water, anise, black pepper, sugar
4) Lid the pot and let simmer on low heat setting for about 3 hours or until desired tenderness is reached. If you're using tendon, do not simmer too long as it will turn into a gooey mess. We only used beef since one of us isn't crazy about tendon....not me
5) Add more light soy sauce if you prefer saltier
6) In the last 30 minutes of cooking, add cubed tofu or bean curb skin and mix it all up
When bean curd skin is cooked, serve the dish up over steamed rice, over noodles with wanton "lo-mein" style or with soup. If lo mein or dry style, garnish some oyster sauce over the noodles, then add the beef, including some au jus, and wanton. Don't forget to add cilantro or sliced green onions for extra flavour. Great to eat with hot chili oil or XO sauce, too.
This meat is even better the next day! Enjoy!
Comentarios