(The nineteen amazing Honorable Mentions in our Braising Contest will each receive an Apartment Therapy T-Shirt. We are methodically and swiftly presenting them all to you with the winning photos and recipes. Another cold week here in NYC: braise on!)
Best Fusion Braise
Recipe after the jump...
Michelle's Braised Beef Brisket
1 kg (2 lb)beef brisket, fat trimmed
1 daikon (optional)
2 oranges, peeled, removing as much white pith as possible, and sliced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ginger, minced
5 tablespoons ground bean sauce (also called yellow bean sauce)
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
1 tablespoons chili sludge from bottom of hot chili sauce (or your favourite form of chili spiciness)
salt
sugar
Bring a pot of water to boil. Blanch whole beef brisket about 2 minutes. Remove and chop into fork-sized pieces.
Sauté chopped brisket in dutch oven (or other heavy-bottomed pot) over
medium-high heat until the meat is relatively dry. Add garlic, ginger, ground bean sauce and chilis. Toss until fragrant and the brisket is coated.
Add water to cover. Add dark soy sauce, about 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon sugar. Bring to boil.
Lower heat and simmer for about 2 hours.
Additional directions if using daikon:
Peel and chop daikon into chunks. Toss with a bit of salt and another
tbsp of ground bean sauce. Daikon gets added for the last 20-30 minutes of simmering. Meat should yield to a fork, but not yet be completely tender, when adding daikon. Do not overcook.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I'm really interested in how Michelle served this: are those noodles I see, and if so, is there any additional stock or water added? Also, I see the chopped scallions, but what sort of greens are in the garnish?
I ask because it really looks like something I'd love to try. Much as I love pho, it never occurred to me to serve braised brisket with noodles in a soup-ish form.
view renata's profile
Serving braised meat on noodles is pretty standard in Chinese cooking, almost the equivalent of serving meat with potatoes.
The noodle soup is typically some of the braising liquid (if there's any left) mixed with a meat broth. I flavoured mine with oyster sauce, fish sauce and hot sauce too.
The veggies in the photo are shanghai bok choy, but you could use regular bok choy or nappa cabbage. It's primarily there to create a balanced meal, so any vegetable will do.
view Michelle of Montreal's profile
Thanks for the info. I definitely intend to try this next time I can find a not-too-huge brisket. Even without the photo, I suppose I would have unimaginatively gone with rice. But I love noodles so much more.
I've never cooked brisket in any kind of Asian seasoning, but I reckon I'll like it much better than Texas style.
view renata's profile