During the braising process, take out the beef, brush it evenly with honey, then put it in and cook it. Cook and brush it three times and the beef is ready. In this way, there is no need to worry about the ratio of sugar to meat. The bigger the beef, the more honey will naturally be brushed on it. 1. Spice recipe:
Recipe for 1 kg of braised beef: 1. 5 pieces of bay leaves, 4 pieces of licorice, 1 piece of Angelica dahurica, 2 pieces of tangerine peel, 5 peppers, 2 star anise, 1 segment of cinnamon, 2 fragrant sand, 1 grass fruit, 20 peppercorns, 1 small handful of fennel. 2. 5 slices of ginger, 1 small handful of green onion, 1 small bowl of honey, 1 tablespoon of bean paste, 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of salt, 1 tablespoon of cooking wine, and half a tablespoon of five-spice powder. 2. Steps of making:
1. Braised beef should use beef tendon, which is the muscle of the cow’s leg. Beef tendon is also divided into front tendon and rear tendon. The front tendon has more tendons and is easier to eat. When the tendons and meat are intertwined, you can feel the rich and layered texture of the tendons and the smooth texture of the meat. The back tendons have more tendons and less tendons, so you can eat the meat happily. If shank meat is not used to make braised beef, the taste of the beef will be poor and the texture will be very different.
2. After the beef shank is washed with water, it must not be marinated directly. It must be soaked in clean water. The purpose is to remove the blood and dirt of the beef, and also to remove the fishy smell of the beef. Remove part of it and soak it for about two hours. You can change the water several times during the soaking period. After soaking, remove and wash, cut into small pieces with a knife, blanch in cold water in a pot, add half the amount of ginger and green onions to remove the fishy smell. Different sizes of beef require different blanching times. The simple way to judge is to skim off the scum after the water boils. If you see no new scum overflows, it's almost done.
3. Put various spices into a gauze bag, put onion, ginger, garlic and blanched beef in the pot, add cooking wine, light soy sauce and other seasonings. Add water to cover all the ingredients and then go beyond the height of a knuckle. Be sure to add enough so that it can stew for a long time. If you find that there is no water in the middle, it will be a last resort to add boiling water. Cover the pot, bring to a boil over high heat, then turn to low heat and continue cooking for about 1 hour. Note that you must ensure that the heat is well controlled. If the heat is not controlled well, the stewed beef may taste particularly old and woody.
4. Brush with honey. After cooking for 1 hour, remove the beef and let it cool. Brush the surface with a thin layer of honey evenly. When the honey gradually penetrates into the beef texture and leaves a fragrant aroma, you can put it back into the pot and simmer on low heat for half an hour (never pour the honey directly into the pot to cook). After marinating for half an hour, repeat the steps of cooling and brushing with honey, brushing honey 3 times in total, and cooking for another half an hour, then it is ready to be taken out of the pot.
5. After cooling completely (to make the braised beef more delicious, you can put it in the refrigerator overnight), slice it and place it on a plate. It will be especially delicious when dipped in the juice of the braised beef.