Braised Beef Shin with Noodles

This one pot dish is so useful for busy weekdays as it takes moments to put together, then you just leave it to work its magic until the beef is tender (speed it up in a slow/pressure cooker if you have one). Eat it straightaway or reheat it at dinner time and you have the most incredibly delicious bowl of food.

Beef shin is the king of the slow-cooking cuts as it’s got loads of flavour so creates the most flavoursome broth. If you can’t get it, chuck would be nice ut you might need to give it a bit of a flavour boost with a stock cube or some pieces of oxtail. I threw in all the alliums I had in my fridge, but just 1 or 2 will do the job. Feel free to add in extra veg such a carrot, celery or fennel and use whatever noodles you have.

ingredients

serves 2 with leftovers

1/2 tbsp rapeseed oil
350g beef shin, cut into large chunks
70g light soy sauce, plus extra, to taste
35g shaoxing wine or dry sherry
25g garlic, peele
25g ginger, thickly sliced
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
4 spring onions, chopped
1 red onion, cut into 1/8th, optional
A few pieces of tangerine/orange peel, optional
1/2 leek, sliced into rounds, optional
1 star anise
1/2 tsp peppercorns
700ml water, extra as needed
To serve
Wheat, rice or egg noodles
Bok choi or any green veg
1 spring onion, sliced

instructions

Heat up a heavy-bottom pan and add the oil. Brown the beef on all sides, then add the soy sauce and allow it to cook off for a few seconds before adding the rest of the ingredients (add any extra veg in now too).

Leave to simmer for 90 minutes - 2 hours until the beef is tender, topping up with water as needed so the beef is always submerged.

Once the beef is tender, taste the broth and add more boiling water if it’s too concentrated. Add soy to taste. Serve immediately or take off the heat and reheat later.

Discard the ginger and peppercorns and serve with cooked noodles, greens and spring onions.