Easy Braised Beef with Tomatoes 簡易番茄炆牛腩 (Cantonese: gan yi fan ke mun gnau nam) is a simple comfort food that my family loves. My son, who is not a huge fan of veggies, loves the carrots in this dish. The carrots absorb the flavour of the sauce and they also have their own natural sweetness. So I’ll usually try to add equal amounts of beef and carrots. The sauce is tangy, sweet and beefy which is so good when eaten with rice or noodles.
Some of you may find it surprising that Marmite is an ingredient in this dish. I find that Marmite (or Vegemite) is a very handy flavour enhancer for stews. But no worries if you don’t have any because my Easy Braised Beef with Tomatoes 簡易番茄炆牛腩 recipe also tastes good without it!
I’ve been asked why braised meats can come out dry and tough even though it’s braised in liquid for a good amount of time. The number one reason is that the searing was not done well. Searing prior to braising is essential to getting tender, moist and flavourful meat.
Why is there a pool of liquid when I seared my meat?
- Meat was cold. When cold meat goes into a hot pan, the temperature of the pan drops which results in the inability to create a sear, hence, juices escape from the meat. The meat should be at room temperature when searing.
- Overcrowding the pan. This can also cause the temperature of the pan to drop. When the juice from the meat escapes, it cooks the meat without searing and creates steam that can’t evaporate causing the meat to be tough and dry. Always give your meat some room to let out the steam. An exception would be if you can heat a wok to high heat (approx. 230˚C or 450˚F), you’d be able to create a sear even with a bit of crowding.
- Temperature too low. If your temperature is below 175˚C or 350˚F, it would be very probable that the juices would’ve escaped before you get your sear.
Once you get a good sear, you want to braise your meat at a low temperature. Low and slow is the second factor to successful braising. Alternatively, you may also use a pressure cooker to speed up the pace. For some meats like brisket, parboiling can replace searing before braising.
My Easy Braised Beef with Tomatoes 簡易番茄炆牛腩 recipe will show you how to make this easy and delicious dish that you and your family will love! Try having this dish with my Chinese Handmade Noodles 手工麵.
Easy Braised Beef with Tomatoes 簡易番茄炆牛腩
Ingredients
- 450 g Beef finger meat
- 400 g Carrots
- 4 Medium tomatoes
- 2 Large shallots
- 6 cloves Garlic
- 2 slices Ginger
- 4 Bay leaves
- 2 tsp Marmite (optional)
- 15 g Rock sugar
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 750 ml Broth
- 2 tbsp Oil
Instructions
- Cut beef to approx. 3 cm cubes. Set aside
- Cut carrots to similar size as beef cubes. Set aside
- Peel tomatoes and dice. Set aside
- Peel and roughly chop garlic and shallots. Set aside
- Prepare 2 slices of ginger. Set aside
- In a wok, heat on high, add 2 tbsp oil. Add beef, arrange in single layer and let it sear for 1 minute
- Flip the beef over and sear for another minute. Cook until most sides of each piece of beef has seared. Lower heat to medium. Remove beef from wok. Leave the oil in the wok
- Add shallots, garlic and ginger to the wok. Stir-fry until aromatic
I forgot to add the ginger when I took this photo - Add carrots. Stir-fry for one minute
- Add tomatoes. Stir-fry for one minute
- Add beef, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine, 2 tsp Marmite, 4 bay leaves, 15g rock sugar and 750 ml broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low.
The broth doesn’t need to cover the ingredients since the ingredients will shrink in size as it cooks - Braise on low for one hour or until tender. Give it a stir every 20 minutes
- Taste test and make adjustments if necessary. Remove bay leaves
- If you find it too runny, you can turn the heat to high, stir and allow some of the water to evaporate. Alternatively, you may add a cornstarch slurry to thicken
- Serve over rice or noodles.
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