Ox Tongue Pasta with Cream Sauce 白汁牛脷燴意粉

Ox Tongue Pasta with Cream Sauce 白汁牛脷燴意粉 (Cantonese: bak chup gnau lay wui yi fun) is the very first Hong Kong café dish I tried.  My dad would order this dish from Tai Ping Koon Restaurant.  It’s one of the first fusion (Chinese and western) restaurants in Hong Kong. My recipe reflects the Ox Tongue Pasta with Cream Sauce 白汁牛脷燴意粉 that I had there.

My mom doesn’t like red sauce, so this is one of the only pasta dishes on the menu that she eats.  Of course when I was little, I didn’t eat much so we always shared this dish.  At the time, it seemed that my dad would add Maggie Sauce to everything and this dish was no exception.  Now, I still add a couple of dashes of Maggie Sauce because without it, the taste is just a little off for me.  I don’t use Maggie Sauce often, but it seems to enhance the beefy taste in the ox tongue.

Ox tongue is one of my favourite cuts of meat.  I think it’s one of the most flavourful meats requiring very little seasoning.  When done right, it’s super tender without falling apart.  It also absorbs sauces really well.  I use it to make Ox Tongue Pasta with Cream Sauce, of course.  But also it’s great with a red sauce (for a Hong Kong café red sauce, refer to my Baked Pork Cutlet on Rice 港式焗豬扒飯 recipe) or curry (see Hong Kong Curry Chicken 港式咖喱雞 recipe).

You can also have this with rice or add some cheese and/or breadcrumbs on top and finish it in the oven for an au gratin style.

Contrary to what people think, Ox Tongue Pasta with Cream Sauce 白汁牛脷燴意粉 is actually very easy to make.  With my recipe, I’ll show you how to process and cook the ox tongue so that it’s tender and delicious.  I’ll also show you how to make an easy béchamel sauce using a can of evaporated milk.  The béchamel sauce is silky smooth and goes so well with the tender ox tongue.  Give this Hong Kong classic dish a try….and don’t forget the Maggie Sauce!

Ox Tongue Pasta with Cream Sauce 白汁牛脷燴意粉

You can pretty much use any kind of vegetables in the sauce, however, I would avoid those with too much water content to prevent diluting the sauce.

I used evaporated milk for this recipe, but you can also use cream or milk. You may need to adjust the consistency using more flour or a cornstarch slurry.

For a 3lb ox tongue, I was able to cut 8 slices approx. 15mm thick pieces and then have enough to make 4 more servings of ox tongue pasta with strips of ox tongue.

Approximate cost (CAD) $20

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Wait Time 3 hours hrs

Total Time 3 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine Cantonese, Chinese, Hong Kong

Servings 6 Servings

Calories 771 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 Ox tongue (approx. 3 lbs or 1.4 kg)
• 1 tbsp Course salt (for cleaning)
• 75 g Butter or margarine (1/3 cup)
• 60 g All purpose flour (1/3 cup)
• ¾ c Water or broth
• 1 can Evaporated milk (354 ml)
• 1 cup Frozen peas
• 1 tsp Salt (for sauce)
• 300 g Mushrooms , sliced
• 2 tsp Oil
• 1 tsp Salt (for seasoning ox tongue)
• ½ tsp Pepper
• 2 dashes Maggie Sauce (optional)

Instructions

 

• Clean the ox tongue by rubbing it with approx. 1 tbsp course salt. Rinse with water
  
• Place ox tongue into steamer and steam for 3 hours on low heat (for 3-4 lbs). If your ox tongue is around 2 lbs, steam for around 2 hours The water collected in the pot during steaming is very flavourful and can be used in your cream sauce as the broth. For sous vide, use temperature of 70˚C or 158˚F and cook for 24 hours
  
• Once time is up, remove the ox tongue from the steamer and let it cool for 10-15 minutes. The skin is easier to remove when it’s still warm.
• Remove the skin by simply peeling it off. It should come off quite easily If it does not come off easily, it means that you did not steam it for enough time so you can steam it for a bit longer
  
• Slice into steaks or strips or whatever shape you’d like and set aside I usually slice the thick part into 15mm slices for steaks and then I cut the tip part of the tongue into strips for a leftover stir-fry or incorporating it into another sauce. A 3lb ox tongue is usually enough for me to make 2 meals for 4 people
• Sauté sliced mushrooms in 2 tsp oil until cooked and set aside You may want to start boiling your water for the pasta at this point
  
• Make roux by melting 75g of butter in a pot, add 60g flour. Use medium heat. Stir until smooth and thick
  
• Add a can of evaporated milk. Stir until thickened. Add approx. ¾ c water or broth until you get your desired consistency
  
• Add frozen peas and sautéed mushrooms to the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes until peas are cooked
  
• Add approx. 1 tsp salt to suit your taste
• Boil a pot of water to cook your pasta
• Sprinkle ox tongue with some salt and pepper and pan-fry in a frying pan until toasted.
  
• If you cut the tongue into strips, then add the strips into your sauce. If using steaks, then place them onto your serving plate on top of or next to the pasta
• Pour sauce on top of pasta
• Optional: add 2 dashes of Maggie Sauce
• Serve

Nutrition

Calories: 771kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 43gFat: 54gSaturated Fat: 26gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 247mgSodium: 2290mgPotassium: 1150mgFiber: 2gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 639IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 183mgIron: 8mg

Keyword Black-eyed peas, Cream Sauce, Mushrooms, Ox Tongue, Pasta

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