Old Hong Kong Steak Sauce 懷舊港式燒汁
This is a great sauce for any protein, not just beef.I used Madeira wine for its milder taste. However, Cognac is the traditional wine that’s used. Sherry will also work well.I used Chanterelle and abalone mushrooms but any mushroom will work well.This recipe makes approximately 450-500ml of sauce. It should be enough for 4 people if you’re only using it for the protein. My son loves this sauce so much that he almost drinks it like soup and drowns everything in it. So this recipe was only enough for the 2 of us.
Approximate cost (CAD) $20
Ingredients
Ingredients for concentrated brown stock:
- 900 g Beef bones with meat (beef ribs work well)
- 1 Medium onion
- 1 Large carrot (approx. 200g)
- 3 stalks Celery
- 1 bulb Garlic
- 2 Bay leaves
- 1 L Beef or chicken stock (or water)
- ½ tsp Ground black pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Oil
Ingredients for sauce:
- 2 tbsp All-purpose flour
- 30 g Butter (approx. 2 tbsp)
- 2 tbsp Madeira wine or Cognac
- 2 tbsp Heavy cream
- 1 tsp Light soy sauce
- ½ tsp Dark soy sauce
- 500 ml Concentrated brown stock
- 150 g Chanterelle mushrooms (optional)
- 150 g Mini abalone mushrooms (optional)
- 2 sprigs Italian parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse off any bone fragments and impurities from each piece of beef bone.
Beef ribs work well for this recipe. If your beef bone doesn’t have much meat on it, add some beef shank to give more beef flavour to the stock - Dry off beef bones and/or beef pieces and place into a roasting pan
- Cut carrot, celery and onions into 1”-2” pieces and place into roasting pan
- Slice a bulb of garlic in half horizontally and place into roasting pan
- Add ½ tsp ground black pepper, 1 tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil into the roasting pan and mix well
- Put the roasting pan in the oven on broil and roast for 15-30 minutes, turning them over when they brown on one side
each side may take 8-15 minutes to brown depending on your oven 
- Once the ingredients have all browned nicely, pour the entire contents into a stock pot
- Add 1 litre of beef or chicken stock and 2 bay leaves
I prefer chicken stock since it has a more neutral flavour. Sometimes beef stock can be on the sweet side. You can also use water. However, using stock to make stock adds to the flavour complexity of the sauce 
- Bring the stock to a boil and turn the heat down to medium to create a full simmering boil (in between simmer and boil). Let cook for 2 hours Give it a mix every 30 minutes to make sure it’s not evaporating too quickly. You want to evaporate ½ of it after 2 hours.
You may want to cook it longer, perhaps 6 hours and using more liquid to really get all the flavour out of the ingredients. But I usually just use the ingredients a second time with another 1L of stock or water to make a weaker stock that I use for soup noodles - In a bowl, make a roux paste by combining 2 tbsp all-purpose flour and 30g butter, mix until it’s well mixed and set aside
- Use a sieve to extract 500ml of the concentrated brown stock you just made and put it in a pot
- Bring the concentrated brown stock to a simmer and add the roux paste
- Use a whisk to mix well
- Whisk until the stock becomes thickened and smooth
If the sauce is not thick enough, make more roux paste and add into the sauce. 
- Add 2 tbsp Madeira wine, 1 tsp light soy sauce and ½ tsp dark soy sauce. Cook until the sauce simmers and taste test.
Add dark soy if you want the sauce to be darker. Add light soy sauce if you want it saltier. The Madeira wine will give the “je ne sais quoi” factor to your sauce. Your family and guests will not likely be able to guess what the flavour is. Cognac is the traditional ingredient that has a stronger taste and greater price tag. 
- Add 2 tbsp heavy cream and mix well. Turn off heat
- Now your stock has become a sauce and is ready to use
- If you’re adding mushrooms to your sauce, sauté some mushrooms in a pan.
- When the mushrooms soften, add the sauce and mix well
- Chop some parsley for garnishing
- Pour on top of steak, potatoes and or pasta. Sprinkle chopped parsley
- Serve