Homecooked Meals - Chinese Beef Stew

More of the homecooked meals series coming up. Today's dish of the day, Chinese Beef Stew. I love beef. My family cannot say no to beef. We like in any form, balls, rendang, curry, stew, pies and etc. In fact my parents have taken their beef love to a new level which is like stomach, the tendons etc etc. My brother and i keep it to just the meat bits :). But we do love sup ekor :) Especially the ones in Bandung.

I find it odd that people in Hong Kong which is a predominantly Buddhist country eats beef wherelse people in malaysia don't! I have not figured out why yet but one day must go and ask my Aunty who is more knowledgeable in such matters.

Normally we fry the beef with veggies or sometimes make rendang ( which is rare now - due to cholestrol reasons ) but mom makes up for it by making Chinese Beef Stew. It reminds me of the one that Nam Heong Chicken rice used to serve up in the old Damansara Utama branch.

This recipe by the way, tastes good only with beef. I don't think the pork and chicken versions work well.

 Ingredients:
* 12 tahils of beef
* 1 tbl spoon of soya sauce
* 1/2 tsp ng heong fun, salt and pepper
* 1/4 cup cooking oil
* 2 cloves
* 2 petals of bunga lawang
* 1 inch cinnamon stick
* 2 cups hot water
* 1 carrot
* 1 potato ( preference to omit )
* A dash of chinese wine
* 1 daikon
* 1 celery - this adds to the distinctive smell the dish gets.

Cut the beef and season with the soya sauce, ng heong fun, salt and pepper. Heat the oil and lightly brown the meat, don't over cook it too much! At the remaining ingredients and bring it to a boil . Reduce the heat and then simmer till both meat and veggies are cook! This roughly takes about 1 1/2 hours. The smell is amazing. If there is "scratch a blog" for smell, it would definitely be beneficial.

Makes good pot luck dish and can be put in the freezer for future use! It's also a good one pot dish if you are not into cooking other things. Has meat and veggies. Ok. I am hungry now. Toodles.