Slow Cooker Black Vinegar Beef Ox Tail Stew (燉黑米醋牛尾, Dan6 Hak1 Mai5 Cou3 Ngau4 Mei5)

Black vinegar not only adds flavor to this dish, but also a rich dark color. The dish is not sour with a dominant vinegar flavor as you might think, in fact the black vinegar adds depth to the sauce’s flavor. While I’m not convinced, the Chinese think that the vinegar cuts down on the richness of the beef ox tail stew. Chee Hou sauce is an important ingredient to making this dish. Chee Hou sauce is a prepared sauce and is similar in taste to hoisin sauce (which can be substituted if you can’t find it at your local Asian market) and has a slightly spicier taste to it. Beef oxtails are readily available at most markets. Removing the outer fat layer from the oxtails is an important step to producing an almost fat free sauce. Use a sharp knife to remove the outer fat layer before cooking.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Spicy Basil Beef Ox Tail and Tendon Stew (燉辣紫蘇牛筋牛尾, Dan6 Laat6 Zi2 Sou1 Ngau4 Gan1 Ngau4 Mei5)

While this recipe would seem to be more appropriate during the winter, it is still tasty when cooked during the spring, especially when you use a slow cooker (i.e. crockpot) to make the dish. Fresh lotus root is preferable, but pre-cut frozen lotus root makes a good substitute when fresh is not available (and then even the frozen lotus root slices can sometimes be hard to find). If lotus root cannot be found, daikon makes a good substitute.

Beef oxtail and beef tendon go together to make a classic Chinese stew. Chee Hou sauce is an important ingredient to making this dish. Chee Hou sauce is a prepared sauce and is similar in taste to hoisin sauce (which can be substituted if you can’t find it at your local Asian market) and has a slightly spicier taste to it. The real spiciness for this dish comes from the addition of Japanese chilies. Japanese chilies have some heat to them, but are more flavorful spicy than hot and can be found at your local Mexican market. The Japanese chilies are stir fried before being added to the slow cooker.

Beef oxtails are readily available at most markets. Removing the outer fat layer from the oxtails is an important step to producing an almost fat free sauce. Use a sharp knife to remove the outer fat layer before cooking. Beef tendon is another part of the cow available at Asian markets either whole or already cut into pieces. It’s a texture ingredient that produces a great mouth feel when eaten. Uncooked, it’s tough and hard to cut, cooked long and slow, and it becomes soft. There’s really no substitute for this ingredient, so if you can’t find it, it can be omitted, but the stew won’t be the same.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Red Curry and Wine Ox Tail Stew (燉紅酒紅咖哩醬牛尾, Dan6 Hung4 Zau2 Hung4 Gaa3 Lei1 Zoeng3 Ngau4 Mei5)

This recipe, using beef oxtails, is very similar to the previous posted recipe: Slow Cooker Red Wine Spicy Bean Paste Ox Tail Stew (燉紅酒春辣醬牛尾, Dan⁶ Hung⁴ Zau² Ceon¹ Laat⁶ Zoeng³ Ngau⁴ Mei⁵). In this case, a Thai red curry is the basis for the sauce rather than spicy bean paste. Red wine is also substituted for coconut milk, which usually used in a Thai curry. So you can think of this as a curry based red wine ox tail stew. The red curry is stir fried with the beef oxtails before placing into the slow cooker. Stir frying the meat in the curry is a standard method to bring out the flavor of the curry in the dish. I used to use a fat strainer to remove the excess fat from the cooked sauce, but I found that if I remove the outside fat layer from the ox tails before cooking, there’s no need.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Red Wine Spicy Bean Paste Ox Tail Stew (燉紅酒春辣醬牛尾, Dan6 Hung4 Zau2 Ceon1 Laat6 Zoeng3 Ngau4 Mei5)

This recipe, using beef oxtails, is very similar to the recipe using beef short ribs: Slow Cooker Chinese-Style Red Wine Beef Short Ribs (燉紅酒牛肋骨, Dan⁶ Hung⁴ Zau² Ngau⁴ Lak⁶ Gwat¹). Chinese stew spices - star anise, cassia bark or cinnamon sticks, ginger, garlic, and dried tangerine peel – are used together with red wine and spicy bean paste to make this dish. So you can also think of this as a red wine beef oxtail stew with Chinese spices. Notice that rock sugar or dried dates, which are commonly used in Chinese stews, are not used in this dish. The natural sweetness from the red wine suffices in this recipe and any added sugar would make the dish too sweet. The ingredients are browned (except the daikon) before being placed in the slow cooker, but if you’re in a hurry, this step can be omitted.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Beef Short Rib and Soybean Stew (燉毛豆仁牛小排, Dan6 Mou4 Dau6 Jan4 Ngau4 Siu2 Paai4)

This recipe uses beef short ribs cut that are not flanken cut, where the ribs are cut thinly across all the bones leaving the connective meat intact for dishes such as Los Angeles Style Korean Barbeque Beef Short Ribs - L.A. Galbi (L.A. 갈비), but the English cut where each individual rib is separated and then cut into pieces. Chinese stew spices - star anise, cassia bark or cinnamon sticks, ginger, garlic, and dried tangerine peel – are used together with soy bean peas to make this dish. Soy bean peas are edamame, which is commonly used as an appetizer in Japanese restaurants. You can buy them frozen, already peeled (i.e. peas only), at your local Asian market. Notice that rock sugar or dried dates, which are commonly used in Chinese stews, are not used in this dish. The ingredients are browned before being placed in the slow cooker, but if you’re in a hurry, this step can be omitted.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Curry Lamb, Lentil, and Cauliflower Stew (燉咖哩兵豆椰菜花羊肉, Dan6 Gaa3 Lei1 Bing1 Dau6 Je4 Coi3 Faa1 Joeng4 Juk6)

This was more of an experiment when I made this dish. I purchased lamb stew meat and wanted to make a lentil curry in the slow cooker. Usually the lentils are cooked aside from the lamb stew, but I wanted to see if I could just use the slow cooker to make the dish all at once. I was afraid that the lentils would disintegrate if cooked for a long time in the slow cooker. It turns out that the lentils didn’t disintegrate, but the cauliflower became mushy after 8 hours of cooking. So I’ve reduced the cooking time to 6 hours in the recipe to reflect this. Otherwise, the stew was easy to make and has an Asian taste due to the lamb marinade used in the curry. You can easily omit marinating the lamb and just add the lamb to the slow cooker to save a step (and time).

Enjoy!

Madras Curry Paste Beef Banana Shank and Tendon Stew (马德拉斯咖喱醬燜牛筋牛腱, Maa5 Dak1 Laai1 Si1 Gaa3 Lei1 Zoeng3 Man1 Ngau4 Gan1 Ngau4 Gin3)

While this recipe would seem to be more appropriate during the winter, it is still tasty when cooked during the summer, especially when you use a slow cooker (i.e. crockpot) to make the dish. Fresh lotus root is probably not in season during the summer, since I couldn’t find it at any of my local Asian markets. So pre-cut frozen lotus root makes a good substitute when fresh is not available (and then even the frozen lotus root slices can sometimes be hard to find). If lotus root cannot be found, daikon makes a good substitute.

Beef banana shank and beef tendon go together to make a classic Chinese stew. This dish is very similar to the Beef Shank and Tendon Stew (燜牛筋牛腱, Man¹ Ngau⁴ Gan¹ Ngau⁴ Gin³) recipe. The difference between the recipes being, of course, the addition of Madras Curry Paste to the dish. Madras Curry Paste can be purchased at your local Asian market, or you can make your own by mixing Madras Curry Powder with a neutral oil to make a slurry. Chee Hou sauce is also an important ingredient to making this dish. Chee Hou sauce is a prepared sauce and is similar in taste to hoisin sauce (which can be substituted if you can’t find it at your local Asian market) and has a slightly spicier taste to it.

Boneless beef banana shank is usually prepared and served as a cold dish appetizer at Chinese banquets, in a very similar preparation as for this stew dish. This cut of meat is usually not available at your local market, but can be found in Asian markets. If you can’t find beef banana shank, beef outside flank makes a good substitute. Beef tendon is another part of the cow available at Asian markets either whole or already cut into pieces. It’s a texture ingredient that produces a great mouth feel when eaten. Uncooked, it’s tough and hard to cut, cooked long and slow, and it becomes soft. There’s really no substitute for this ingredient, so if you can’t find it, it can be omitted, but the stew won’t be the same.

Enjoy!

Beef Shank and Tendon Stew (燜牛筋牛腱, Man1 Ngau4 Gan1 Ngau4 Gin3)

Beef shank and beef tendon go together to make a classic Chinese stew. This dish is very similar to the Beef Flank and Tendon Stew (燜牛筋牛腩, Man¹ Ngau⁴ Gan¹ Ngau⁴ Naam⁵) recipe. Chee Hou sauce is an important ingredient to making this dish. Chee Hou sauce is a prepared sauce and is similar in taste to hoisin sauce (which can be substituted if you can’t find it at your local Asian market) and has a slightly spicier taste to it.

Boneless beef shank is usually prepared and served as a cold dish appetizer at Chinese banquets, in a very similar preparation as for this stew dish. This cut of meat is usually not available at your local market, but can be found in Asian markets. If you can’t find beef shank, beef outside flank makes a good substitute. Beef tendon is another part of the cow available at Asian markets either whole or already cut into pieces. It’s a texture ingredient that produces a great mouth feel when eaten. Uncooked, it’s tough and hard to cut, cooked long and slow, and it becomes soft. There’s really no substitute for this ingredient, so if you can’t find it, it can be omitted, but the stew won’t be the same.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Chinese-Style Red Wine Beef Short Ribs (燉紅酒牛肋骨, Dan6 Hung4 Zau2 Ngau4 Lak6 Gwat1)

This recipe uses beef short ribs cut that are not flanken cut, where the ribs are cut thinly across all the bones leaving the connective meat intact for dishes such as Los Angeles Style Korean Barbeque Beef Short Ribs - L.A. Galbi (L.A. 갈비), but the English cut where each individual rib is separated and then cut into pieces. Chinese stew spices - star anise, cassia bark or cinnamon sticks, ginger, garlic, and dried tangerine peel – are used together with red wine to make this dish. So you can also think of this as a red wine beef short rib stew with Chinese spices. Notice that rock sugar or dried dates, which are commonly used in Chinese stews, are not used in this dish. The natural sweetness from the red wine suffices in this recipe and any added sugar would make the dish too sweet. The ingredients are browned (except the daikon) before being placed in the slow cooker, but if you’re in a hurry, this step can be omitted.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Korean Beef Short Ribs (갈비찜, Galbijjim)

I modified the Slow Cooker Galbijjim (Korean Braised Short Ribs) recipe found at Korean Bapsang to make this dish since I had never made this before. It all started out when I found beef short ribs at my local Asian market, and since I’ve been using more Korean ingredients in my cooking, I wanted to make a dish using these ingredients. This is by no means a traditional Korean recipe, and it turns out I didn’t use any of the Korean sauce ingredients to make this dish. I did use a pear in the marinade as a tenderizer and marinated the beef for 48 hours. One thing I like about this version is that the marinade is also used to make the dish and there’s no need to brown the beef short ribs before cooking in the slow cooker. Using a slow cooker is certainly not the traditional way to make this dish, but it certainly makes it very easy. For some reason, I forgot to add the Shiitake mushrooms when I made this dish, but they are included in the recipe.

Enjoy!

Korean-Style Pork Belly and Fish Cake Stew (韓燉魚片豬腩肉, Hon4 Dan6 Jyu4 Pin3 Zyu1 Naam5 Juk6)

I made this pork belly and fish cake stew using three basic Korean ingredients: hot pepper powder (gochugaru), hot pepper paste (gochujang), and fermented soybean paste (doenjang). I am fortunate to live in an area where there is a large Koreatown, so these ingredients (and the fish cakes) are readily available at multiple Korean markets. As with all ingredients, there are multiple brands that can be purchased. My criteria for picking a particular brand of hot pepper paste and fermented soybean paste was what ingredients were used to make them. All the brands’ pastes were made in South Korea and the brand I chose is unknown since the label is mostly written in Korean. I chose this particular brand because it didn’t have any added preservatives or sugar. It was amazing to see that many brands had corn syrup high on their list of ingredients! For the hot pepper powder, it comes in both a fine and coarse grind (I used the coarse), and from my limited knowledge of this ingredient, I picked the brand on sale and in the size that wouldn’t overwhelm me (this is used to make Kimchi, so you can purchase this in 10 lb. (5 kg.) packages and larger!).

Making this dish was a nice change in tastes for me using the Korean pastes and chili powder. The spiciness is controlled by the amount of hot chili powder used in the sauce, while the pastes provide the basic flavor. The amount of hot chili powder probably does not meet the level of spiciness found in Korean dishes, so feel free to increase (or decrease) the amount.

Enjoy!

Pork and Mixed Mushroom Fish Ball Stew (燉菇魚蛋豬肉, Dan6 Gu1 Jyu4 Daan6 Zyu1 Juk6)

This is actually a very simple to make slow cooker (aka crock pot in the USA) recipe. The dried ingredients just have to be soaked before it’s assembled in the slow cooker. This is also another seafood-meat combination dish that the Chinese love to make. The fish balls are available packaged in your Asian market’s refrigerator or frozen section. Throw in some vegetables, mushrooms, and bean curd sticks, and you can have a slow cooker stew for dinner by doing the preparation work for cooking in the morning.

In the USA, what are called country-style ribs is actually pork butt (which is actually the pork shoulder) cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) wide strips. The “ribs” are available prepackaged at the supermarket either with- or without the bone. I recommend getting the boneless version to make preparation easier. You can, of course, cut your own “ribs” from the pork butt, but why bother when they’re already available pre-cut. The pork also has fat running through the meat, which should not be removed, as the fat adds to the flavor and texture of the stewed pork when cooked in the slow cooker. In fact, pork prepared in this manner without any visible fat would be very dry after cooking.

Enjoy!

Bean Sauce Pork Belly Stew (燉豆瓣豬腩肉, Dan6 Dau6 Faan6 Zyu1 Naam5 Juk6)

The easiest way to cook pork belly is to make a stew in a slow cooker (also called a crock pot in the USA). Pork belly needs a long cooking time over slow heat in order to become so tender that the pork almost melts in your mouth when eaten. Pork belly can easily be purchased at your local Asian market, and always comes with the skin attached. The pork skin is an integral part to the mouthfeel of the cooked dish and should not be removed. Excess fat, produced from the pork belly during cooking (pork belly is used to make bacon in the USA), needs to be removed when cooking is complete. Prior preparation (i.e. marinating) is not required since the dish’s flavor comes from the sauce; just cut the pork belly into pieces and put into the slow cooker.

I added Lian How brand Bean Sauce to the soy based sauce that is usually the basis for this dish. While the basis of the sauce is soy sauce, the star anise, cassia bark (cinnamon), and rock sugar (among other dry spices) add the traditional flavors to this dish. Tapioca starch is used to thicken the sauce and is added to the slow cooker at the start of cooking, so the completed dish has a thickened sauce at the end of cooking. Corn starch will not thicken the sauce due to the long cooking time. I have previously used tapioca starch as a thickener in long cooking recipes and adopted this method from America’s Test Kitchen.

Enjoy!

Carne Adovada (Red Chile Pork Stew)

This recipe was adapted from the Carne Adovada recipe at What’s Cooking America. I used the basic chili based marinade for the pork, which uses 24 rehydrated chilies. I am fortunate to live in an area where dried chilies are readily available in bulk at local Mexican markets, but dried chilies can be obtained from your local supermarket in packages. I used dried Guajillo and California chilies, since those were available, toasted them, and added canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for a little heat. The chilies are used for flavor and are not hot themselves, so don’t be alarmed at the number of dried chilies used in this dish. The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce used in this dish are together hotter than all the dried chilies. The chilies and all the other spices are used to marinade the pork for 24- or up to 48-hours (the longer the better). What I like about this recipe, is that the marinade is also the sauce and that all the work is done before the dish is cooked in a slow cooker.

 

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Beer Corned Beef

Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day, so here’s another recipe for corned beef cooked in a slow cooker. The first recipe was Slow Cooker Corned Beef in Beer with Vegetables. This version uses just beer and a shot whisky (optional) to cook the corned beef in the slow cooker together with cabbage. I like using the slow cooker because it’s easy to cook corned beef, since you start the slow cooker in the morning and have dinner ready in the evening without having to mind the cooking.

Enjoy!

Chili Paste with Fermented Soy Bean Beef Tendon (湖南豆豉辣椒牛筋, Wu4 Naam4 Dau6 Si6 Laat6 Ziu1 Ngau4 Gan1)

This recipe was updated on 16 Oct 2014. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed.

Beef tendon is usually eaten in a stew with beef outside flank, which can be found in the Beef Flank and Tendon Stew (燜牛筋牛腩, Man¹ Ngau⁴ Gan¹ Ngau⁴ Naam⁵) recipe, but beef tendon can be the star of the dish all by itself. Beef tendon is tough and requires long slow cooking, at which time it becomes soft and gelatinous, so making this dish is a two-step process. The first step is to soften the beef tendon through slow cooking, and the second step is to stir fry the beef tendon with vegetables. I use a slow cooker in the first step since I can just cook the beef tendon unattended. The beef tendon itself is nearly tasteless, so the other ingredients give the dish its flavor, with the beef tendon supplying the texture to the dish.

Enjoy!

Asian-Style Carnitas

This Asian spiced inspired slow cooker recipe has its origins from the Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas) recipe, which was adapted from the Mexican Pulled Pork recipe at America’s Test Kitchen. Their original premise was to develop a recipe that did involve lard or deep frying to produce the carnitas’ crispy outside. Their solution, after oven-braising the pork in a Dutch oven (this recipe uses the slow cooker instead), was to use the broiler after coating the pork with a reduction of the remaining liquid and fat. The method works great and I’ve modified their technique to use the barbeque grill instead of the broiler to get a smokier flavor incorporated into the pork. The resulting carnitas are soft on the inside and a crispy brown on the outside, with that distinctive smoked flavor from the grill. The condiments are also Asian inspired with spicy Sriracha sauce adding a distinctive spicy hot kick to the dish.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Corned Beef in Beer with Vegetables

This has become my favorite way to cook corned beef – using a slow cooker (crock pot) – and in beer no less! The carrots are put on the bottom of the slow cooker, then the corned beef is added, beer and water, and finally the cabbage. Do this in the morning and you’ll have a tasty dinner in the evening. The cooking liquid can be made into gravy. Serve with the Stir Fried Garlic Potatoes recipe (recipe can be found here) rather than the traditional boiled potatoes.

Enjoy!

Mexican-Style Pork Stew (Posole)

Posole is a Mexican pork stew. This recipe is not authentic, but it is tasty. The flavor comes from the dried guajillo chilies that are added to Mexican-style tomato sauce. The traditional method to preparing the chilies is to roast them in a frying pan, remove the seed and stems, and then rehydrate the chilies in hot water before adding them to the sauce. I roast the chilies in the oven, remove the seeds and stems, and then skip the rehydration step and add the chilies directly into a food processor to make the sauce. I figure the rehydration step can be done while the chilies are cooking in the sauce.

Enjoy!

Lamb Shanks with Spiced Lentils

I had some already browned on the grill, but uncooked, lamb shanks in my freezer (newly rediscovered!) and decided it was time to cook them. This dish was adapted from Braised Lamb Shank with Coriander, Fennel, and Star Anise recipe at the epicurious.com website. I used a slow cooker instead of the oven to cook the dish and made some additions to the ingredients; the most significant being lentils. This makes a nice meal for a cool Fall or Winter evening.

Enjoy!