Table of Contents
- A fragrant beef gochujang stew that is slow-cooked to perfection, resulting in a rich, juicy meat sauce with a spicy kick.
- Beef Shanks with bone marrow
- Browning meat before adding it to the stew
- Spices
- Juicy, tender meat with a sauce infused with bone marrow
- How to Eat Beef Gochujang Stew
- Recipe: Beef Gochujang Stew
A fragrant beef gochujang stew that is slow-cooked to perfection, resulting in a rich, juicy meat sauce with a spicy kick.
Bone-in beef shanks are naturally tough, dry, and sinewy and require hours of slow-cooking to reduce the flesh to soft juicy moist meat, but it’s very much worth the effort. The marrow in the bone that holds the meat together is an added bonus. After a while, the marrow melts deliciously into the sauce, enhancing it with a rich, meaty, buttery, beefy flavour.
Spices such as Sichuan pepper, coriander, ginger and Korean gochujang chilli paste create a wonderful multi-layered base that produces a warm, comforting taste.
Beef Shanks with bone marrow
You will see the meat fall off the bone effortlessly after many hours of slow cooking. When raw, the marrow looks almost like part of the bone. It is hidden in the middle. Once it’s cooked, it becomes soft and rich. It melts away easily and tastes like a kind of beef butter. It’s a wonderful additions and makes the stew rich and luxurious.
Browning meat before adding it to the stew
Beef should always be salted and browned on a high heat before adding to a stew. Browning helps develop depth of flavor through the Maillard reaction where proteins and carbohydrates react together to create more complex flavour compounds and release juices.
Browning should only take a few minutes. Fry in hot oil on each side, taking care not to overcook the meat. The purpose of browning is to caramelise the meat and add flavour. The inside should remain raw to allow it to soften while being slow cooked.
Spices
Gochujang is a Korean fermented red chilli pepper paste. It is spicy, savoury, slightly sweet and salty. It adds a deep, robust flavour. It goes well with beef and potatoes.
Sichuan peppercorns are an essential ingredient in Chinese Sichuan cuisine. They are known for their unique mouth-numbing quality. They have a floral taste and add a lovely heat to cut through the savoury sweetness of the gochujang paste.
Star anise is the flavour base for this stew. It has a liquorice-like aroma. Along with Sichuan peppercorns, it is one of the most important spices in the Chinese 5-spice mix, and it also works well with coriander seeds.
Juicy, tender meat with a sauce infused with bone marrow
Use two forks to shred the soft meat into smaller pieces. The bones should now be free of marrow and the soft marrow dissolved into the sauce.
How to Eat Beef Gochujang Stew
Serve with rice or noodles and garnish with lime slices. The final touch of freshness and bright green flavour is provided by the spring onion and coriander garnish. Enjoy this hearty stew on a cold evening or Sunday afternoon with a fresh cold beer.
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Recipe: Beef Gochujang Stew
Beef Gochujang Stew
Ingredients
- 1.2 kilos beef shank
- 1 onion chopped fine
- 1 celery chopped fine
- 1 carrot grated with a box grater
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 potato peeled and grated with a box grater
- Large knob ginger
- 1 tbsp apple vinegar
- 4 star anise
- 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns ground down
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes
- 2 tbsp gochujang paste
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp soy
- 3 cups beef stock
- Rice for serving
- Sesame seeds for garnish optional
Garnish
- 2 spring onions
- Small bunch coriander
- 1 tbsp lime juice
Instructions
- Using a frying pan with no oil, quickly dry roast star anise, sichuan peppercorns, and coriander seeds until fragrant, approx 1 minute. Remove and grind down to a powder. Set aside.
- Season beef with salt. Heat some vegetable oil in a large stewing pot. Add beef shanks to the hot pot and brown all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove browned shanks and set aside.
- Using the same pot, fry onion, celery, carrot, and garlic until soft (season with a little salt during frying).
- Add another splash of oil to the pan along with the spice mix and chilli flakes. Cook a few minutes until fragrant, stirring around so spices don't stick or burn.
- Next, add gochujang paste. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add stock, honey, soy, apple cider vinegar and grated potato to the pot, and combine well. Now place the beef shanks into the sauce, bring to a boil, place a lid on top, and simmer for 3 hours.
- Cook rice or noodles, according to packet instructions.
- Coriander garnish: Combine spring onions, coriander, lime in a small bowl.
- The meat should have fallen off the bone by now. To divide into small pieces use two forks to shred. Make sure all the bone marrow has melted away from inside the bones and into the sauce. If not use a knife to remove it and stir through. Discard bones.
- Serve Beef stew on top of rice or mix into noodles. Squeeze over lime and garnish with coriander and spring onion. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if you have them.