About a year ago, a friend recommended that we go to No. 1 Beef Noodle House in Burnaby. Our friend highly recommended that we try the Five Spice Beef in Green Onion Pancake: thin slices of braised beef stewed for several hours with hoisin sauce and sliced green onion wrapped in a Green Onion Pancake. Ever since that first visit, this appetizer has become a regular whenever we frequent the restaurant. Another favorite of mine at No. 1 Beef Noodle house is their Spicy Beef Brisket in Noodle Soup.
Yesterday, I contemplated what I was going to do with the eye of round roast I had purchased over the weekend. Somehow, the memory of my grandmother making this braised beef stewed for hours on end come up in my mind. I also wanted to recreate the appetizer that I regularly request at No. 1 Beef Noodle House and see if I can do better.
The result? The braised beef tastes exactly like I remembered how my grandmother used to make it. I cheated and used store-bought Chinese Green Onion Pancakes (made in Taiwan). It was a good call as the green onion pancake was nice and fluffy; multilayered and well seasoned with green onions.
I modified the recipe from Taste Hong Kong and made a triple batch. Click on the link to get the original recipe.
To make the braised beef:
- 500g beef
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp cooking wine
- 1 tsp ground white pepper
- 30g brown sugar (about 2 tbsp)
- 2 sprigs spring onion (cut into ~5 cm long)
- 6 slices ginger
- Star anise (1 star anise per 500 g should be sufficient)*
- Salt to season
Method
1) Rinse shank and vertically cut it into 2 portions of similar diameter (~6-8cm), just to ensure that it will be stewed evenly.2) Add spring onion and 3 slices of ginger into 3 cups of water and bring it to boil. Scald shank in it for ~2 minutes (scalding with the ginger and sping onion will help remove the raw smell of beef). Drain water and set shank aside.
3) Mix all remaining ingredients with 2 cups of water in a pot and bring all of them to boil. Then, transfer the scalded beef into pot, and cover. Stew it over low heat for ~1 hour; or until there is only 1/3 to 1/2 cup of sauce left.
4) Dish up shank after cool and chill it with the sauce in fridge overnight.
The resulting sauce has a soup consistency and reminded me of the soup base in No. 1 Beef Noodle House's spicy beef brisket soup. The sauce had a mellow richness that only stewing for many hours can achieve.
* Star Anise is an Asian spice that has a slight licorice flavor.
To make Beef in Green Onion Pancake
1) Pan-fry green onion pancake according to package directions. I used "Chi Mei Fluffy Green Onion Pancake Waffles" purchased from my local asian grocery store (T&T Supermarket).
2) Plate green onion pancake and drizzle with hoisin sauce (about 1-2 tbsp) per 6" green onion pancake, layer with thin slices of braised beef and add sprigs of green onion on top. (I also added Siracha hot sauce to give it some spiciness when I added my hoisin sauce).
3) Fold in half and cut down the middle. Use toothpicks to secure.
Bon Appetit!
