A home-style dish with a mild flavour and rich texture that’s popular in Beijing and other regions of China. Serve with hot cooked rice and shaobing (Chinese sesame flatbread).
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Braised Beef Shank with Tendon and Tripe
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours 40 minutes
- Total Time: 7 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: Serves 6 1x
Ingredients
2½ lb (1.3 kg) Beef Centre Cut Shank,1½-inch (4 cm) thick pieces
2 Beef Flexor Tendons, 1 to 1½ lb (500 to 750 g TOTAL)
1 lb (500 g) Beef Honeycomb Tripe
½ cup (125 mL) thinly sliced gingerroot
4 star anise
Half stick cinnamon
1 tbsp (15 mL) EACH fennel seeds and whole Sichuan peppercorns
2 whole dried chili peppers (er jin tiao chili), stemmed
1 piece dried tangerine peel (chenpi)
4 large green onions, Welsh onions or small leeks (see Tip*), trimmed
6 tbsp (90 mL) light soy sauce
2 tbsp (30 mL) dark soy sauce
½ cup (125 mL) Shaoxing wine
¼ cup (60 mL) granulated sugar
Salt (optional)
To Serve (optional)
Green onions, thinly sliced
Chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Score around the perimeter of each shank 5 or 6 times with a sharp knife, just barely cutting into the meat (this prevents the meat from curling). Place the beef shank, tendon and tripe in a large pot and add water to cover by at least 3 inches (8 cm). Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat and boil for 5 minutes, skimming off any scum that rises to the top. Drain and rinse the meats well under cold, running water.
- Trim the shank meat from the bone and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) pieces. Place bones and meat in a bowl, cover and refrigerate. Clean the pot; return tripe and tendon to the pot.
- Enclose gingerroot, star anise, cinnamon, fennel seeds, Sichuan peppercorns, chili peppers and tangerine peel in a cheesecloth bundle, a tea filter bag or spice infuser. Add to the pot along with the large green onions, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and wine. Add enough water to cover the tripe and tendon. Bring to a boil over high heat and skim off any scum that rises to the top.
- Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for 1½ hours, maintaining the water level by adding more as needed and skimming occasionally, until tripe is tender. Transfer tripe to a bowl with tongs and set aside to cool, then cover and refrigerate.
- Continue simmering tendon for 1 hour. Add the beef shank meat and bones and simmer, partially covered, maintaining the water level and skimming occasionally, for about 2½ hours, or until tendon is tender. If tendon is not tender, remove the shank meat with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl; cover and refrigerate. Continue to simmer the tendon until tender, checking every 30 minutes.
- Cut the tendon in half lengthwise. Cut each half lengthwise into ¼-inch (0.5 cm) strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 2-inch (5 cm) pieces. Cut the cooled tripe into 2- x ¼-inch (5 x 0.5 cm) pieces. Return the tendon and tripe to the pot. Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and boil for 30 to 40 minutes, until liquid is thickened until slightly syrupy (see Tip).
- Remove the spice bundle and bones; discard. Skim the fat from the surface, if desired. Taste and season with salt, if necessary. Serve garnished with green onions and/or cilantro, as desired.
Notes
Tip* For the braise, the “large green onions”, also called large scallions, look similar to a regular green onion or a small leek but are thicker and have a larger portion of white to green; Welsh onions are also called bunching onions or Japanese onions and have hollow leaves and a small white portion. Both are available at Asian grocery stores; small leeks can be used for the braise, as well. For the garnish, use regular green onions.
At the end of simmering in step 6, the meat should be peeking just above the surface of the thickened liquid and the sauce should have a sweet and salty flavour. You may need to simmer for a shorter or longer time depending on your stove, size of the pot and the amount of liquid added throughout the cooking process.
