Source video by MulYeung Cooking on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.
This Cantonese braised beef brisket is a comforting family recipe built on an overnight marinade and a deeply spiced braising liquid. The brisket is seared in aromatic ginger and garlic oil to lock in flavour, then slow cooked low and slow with Chu Hou paste, soy, rock sugar and warm spices. Serve it on its own, with rice, or stirred through noodles for a quick upgrade to a weeknight dinner. The original recipe braises on the hob for 40 minutes to 1 hour, then rests overnight to tenderise further; the slow cooker delivers the same effect in one stretch.
Slow cooker notes: Source recipe braises on the hob then rests overnight. For the slow cooker: brown the brisket and aromatics in a wok or pan as in the video, then transfer to the slow cooker with the braising ingredients. Boiling water reduced to 400 ml because slow cookers retain liquid (original called for 500-600 ml on the hob). After cooking, the lid-off reduction step on the hob is retained to thicken the sauce. The overnight rest is optional in the slow cooker since the long low-temperature cook already tenderises the brisket.
Ingredients
- 1 kgbeef brisket, washed, patted dry, cut into pieces slightly bigger than bite-sized
- 1 tbsplight soy sauce
- 1 tbspChinese cooking wine
- 1.5 tspsugar
- 0.5 tspsalt
- 20 gginger, sliced
- 20 ggarlic, topped, tailed and crushed
- 30 gChu Hou paste
- 35 grock sugar
- 25 glight soy sauce
- 35 gChinese cooking wine
- 0.5 tbspoyster sauce
- dark soy sauce, a few drops, for colour
- 400 mlboiling water
- 2 wholestar anise
- 10 wholecloves
- 0.25 tspground cinnamon
- 0.25 tspground cumin
- spring onions, sliced (add late)
Method
Wash the brisket twice and pat dry with kitchen paper. Slice into long strips about two fingers wide, then cut into pieces a little bigger than bite-sized.
~10 minIn a large bowl combine the brisket with 1 tbsp light soy, 1 tbsp cooking wine, 1.5 tsp sugar and 0.5 tsp salt. Mix until the sugar and salt dissolve, press the meat down, cover and refrigerate overnight.
~5 minTake the brisket out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking to take the chill off. Slice the ginger, crush the garlic, and place the cloves and star anise in a spice bag or piece of muslin.
~30 minHeat a generous layer of oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat. When steaming hot, add the ginger and garlic, drop the heat to low, and cook gently until golden. Lift them out and set aside.
~4 minTurn the heat back to high and sear the brisket pieces in batches so each piece touches the pan. Brown well on all sides; this is the key flavour step, do not skip it.
~10 minStir the Chu Hou paste through the brisket, then pour the cooking wine down the sides of the pan and toss. Add the light soy sauce the same way and toss again. Return the cooked ginger and garlic to the pan.
~3 minTip the brisket and pan juices into the slow cooker. Add the spice bag of cloves and star anise, the ground cinnamon, ground cumin, oyster sauce, rock sugar, the optional few drops of dark soy, and 400 ml boiling water. Stir gently and press the meat down so as much as possible is submerged.
~5 minCover and cook on Low for 7 hours or High for 4 hours, until the brisket is fork tender. Stir once halfway through if you can.
~420 minLift out and discard the spice bag. If the sauce is too thin, transfer it to a wide pan and reduce on the hob over high heat until glossy and thickened to your liking, then return the brisket.
~10 minSpoon into bowls and scatter with sliced spring onions to serve.
~2 min