Prep 20 mins • Cook 1¾ hours • Serves 4 to 6.
Asian Beef Casserole
Prep 20 mins • Cook 1¾ hours • Serves 4 to 6
• 2 tbsps olive oil • 1.5 kg beef casserole steak (such as chuck steak or gravy beef) 4-cm cubes • ¼ cup seasoned plain flour • 1 onion, thinly sliced • 3 carrots, cut into 2-cm slices • 4 whole star anise • 4 cm fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced • 1 stem lemongrass, pale section only, halved • 2 cups beef stock • ¼ cup (sherry) shao-hsing wine • 1 tbsp lime juice • 300 g green beans, trimmed, blanched • Rice stick noodles (bee hoon), coriander, to serve
1 Preheat oven to moderate, 180 C.
2 In a large, flameproof casserole dish, heat oil on high. Dust beef in flour. Brown in 2 batches, 4 to 5 mins each. Transfer beef to a plate.
3 In same dish, saute onions and carrots 4 to 5 mins, until onion is tender. Add star anise, ginger, and lemongrass and cook 1 min.
4 Return beef to pan with stock and shao-hsing. Bring to boil. Bake, covered, 1¼ hours, until beef is very tender.
5 Add beans to casserole and bake a further 5 mins, until tender. Serve casserole with noodles and coriander.
TIP: If you can find snake beans, use these in place of green beans, cooking 5 mins longer. Soak rice stick noodles in just-boiled water until soft. After cooking casseroles, cool completely and remove any solid fat from the top before freezing or refrigerating. Freeze in portions in airtight containers, or freezer bags for up to a month. Always thaw frozen casseroles in the fridge overnight.
