Vietnamese Beef Stew

PREP TIME

10 minutes

COOK TIME

90 minutes

SERVES

4-6 people

Ingredients

700g gravy/stewing beef. 4cm cubes
3 tbsp tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, chopped
large thumb ginger, thinly sliced
2 stems lemongrass, bruised and cut into 3cm pieces
2 tsp The Spice People’s Chinese Five Spice Powder
2 The Spice People’s Whole Star Anise
2 The Spice People’s Bay Leaves
1 stick The Spice People’s Cinnamon Sticks
1 litre beef or chicken stock
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
3-4 large carrots
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup coriander leaves, to serve
1 cup bean shoots, to serve
crusty bahn mi-style baguette, to serve

The love this recipe

This Vietnamese Beef Stew is cleansing, delicious and super simple to make. On this episode of My Market Kitchen Liz teaches us all about choosing spices to help aid in digestion and give your digestive system the reboot it needs after a long week!

The Clove and Sichuan Pepper in the Chinese Five Spice Powder breaks down the protein in the beef helping your body to digest and process it better whilst the Star Anise has a cleansing effect on your system and adds a subtle sweetness to the stew. This fragrant slow cook has all the classic flavours of an Asian-style dish: sweet, salty, heat and acidity and shows you there are so many more beneficial properties to spices than just flavour enhancing. Give your system the boost it needs with this wholesome, purifying, spicy stew.

Directions

Heat a large casserole pot over high heat and add a good drizzle of olive oil before adding the beef and browning off. You may have to do this in batches.
Once the meat is browned off add the tomato paste and chopped garlic and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients to the pot except for the carrots. Bring the pot to the boil and reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and place the lid on the pot. Cook for 70 minutes or until the beef is meltingly tender.
Meanwhile peel and cut your carrots into large chunks. Once the meat is tender add these to the pot. Cook for another 20 minutes, and when the carrots are cooked through and just tender serve the stew.

Garnish with coriander, bean shoots, and crusty white baguettes.