Braised Archives • Mushroompride

Braised Short Ribs – Delishar

A couple of friends came over for a casual dinner last week, which gave me the perfect ~~excuse~~ reason to braise some short ribs. The idea came from an awesome restaurant, that the husband brought me to for our 5th year anniversary. That dinning experience was hands down my best. Every single course was amazing, although I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of the dessert round. Much too sweet for my liking. But every dish was made with such finesse. Their beef short ribs got me wanting more short ribs.

So when I invited my friends to have dinner at our place, I took that opportunity to braise some. Although the result wasn’t not the same as the one I ate at moto. But I was pleased with what came out of my Le Creuset French Oven. I love that I can move the dutch oven direct from stove top to oven. The oven did most of my cooking, while I got busy with the appetizer and dessert.

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The meat was fall off the bone tender. In fact, it was tough for me to serve with the bone in, because it slips off once I try to lift the meat up. When I lifted the lid, the aroma sent me into a happy foodie trance. Then I got a little worried about the discolouration of the pot again. However, once the warm water touches the side of my pot, my worries were immediately washed away. Spanking clean again! <3 That why Le Creuset has a reputation of products that are made to last!

Everyone at the dinner table enjoyed dinner that night, and I especially enjoyed the company. I served the short ribs on Garlic Mashed Potatoes and sautéed baby carrots, radish, and asparagus. Will I make this again? Definitely! Well, the husband wants me to, so I can’t say no to that!

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braised short ribs process

Braised Short Ribs

Sharon of Delishar

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 2 hours 45 minutes

Total Time 3 hours

12 pieces of beef short ribs
6 pieces pancetta diced
1 medium onion diced
2 carrots diced
2 stalks celery diced
1 head garlic sliced half across
1 cup red wine
3 cups beef stock
2 sprigs of Thyme
2 sprigs of Rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
Radish sprouts to garnish

Preheat oven to 175C.
Pat dry short ribs, and season generously with salt and pepper.
In your dutch oven, pan fry pancetta over medium heat until crisp and fat rendered.
Remove pancetta pieces, add olive oil, and turn heat to high.
When oil is shimmering, add short ribs, meat side down.
Allow to sear on all sides, about 45 seconds/side.
Remove ribs and set aside.
Turn heat down to medium.
Use a paper towel to remove grease, leaving a little.
Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic.
Cook for 2 minutes, then add wine to deglaze the pot.
Allow to cook for 2 minutes.
Add 1 tsp sea salt or more to taste, and black pepper.
Then return short ribs and it’s jus.
Pour in the beef stock. It should be enough to almost submerge the ribs.
Add Thyme and rosemary.
Bring to boil, cover, then transfer to preheated oven.
Cook for 2 hours and 15 minutes or until fork tender and falling off the bone.
Skim off fat off the top of the sauce and serve over ribs.

1 Braised Short Ribs

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Cantonese Braised Beef Brisket – Delishar

There are times when I really miss heritage food like this. I’m still pretty much a true blue Cantonese girl at heart, and I like the good old taste of home. Brings me back to when I was younger and living with my grandparents. My grandparents are great cooks, and I’m always looking forward to what dinner brings. My grandfather makes the best Steamed pork with salted fish, and my grandmother makes the best Sweet and sour whole fried fish.

Brisket is the cut of beef that I like best, it is also a cut that needs long hours of braising to get it tender. Although I do not particularly enjoy the fats and tendon around the brisket, it does impart a lot of flavours and adds depth to the braise. Braising also requires little active time during the cooking process. We basically let the broth, spices, and heat work it’s magic on the stove top or oven. In the meantime, work up an appetite for a very flavourful and rich meal.

I got a lot of people asking me what is Chu Hou Sauce / paste. It is made from fermented soybeans, garlic, ginger, and sesame seeds. It has a sweet and savoury profile, usually used for stewing & braising, but it can also be used for marinating or stir-fries. If you can’t find it at supermarkets, you can also use hoisin or oyster sauce.

One of the best pot to use is a heavy bottom pot with a tight fitting lid. I’m using my very versatile Le Creuset 26cm French Oven for this dish. This pot is build for making casseroles, stews, pot roasting and perfect for preparing soups and rice dishes, even for baking. The sauce was incredibly delicious with beef brisket that falls apart and melts in your mouth. My girls loved the radish, they call it the melty cubes. The radish soaks up all the goodness during the long cooking process. It was utterly tender and totally delicious. Writing this post is not doing my growling tummy any favour. So I’ll leave you with the recipe while I go cook up a storm in my kitchen. 🙂

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Cantonese Braised Beef Brisket

Delishar

1 kg beef brisket cut into 1×2 inch pieces
600 g daikon radish cut into 1 inch rounds the half it
1 large carrot cut into 1 inch rounds
5-6 slices old ginger
3 cloves garlic peeled
2 tbsp chu hou sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp rock sugar or brown sugar
2 tbsp cooking wine
1 tbsp light soy sauce or to taste
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 star anise
1-2 dried orange peels
1 bay leaf
1/2 cinnamon stick
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp sesame oil
Spring onions to garnish
Cilantro to garnish
Corn starch slurry optional

Place beef in a large mixing bowl, and blanch with hot boiling water.
Drain and set aside.
Heat up your French oven or pot, then add cooking and sesame oil.
Saute ginger and garlic until fragrant.
Add chu hou, oyster, and hoisin sauce in pot and stir fry on low for a minute.
Then add beef, carrot, radish, bay leaf, orange peel, star anise, cinnamon, and cooking wine.
Brown beef for about 3 minutes under medium heat.
Then add light, dark soy sauce, and sugar. Toss to coat.
Add 2 cups of water, and bring to boil.
Give it a stir, and lower heat to low and simmer with lid on for 2.5 hours or until beef is tender.
Stir every 30 minutes or so.
Season with salt and white pepper to taste.
Stir in corn starch slurry to thicken sauce (optional).
Remove from heat, and garnish with spring onions and cilantro.

Adapted from Yi Reservation

Braised Beef Brisket insta

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Dong Po Rou (Braised Pork Belly) – Delishar

I was at the wet market buying my weekly fresh produce. While I was at my butcher, I impulsively pointed at a slab of pork belly without really thinking about what I’m going to do with it. My first inclination was to make Siew Yok (Crispy Roast Pork Belly) but I just gave my oven a throughout scrubbing down just a day again, and I’m not planning to work those arm muscles the same way any time soon.

So the piece of pork belly was spared that day, but not for long! The next day, I tried my luck and invited my mum over for dinner. So happen, that social butterfly mother of mine was free for dinner! Without a thought, I knew I had to make dong po rou as I knew that my mummy will really enjoy it. I started preparing after I hung up the phone with her as the braising process is going to take hours to yield a melt in the mouth tender pork belly.

I’m so glad I made this for her that evening! If you know my mum, she is very typical Chinese, to get any kind of verbal affirmation or praise from her is almost like trying to teach pigs to fly. My husband can attest to that. So when I nervously served my dong po rou to her, she exclaimed “Wahhh!”. I silently affirmed myself, “Wah is good! Wah means good!”. Mind you, I’m confident when it comes to food and cooking, but satisfying my mummy’s tastebuds are not an easy feat.

Mummy didn’t utter a word during dinner, so after dinner I boldly asked her for her feedback. She sternly looked at me and said, “Mmm, got standard (Very good in singlish), good! But can’t cook even longer.” With my mum, there’s always room for improvement. I was beaming, super rare praises from mummy! Woooo Hoooo! So to conclude this dish in three words, “Wah! Got standard!”

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Dong Po Rou (Braised Pork Belly)

Delishar

Serves 2-3 as a main with rice

600 g pork belly
2 bunches of spring onions/ scallions cut into 2 inch pieces
6 slices of old ginger
1/4 cup shaoxing wine
3-4 tbsp light soy sauce or to taste
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
50 g rock sugar or to taste chopped up
1 cup hot water or enough to cover all sides of pork belly
Sliced spring onion to garnish

Wash and clean pork belly, then blanch in boiling hot water for 1 minute.
Drain and cut into 2×2 inch squares.
Line your clay pot / stock pot / sauce pan (use one with tall sides that’ll nicely fit your pork belly, do not use a wide or large pan.) with spring onions, then layer the ginger slices on top.
Place pork belly skin side down on ginger, and pour shao xing wine, light soy sauce, and dark soy sauce over.
Top with rock sugar, then pour water into the pot.
There is no need to stir.
Cover and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Once boiling, lower heat to low, and simmer for 90 minutes.
After 90 minutes, carefully flip pork over and simmer for another 90 minutes, basting the skin occasionally.
Add some water if the liquid is evaporating too quickly.
Adjust seasoning to taste add more sugar or more soy sauce.
Sieve out grease before serving sauce over pork belly.
Garnish with spring onions.

Use a pot that will fit the pork snugly with a tight fitting lid on the lowest heat to avoid liquid evaporating too quickly. You can always reduce sauce after removing pork when done. The pork belly is tender and may fall apart when removing from pot. Be gentle. Or you can secure pork belly with kitchen twine to keep meat in place when braising and plating.
Adapted from The Wok of Life

Dong Po Rou 1

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Soy Braised Beancurd Pot – Delishar

Whenever the husband goes out to town, I go a little soy-crazy. I love my soy products. Silky tofu, firm tofu, egg tofu, tau pok, tau kee, tau huay, soy milk… you name it, I love it. Unfortunately, the husband isn’t a big fan of soy products. Maybe I should be more specific, the husband does not like soy products at all. *insert sad face here*

So I rarely make any kind of soy beancurd dishes at home, unless of course when he travels for work, or when I cook for myself and the girls sometimes. I made this dish when the husband was away for his yearly international learning trip. This time to Vietnam. While he was enjoying his hot bowl of pho, I was busy loving me some soy.

Honestly, I could have thrown in some tau pok to the mix if I wanted to have an overkill on the soy braise pot. However, I was trying to keep the calories low, so I opted out of the fried tau pok. That night when I made this amazing braised beancurd pot, oh that night I tell you, I was propelled to food heaven every time I take a mouthful of this deliciousness. If you are a bean-curd lover like I am, I’m sure you’ll love this dish as well.

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Soy Braised Beancurd Pot

Delishar

2 firm tofu tau kwa, cut into cubes
4 pieces of dried beancurd skin tau kee
6 dried shitake mushrooms
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 tsp chinese 5 spice powder
3 slices of galangal
3 slices ginger
3 cloves garlic smashed
1 lemongrass bruised and cut into 2 inch pieces
1 shallot sliced thinly
1 tbsp shao xing wine
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp kicap manis
3 tbsp light soy sauce
1-2 tsp brown sugar or to taste
4 hard boiled eggs shell removed
500 ml hot water more if you like more gravy
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 tbsp sesame oil
Chopped spring onions to garnish

Rehydrate mushrooms in the 500ml hot water.
Reserve mushroom water for cooking later.
Soak beancurd skin in warm water until softened. Drain and cut into smaller pieces.
Heat pot with oil on medium high heat.
Saute garlic, lemongrass, ginger, galangal, shallot, cinnamon, and star anise until fragrant.
Pour water into pot, and add seasoning (dark soy, light soy, kicap manis, sugar, shao xing wine, 5 spice powder, and oyster sauce).
Mix to combine and bring to boil.
Add beancurd skin, tau kwa, mushrooms, and eggs.
Bring back to a boil, and allow to simmer on low heat until sauce is reduced, and ingredients takes on a brownish hue, about 20-30 minutes.
Give it a stir every now and then.
Season with salt and white pepper if needed.
Adjust seasoning to taste with more soy, salt, pepper, and/or sugar.
Garnish with chopped spring onions and serve with steamed white rice.

Soy braised beancurds 1

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Braised Pineapple Pork Ribs – Delishar

As I was browsing the internet for recipes and inspiration to cook my rack of ribs, this Filipino recipe caught my eye. Perhaps it was because it is something different, unlike the usual oven roasted ribs or soup. Or maybe because it was the pineapples used in the recipe that intrigued me. Nonetheless, I knew I had to give it a go, in order to know what the recipe is like.

Knowing that the recipe calls for pineapples and pineapple juice, I know the sauce is going to reduce into a glaze like consistency. I can expect sweetness and tangy-ness from the pineapples, the acid in the juice and the time used to braise the meat ensures that the ribs are going to be fall off the bone tender and succulent. The starch in the potatoes helped to thicken the sauce a little more, and at the same time soak up all the goodness in the gravy. This dish itself is substantial enough on it’s own when served over steamed rice.

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Braised Pineapple Pork Ribs

Delishar

1 kg baby back ribs membrane removed and cut into individual ribs
1 potato peeled and cubed
1 small yellow onion cut into wedges
4 cloves garlic lightly smashed
1 inch thumb ginger grated
1 cup pineapple juice
2-3 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup cubed pineapples
2 cups low sodium chicken stock
1/2 tsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil
Water as needed
Chopped spring onions to garnish

Heat pan over medium high heat and add oil.
Cook potatoes until golden, then remove from pan, and set aside.
In the same pan, saute onion and garlic until soft and fragrant.
Add ribs to pan and lightly brown ribs.
Pour in ginger, pineapple juice, soy sauce, pineapple cubes, brown sugar, and chicken stock.
Stir to combine, and bring to boil.
Lower heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender, adding some water if needed.
In the last 15 minutes of cooking, add in cubed potatoes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
When done, remove from heat and garnish with chopped spring onions.

Pineapple Braised Ribs

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Soy Braised Chicken & Potatoes – Delishar

This was one of the first few dishes that I learned how to make when I was living in Australia. It’s always so comforting to enjoy this with a steaming bowl of white rice on a winter night. I love to douse my rice with the braising sauce, slowly savour the tender chicken, and enjoy the melt in the mouth braised potatoes. It just warms me inside out.

You can make it even simpler by omitting star anise and cinnamon stick. I like to use it because it adds more depth to the dish, and gives it a very warm flavour. My girls, who aren’t too adventurous when it comes to trying new dishes, loved it. All I needed to tell them was to at least try a small bite, and they needed no additional convincing to finish their meal. They even asked for more sauce to go over their rice! I think they got it from their mama! LOL!

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Soy Braised Chicken & Potatoes

Delishar

Serves 4

Chicken Marinade

10 chicken mid wings
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1-2 tbsp light soy sauce to taste
1/4 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder
1/2 tsp brown sugar

Sauce

1 cup water
1 tsp sugar white or brown is fine
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
white pepper to taste

To cook

1 large potato halved lengthwise & cut into 1 inch pieces
3 cloves garlic lightly smashed
1 inch thumb ginger sliced into 5 pieces
2 tsp sesame oil

Marinate chicken mid wings in all the marinade ingredients for at least 15 minutes.
Heat a large saucepan or pot on medium high heat.
Saute garlic and ginger until it starts to brown.
Then add chicken only, reserving the marinade.
Brown chicken, and add cinnamon stick, star anise, reserved marinade, potatoes and water.
Bring to a boil, add sugar, reduce heat to a simmer.
Cook for 20-25 minutes. Until potatoes and chicken is tender, and liquid reduced.
Season to taste with more soy sauce if needed.
Remove from heat and serve.

Soy Braised Chicken

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Braised Chicken in Oyster Sauce – Delishar

Any food with the word ‘braise’ in it, automatically triggers salivation for me. It is a healthy slow cooking method that produce healthy, yet flavour-some food that is tender and falls apart in your mouth. The protein will soak up all the amazing flavours in the pot while it slowly simmers on a low and slow heat. The sauce of any braised dish is often so rich and umami-packed. My goodness, just typing this is making my tummy go cray-cray!

This dish was a hit with the family. The husband could not stop eating it. Even after he was done with his food, his fork make its way to another chicken, piece after piece until the last one was gone. My elder daughter who is not a big meat eater, asked me for more chicken and sauce over her rice. My youngest claimed this to be her newest favourite chicken dish. And she wanted me to make it again the next day, and for the rest of her life. Lol!

Cooking has never failed to amaze me each time. It’s like a gamble with the family because it is something new that they have never tried. But I’m grateful that they are so adventurous and willing to try out any food I put on the table.

Talking about new dishes and recipes, I wanted to share with you that my cookbook is ready! I picked up my copy from my editor and I absolutely love it! There are 45 recipes in this book, 40 of which will only be exclusive to the book. In the book, I wrote sections on kitchen tips and tricks, as well as food planning strategies to minimise food wastage and be more efficient in your meal preparations. Here’s a sneak peek of ‘Daily Cooking with Delishar’.

The book is still at the warehouse, pending delivery to major bookstores. It should be on the shelves and for sale at $32 sometime late February. However, you can also pre-order it from me at a special price of $28 incl of GST. You can choose to self collect from me at woodlands or have it mailed using smartpac +$3.80. Pre-order will end 5th Feb. If you are interested, please email me at [email protected]. Those who live out of SG, the book is available on Amazon as well. 🙂

Update: Cookbook is on sale at all major bookstore. I have a couple to spare at a special price of $28. If you are interested, email me at [email protected]

Braised Chicken in Oyster Sauce

Delishar

Chicken Marinade

4 chicken legs chopped
1 tbsp shao xing wine
2 tsp light soy sauce
dash of white pepper

Ingredients

4 fresh shiitake mushrooms sliced into 4
3 cloves garlic peeled & lightly smashed
1 inch thumb old ginger sliced
3 stalks spring onions cut white part into 2 inch length (reserve some for garnish)
2 tbsp sesame oil
Corn starch slurry

Sauce

2 cups water
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
2.5 tsp sugar
salt adjust to taste

Marinate chicken with all the ingredients listed under ‘chicken marinade’ for 30 minutes.
Heat sesame oil in wok or pot over medium high heat.
Stir-fry garlic, ginger, and spring onion until fragrant.
Add chicken to brown both sides.
Add mushrooms to cook for 30 seconds.
Pour in all the ingredients for sauce, and give it a stir.
Bring to boil, cover, and reduce heat to low.
Allow to simmer for 35-45 minutes until chicken is tender and sauce reduced.
Drizzle in cornstarch slurry while stirring to thicken sauce.
Serve garnished with chopped spring onions.