This is one of two pot roast recipes. My mother made her pot roast recipe like this every Christmas while my father made the mustard and salad to go with it. This roast beef was cut and served on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes. This recipe uses a small amount of meat but if you want to make a larger roast beef, then double the recipe.
500g chuck tender beef
4 slices of ginger
800ml of water
Wash the beef and place it in a small pot or in a wok. Add the rest of the ingredients. Heat on a medium-high flame and bring to a slow steady boil for 20 minutes. Keep turning the meat every 3 to 4 minutes. If any of the greyish scum rises to the surface, remove it with a fine sieve ladle.
After 20 minutes, remove the beef and set it aside. Strain the liquid by passing it through a sieve and reserve the stock. Discard the ginger slices.
Rinse out the pot (or wok) and return it to the stove top.
1 big onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
Spices: 1 cinnamon stick and 1 star anise
100ml light soy sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper, cracked
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
The reserved stock plus 1cup of water
In the same pot, heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and saute the onions and garlic for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and give it a good stir.
Bring it to a slow gentle simmer and add the meat back in. Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes. Stir once every 4 minutes.
Then uncover and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the meat to a dish and let it rest. Strain the stock through a sieve. Discard the onions, garlic and spices. Reserve the gravy.
Taste the gravy. If it needs more seasoning, place it in a saucepan and return it to be heated on the stove under low heat. By now the gravy should have reduced and should be slightly thicker in consistency but still able to drip off a spoon easily. Season it accordingly with more salt, sugar or ground black pepper according to your taste. If its too thick, thin it out with a little water, a few tablespoons at a time. Pour gravy into a gravy boat or in a bowl.
Vegetables to accompany roast beef can be a raw salad or boiled vegetables.
10 new potatoes (baby size potatoes)
2 carrots, cut into round chunks
1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
Boil the carrots and potatoes in water in the bottom of a steamer pot and steam the broccoli in the top of steaming rack. When vegetables are softened and cooked, Remove from the steamer. Peel the skins off the potatoes and saute in a frying pan with some butter to get some colour. You can do the same thing with the carrots too. Serve these vegetables with the roast beef and gravy.
Finally, I did sear the roasted meat a bit on all sides in a frying pan with a little oil, just to get that roasted look. It is not necessary.
My mother would reduce the gravy and add a little vinegar and balance out the taste with the sugar and she would coat the meat with the thick gravy in the wok.
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