Taiwanese Style Beef Stew

Adding some dark soy sauce will make it look more like it, but I prefer it this way.

Taiwanese makes some of my favorite food- actually, there is no cuisine that I don't really like. Anyway, the Taiwanese beef stew is one of their popular dishes. It is usually soupy and served with noodles. I have read and tried so many different versions of recipes for this dish and have been twisting the recipes to make it easier and more fit to the taste for my family.

I can't remember if this particular recipe yields the best flavor,, and this is for sure not the traditional version, but it's definitely the easiest, or should I say, the laziest one. When I say the laziest one, I don't mean this dish is quick. All stews take time to cook and taste better the next day. So I usually make this stew during the weekend and serve it during the week for a quick dinner. Sometimes I even cook this dish over two days, as I like to solidify the fat in the fridge for ease of removal. You will see what I mean after you finish reading my recipe.

So here is the Taiwanese Style Beef Stew from my kitchen.

Ingredients
1.5 lb. of boneless beef ribs, cut into 2 inch cubes
3 small carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 big tomato, diced
3 springs of green onions, cut into 2 inch sections
3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 slices of fresh ginger
1 star anise
a small piece of cinnamon
1/2 cup of Shao Xing cooking wine
8 cups of hot boiling water

1 tbs. of ketchup  soy sauce
sesame oil

How

1. Add some oil into a pot and fry the sliced shallots on low heat for 3 minutes. Stir constantly to avoid burning.
2. Push the fried shallots to one side of the pot. Add a dash of oil to the other side of the pot, fry the star anise and cinnamon on low heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. 
   
3. In order, add into the pan the hot boiling water, ginger, green onion, Shao Xing cooking wine. Stir well. 
   
4. When the mixture boils up again, add in the beef ribs and carrot and mix well. Bring it to a boil and simmer on low heat with lid on for 1/2 hour. Mix occasionally.
   
5. After 1/2 hour, turn off the heat but do not open the lid. Remove the pot from the heat and let it sit with the lid on for at least 1/2 hour.
6. Carefully drain all the liquid out of the stew. Let the liquid cool down a bit then place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, until the fat is solidified on the top of the liquid. Discard the solidified fat and pour the liquid back to the stew.
   
7. Bring the stew to a boil and add tomato. Bring it to a boil again and simmer on low heat with lid on for 1/2 hour. Turn off the heat and do not open the lid. Let it sit for another 1/2 hr.
8. Skim off as much fat as possible and bring the stew to a boil again. Add ketchup, then soy sauce to taste, about 1 tbs. Add a dash of sesame oil.
   
9. To serve with noodles, cook the noodles in accordance with the instructions on the package. Pour hot stew along with the liquid over the noodles and sprinkle chopped green onion on top. Serve hot.