Braised beef brisket with daikon and hawthorn
Beef brisket braised with chu hou paste, star anise and dried hawthorn until meltingly tender, with chunky daikon soaking up the sauce.
- 2 hr 30 min
- Serves 4
- Braise
- Medium
Why it suits you: Blood-stasis types find circulation sluggish in winter, with cold hands and feet or period pain. Hawthorn moves blood and also helps tenderise the brisket, while daikon moves qi and soaks up the sauce — a warming solstice braise that keeps qi and blood flowing.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 130 min- 1Cut the brisket into large chunks, put in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse.
- 2Rinse the hawthorn; soak the tangerine peel and scrape off the pith; peel the daikon and cut it into large chunks.
- 3Fry the ginger and star anise in the oil until fragrant, add the brisket and chu hou paste and stir-fry, then splash in the Shaoxing wine.
- 4Transfer to a pot with the water, hawthorn, tangerine peel, oyster sauce and rock sugar. Bring to the boil, then braise on low heat for 1½ hours.
- 5Add the daikon and braise for 30 more minutes until tender, then uncover and reduce the sauce.
Cautions
- Halve or skip the hawthorn if pregnant or prone to acid reflux.
Chef's tips
- It tastes even better reheated the next day; a pressure cooker gets the brisket tender in 30 minutes.
The TCM view
Beef is sweet and neutral, supporting the spleen and stomach and building qi and blood; hawthorn is sour, sweet and slightly warm, moving blood and aiding digestion; daikon is pungent, sweet and cool, sending qi downward; tangerine peel moves qi; star anise warms the middle. Warming and freeing, it suits blood-stasis types in winter.
