How to make the Best Cantonese Beef Brisket with Radish (Chu Hou Braised Beef Belly)

Today we're making a Cantonese classic, 牛腩燜蘿蔔 that is braised beef brisket with radish. We're gonna start with the beef brisket. Normally I would like to cut all the vegetables and all that stuff first before I touch the meat, but because we have to blanch the meat for 20 minutes first, so I'll use that 20 minutes to prepare everything else. Very simple, just cut them into about one and a half inches. Don't cut them too small because you don't want them to shrink. Well, they will shrink, but you don't want such small pieces of meat in your stew. I don't even know what the real term is, because in Chinese, 燜 there's no direct translation, so Google search says stew, but I don't think it's a stew, but I guess because it's not really like soupy, so I would call it braised. So this section is the beef belly. You have a lot of good fat that would render out nicely in the stew. Blanch your beef to clean it. Add enough cold water just to cover the meat. Bring it to a boil, then blanch for 20 minutes. During that time, take a fine mesh strainer and skim all the scum off. When it's done, drain the meat and empty your wok. So the star of this dish is actually the radish. Well, the beef tastes good too, but this radish will absorb all the delicious flavors. Even if you don't like radish, which Kevin actually doesn't like radish, he still enjoyed it. So this is how you pick a good radish. So first of all, you want a radish that is relatively heavy for its size. At the supermarket, I'll grab two of the same size radish and I'll compare them and see which one feels heavier. Then you want to see the skin. If it's kind of glossy, so this means that it still has some moisture in there so it's not too old. Keep all these goodies for my compost. Spring again, so I'm gardening again. You can check out my gardening adventures on my Instagram. Cut off the end. So this one, we want to cut it with the rolling knife technique. My technique is not the best, but this is actually very easy. One cut on the diagonal. You don't want the radish pieces to be too small, otherwise it will disintegrate. Roll a quarter turn and then another cut on the bias. Those are massive pieces. That's it. So put that aside and we'll actually use it a little later. Now we're going to work on the scallions. Just going to cut the ends off. Last time I made it, the scallions were kind of all over the place and it was kind of ugly. So for beauty's sake, we're going to tie it, but you don't need to do that. So if you're not going to tie it, all you need to do is chop it up. Slice your ginger and crush your garlic. Things just like to fly right into your eyes. It's like all the other places you can fly to, but it goes to your eyes. Now let's deal with the spices. Get yourself one of these spice bags because you want the best eating experience. You don't want to have to pick it out and bite into one of these guys. Let's start with the cinnamon. We have some star anise, fennel seeds, dried orange peel, cardamom, some white peppercorns and some bay leaves. Close it up. Let's talk a little bit about the sauce that we're going to use. For a lot of Cantonese braises, especially braised beef brisket, we use this sauce called Chu Hou Zhang. So what is Chu Hou Zhang? Well, it's invented by a chef named Liang Chu Hou. Well, that's why it's called Chu Hou Zhang. And he is from Guangdong, Foshan. So he is famous for his beef briskets, his braised beef briskets. This is basically fermented soybeans, sugar, salt, soy sauce and sesame. Very simple ingredients, but it adds a lot of flavor in any braises. And then we have red fermented tofu. We've used this for our Cha Siu. A lot of the Cantonese barbecues use this flavoring. And then we have our rock sugar. So the rock sugar adds a hint of sweetness, but it also tenderizes the meat. This is very, very important. Heat up your wok with some oil and brown your beef. It would give it a nice color and flavor afterwards. Make sure to get all the sides. Set the beef aside. If you have too much oil left in your wok, empty some. Stir fry the ginger on low heat till it's fragrant. We cut our ginger into big pieces because we can pick it out later. Actually, when you slowly stir fry the ginger, it removes a lot of the sharpness and only the aroma is left. Add in your scallions and garlic. Stir fry again until fragrant. Why is everything so fragrant? Well, it's hard to say. Everyone's stoves are different. Ingredients are different. Actually, in many Chinese recipes, they don't give you measurements or timings at all. It's like you should just know. Anyway, that's why we're here. Oh, the scallions got untied and it basically disintegrated later anyways. Add in your shuhou sauce. Mush up your red fermented tofu and add that in as well. And stir fry till it's fragrant. Again? It's important that we cook the sauce through so the flavor comes out. Once it's all bubbly, splash in your Shaoxing wine. Add your beef back in. Mix it well and add in your rock sugar. Stir, stir, stir, stir, stir. Add enough water to just cover the meat. Bring it to a boil. Then add in your soy sauce and oyster sauce. Oh, don't forget your spice bag. Turn the heat down to medium low. Oh, so dirty. Close the lid and cook for one hour. Mmm, smells good. Add in your radish. Okay, maybe my radish pieces are a little big. Cover and cook for another 20 minutes. Now here is the secret to delicious braised beef and radish. Turn off the heat and let it sit. The flavors would absorb now. Actually, for even better taste, you can just leave it there overnight. But we're in a hurry to eat, so let it sit for 30 minutes. Now it's time to cook down the sauce. Turn your heat back up. Cook for another 20 to 30 minutes and stir throughout. Again, this dish is best served the next day because all the flavors get absorbed, but it is good immediately as well. I love having it over rice or making beef brisket noodles. If you like this video, make sure to check out this playlist of easy recipes to make at home.