Pares

A sweet star anise braise served as a pair with a separate bowl of its own broth.

Beef. Not vegetarian — contains beef.

Ingredients

• 800 g beef brisket, in 3 cm cubes
• 1.5 litres water
• 60 ml soy sauce
• 50 g brown sugar
• 3 star anise
• 1 thumb ginger, sliced
• 8 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 4 spring onions, sliced
• garlic rice, to serve

Method

1. IT IS SERVED AS A PAIR AND THAT IS THE POINT: a small bowl of the thick sweet braise, a separate bowl of clear broth, and garlic rice between them. Serve it as one wet plate and you have made something else.
2. Simmer the brisket in the water with the ginger and star anise for 2 hours, skimming the grey foam off in the first 10 minutes.
3. NOW SPLIT IT. Lift the meat out and strain the liquid. Keep two thirds back as the broth -- season it with a little salt only, and leave it clear.
4. Return the meat to the remaining third with the soy, sugar and garlic and simmer 20 minutes.
5. Slake the cornflour in a little cold water and stir it in. The braise should coat the meat, not pool around it.
6. Reheat the kept broth, scatter spring onion on both, and send out the two bowls together.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Philippines · All recipes