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Braised Beef with Bamboo Shoots

A braised beef dish with bamboo shoots, ginger, fermented soybean, and spices.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and star anise match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 229 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Braised Beef with Bamboo Shoots

Timeabout 2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the bamboo shoots

  1. Soak the bamboo shoots in cold water.

  2. Cut the soaked bamboo shoots into small pieces.

  3. Blanch the bamboo shoots quickly in boiling water, then drain them.

  4. Rinse the blanched bamboo shoots in cold water and set them aside.

Cook the beef

  1. Cut the beef into 1 inch (3 cm) chunks and place them in a pot with cold water to cover.

  2. Bring the pot to a boil and skim off the foam from the boiling liquid.

  3. Add the ginger, scallions, Szechuan peppercorns, and star anise to the pot, and bring the liquid back to a boil.

  4. Add the rock sugar and stir until it dissolves.

  5. Turn the heat to low and simmer.

  6. While the beef is cooking, heat the vegetable oil until the surface ripples, add the salted fermented soybean paste, and stir-fry until it turns slightly red.

  7. Add the soybean paste mixture to the beef.

Stew and serve

  1. When the beef has cooked for about one hour, add the salt, rice wine, and bamboo shoots.

  2. Stew the beef another hour until it is very tender.

  3. Serve.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

695Calories
32 gProtein
29 gFat
69 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 11 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Rice1 cup cooked (158g) white206
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Bamboo Shootsnot in our table0
Soybeannot in our table0
Star Anisenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ginger + star anisetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together229 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Bamboo shoots + gingertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together80 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

  3. Ginger + soybeantop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together33 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Beef + soybeantop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Bamboo shoots + star anisetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1 recipe

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Beef
Lean meat that becomes very tender through long, slow simmering that breaks down its connective tissue.
Bamboo shoots
Add a crisp, slightly firm texture that holds up after the long stew.
Salted fermented soybean paste
Adds deep savory, salty flavor and a reddish color when fried in oil.
Rock sugar
Adds gentle sweetness that balances the salty and savory seasonings.
Rice wine
Adds aroma and helps mellow the meat's gamey notes during cooking.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam after the first boil. Foam carries impurities and proteins released from the beef. Removing it keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting instead of murky or scummy.

Swap the soybean

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bamboo shoots, sugar, beef, ginger, rice wine, star anise):

  1. Sesamefits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Chestnutfits better
  4. Soybeanthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against bamboo shoots, sugar, beef, ginger, rice wine, star anise. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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