Homestyle Chinese Beef Curry
Easy homestyle slow-cooked Chinese beef curry recipe that you can cook everything from scratch. Made with beef, onions, carrots, potatoes and simple cupboard-friendly ingredients. No store-bought curry paste or curry block is needed for this recipe. Simply pair it with plain rice for a complete family dinner.
Servings: 4 - 5
Calories: 429kcal
Equipment
- 1 Large heavy bottom pot Or cast iron pot / Dutch oven
Ingredients
- 600 gram Beef chuck, flank, leg, or a choice of stew meat, Cut small bite-sized pieces. ( About 1.3 lb )
- 1 Onion Large brown onion, finely chopped
- 2 Tomatoes Ripened vine tomatoes, cut wedges
- 1 Carrot Cut medium chunks
- 1 Potato Cut medium chunks
- 2-3 Spring onions Cut thin slices
- 500 ml Water Warm water, About ½ litres ( 2 cups ), add more water if needed
- 3-4 tbsp Cooking oil Sunflower, peanut, canola, etc.
- ½ tsp Cornstarch Mix it with 2 tbsp water
Beef Marinade
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce Regular soy sauce
- 2 tsp Cooking oil Sunflower, canola, vegetable oil, etc.
- 1 tbsp Ginger Finely grated ginger or ginger paste
- 1 tbsp Garlic Finely grated garlic or garlic paste
Seasoning spices and sauces
- 1 stick Cinnamon
- 2-3 leaves Bay leaves
- 2-3 Star anise
- 2-3 Black cardamom
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce Regular soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Curry powder Add your choice of hot or mild curry powder
- ½ tsp White pepper
- 1 cube Beef stock cube Or chicken or vegetable stock cube
Instructions
- First, marinate the beef with soy sauce, grated garlic, and granted ginger. Mix everything well and set it aside.
- Heat the large heavy bottom pot or pan to medium heat. Drizzle cooking oil and add cinnamon, bay leaves, black cardamom, and star anise. Saute for a few seconds until fragrant.
- Next add the chopped onions and cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the marinated beef and cook for 2-3 minutes. Once the beef is browned, add tomato wedges, curry powder, white pepper, sugar, regular soy sauce, and dark soy sauce. Stir it well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add warm water and stock cube in. ( Add enough water to cover the beef. ) Stir everything well, reduce the heat to low. Close the lid and simmer for about 1 hour.
- Then add the carrots and potatoes. Continue cook for another 20-30 minutes or until the vegetables and beef are tender.
- Stir in cornstarch and water mixture to thicken the sauce. Make a taste test and add more salt or soy sauce to your preference.
- Finish with spring onions. Serve with plain rice or noodles.
Notes
- Simmering time can be varied according to the beef cut and the cookware you use. Cut beef into smaller pieces to lower the cooking time.
- Suggest using a large heavy bottom pot or cast iron pot to slow-cook this beef curry.
- Slow cooker option: You can also cook this dish in slow cooker. Add all ingredients in the slow cooker except water. Cook on low for 6 hours or cook on high for 4 hours. Sprinkle spring onions just before serving.
- Curry powder - I used hot Madras curry powder in this recipe. You can use any of your favourite yellow colour curry powder ( A mix blend of Indian ground spices including turmeric, cumin, coriander, cardamom, black pepper, fenugreek, etc ).
- Can I use garam masala? Yes, you can use garam masala but you might want an additional 1 tsp of turmeric powder for both colour and flavour as garam masala does not contain turmeric in its powder mixture.
- Meanwhile simmering the beef, stir occasionally and add more warm water if needed. Do not add cold water in the middle of the cooking process as the cold water can stop the cooking process and toughen the meat.
- Do I need salt? Soy sauces and stock cubes contain salt intake. So we don't usually add salt to this curry. You can make a taste test and add salt or sugar to your taste.
- Cornstarch water - is usually added to the Chinese beef curry to thicken the sauce. You can skip the cornstarch water step if you prefer the sauce as it is.
Nutrition
Calories: 429kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 93mg | Sodium: 831mg | Potassium: 1077mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 3171IU | Vitamin C: 24mg | Calcium: 97mg | Iron: 5mg
