牛肉咖喱盖饭 Chinese Beef Curry

This is a very rich and deeply flavorful curry that is made from scratch. I am not putting down curry roux blocks at all, they are fast, delicious and convenient. But this from scratch recipe will blow your mind.

Just because it has to cook long enough for the beef to be tender it takes approximately 1 hour to make. That is really not that bad at all, I am not sure why I am apologizing...but for those nights you need something quick my recipe for Chinese chicken curry , which cooks up much faster. And there is the faster yet Chinese Curry Stir-fry.Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy this Chinese beef curry or you can switch it up and do it with Lamb!

2 lbs. beef roast

1/3 cup butter, divided

1/2 onion, minced

1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. curry powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin 

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch ginger, sliced 

1/4 cup soy sauce, divided

3 Tbsp. rice wine, divided

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into bite size pieces

1 large potato, peeled and cut into bite size pieces 

3 cups water, divided

1 cup cream

Note: I like to cut the potatoes on angles turning the potato as I cut to make different shapes and mouth feels, you can also do this with the carrot (this is a a very common technique used in Chinese cooking and it really does make a big difference in my opinion). If you would like you can also add it bite size chunks of onion.

Spice ball

2 star anise

5 cloves

5 peppercorns

1 cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp fennel seeds

Combine all spices in a tea ball or cheesecloth bag.

Note: I prefer to make a spice ball but if you don't have whole spices on hand you can also replace this with 1/2-1 tsp. Chinese five spice powder (I have not tested this so I don't know how much but you can add to taste.

Make the curry

Cut beef roast into bite size chunks. 

Heat a pot of water to boiling and boil the beef for 5 minutes then pour through a strainer, and rinse thoroughly.

Heat 1/4 cup of butter over medium low heat, add onions and cook until they soften and are just starting to brown.

Add in 1 Tbsp. curry powder, 1/2 tsp. cumin and 1/2 tsp. coriander. Mix the spices into the onions and butter.

Add the beef pieces and fry a minute or so in the curry seasonings.

Add in garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant.

Deglaze the pan with 2 Tbsp. rice wine then add 2 Tbsp. soy sauce.

Add in 2 Tbsp. sugar.

 Pour in 2 cups of water.

 Add in your prepared spice ball.

Add in carrots and bring to a boil. Then cover, turn the heat to medium low (electric) or low (gas) and simmer for 40 minutes or until the beef is tender. Keep an eye on it, if you need you can add a little more water if it has boiled dry (you do want it to condense down to pack in lots of flavor but just make sure it does not burn on the bottom).

Remove the lid and add it 1 cup of water and 1 cup of cream (cream is optional you can also just add another cup of water if you don`t have cream on hand).

 Add in potatoes pieces.

Simmer uncovered over medium-medium low heat for 5 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked and the liquid has cooked down into a thick sauce.

Finally stir in one more tsp. curry powder, 2 Tbsp. soy sauce, 2 Tbsp. butter and 1 Tbsp. rice wine then remove from the heat.

Serve with rice.

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