Asian Beef Stew

My beef stew is literally FINGER LICKIN' GOOD!!

MakeIt.SmellIt.TasteIt.LoveIt.

ENOUGH SAID.

You will need:

2 pounds of beef shank
1/2 pound of tendon
a couple of carrots cut into large chunks(maybe 1/2 pound to 1 pd)
1 stalk of lemongrass trimmed, bruised, and cut in half
4 cloves of chopped garlic
half of an onion(chopped)
2 tomatoes(I used tomatoes still on the vine)
2 cups of coconut juice/soda(no pulp)
2 T of ketchup
2 cubes of Bo Kho Seasoning
1/2 T of sugar
1 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of fish sauce
8 cups of water
olive oil

For the red food coloring:

1 T of annatto seeds cooked on very low heat in extra virgin olive oil(you may omit this step and use paprika instead)

Serving suggestions:

Thick Rice Noodles(follow cooking directions according to packaging)
Over Rice
Freshly baked french bread

Garnishes:

cilantro
parsley
chili peppers

 Clean and rinse off your beef shanks. Cut your beef shanks into large pieces(about 1 1/2 inches wide). Beef shanks are really tough so you need to boil it for some time to help make it more tender.

Put your beef shank and tendon into a pot and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium to medium high heat and continue to keep at a rolling boil for 1-1 1/2 hrs. Make sure to keep enough water in the pot to cover the meat and tendon, so you may need to add more water while it's boiling away.

While the meats cooking chop up your garlic and onion and set aside.

Chop up your tomatoes and place them in a bowl. Starting with clean hands(of course)start squeezing and smashing the sh*t out of them! You want to bring all that juice out of them but don't throw it away. Later, you will add in the tomatoes along with their juices into the soup.

After the 1 1/2 hrs, turn the heat off , remove the tendon and cut into medium size chunks and set aside along with the beef shanks.

On medium-medium high heat, put some oil into a skillet and throw in your chopped onions and bruised lemongrass. After 2 minutes or so, add in your beef shank and just before completely browned, throw in your chopped garlic.

Once meat has browned, add in the coconut juice. Add in the tomatoes in their juices, ketchup, salt, and sugar. Continue to cook on medium low heat for 20 minutes.

Add in your tendon, large chunks of carrot, 8 cups of water, fish sauce, and the bo kho seasoning cubes. Turn the heat up just to bring it to a quick rolling boil and turn heat down again to medium low. Put a lid on it but do not cover completely. Leave a little space so that the steam has somewhere to escape.

Continue to cook for an additional 2-2 1/2 hrs until the meat and tendon are deliciously tender and finger licking good, baby!! Remove bruised lemongrass once cooking is complete.

Taste for additional seasonings if needed. I ended up adding a tad bit more salt to mine but that's just my own personal preference.

Notes: This stew tastes great spooned over some thick rice noodles, with rice, or some freshly baked french bread too! The possibilities are endless with this tasty dish. Usually, when my mother in law buys this stew from a Vietnamese deli, they tend to be more on the sweeter side, so if you want, you may omit the sugar at first and then gradually add some in as you go along.
Also you can find bo kho seasoning boxes in most Asian markets. The ones I buy, come in these tiny small packaged boxes that contain 4 cubes of bo kho seasoning. If I had to guess, I would probably say that I used anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2 T of the seasoning.
Okay, so enough reading already...GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP, log off of Facebook, and get crackin' in that kitchen!! :)