Ingredients

You’ll need the following ingredients and preparations:

• 1 kg of beef flank or brisket, ensuring excess fat is trimmed off, and then cut into 1 to 1.5-inch chunks.
• Prepare a sauce thickener by mixing 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water. This will be used to thicken your sauce later in the recipe.

‘Lao sui’ stock

You’ll need the following ingredients to make the stock

• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon of sugar (Chinese rock sugar is preferred)
• 2 star anise
• 1 teaspoon of cloves
• 2 bay leaves – optional
• 1 small cinnamon sticks – optional
• 1 teaspoon of lightly crushed peppercorns (optional)
• 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds (optional)
• A few crushed cardamom pods (optional)
• Fresh ginger, sliced (approximately 20g or to taste)
• Salt to taste

The most important spices are star anise, cloves and ginger.

Method

To prepare your delicious beef flank or brisket dish, follow these steps:

• In a large saucepan, place the beef chunks and add the ingredients for the stock, including the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, lightly crushed peppercorns, cloves, fennel seeds, crushed cardamom pods, sliced ginger, and salt to taste.
• Pour enough water into the saucepan to just submerge the beef and spices.
• Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer (a slow boil).
• Cover the saucepan with a lid and let it simmer for approximately 1.5 to 2 hours, or until the beef becomes tender and juicy. Be sure to check the beef’s tenderness during this time.
• Once the beef is tender, add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan. Stir well to incorporate the cornstarch into the stock.
• Bring the mixture to a slow boil, stirring continuously. This will help thicken the stock to your desired consistency.
• Once the sauce has thickened, it’s ready to be served.
• Serve your flavorful beef flank or brisket hot with a side of rice. Enjoy your meal!

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Memories of a hawker stall on the ‘Poetry Road’Save

For many years, my daily route to school led me down a street affectionately known as “Poetry Book Road.” Each morning, I received a meagre ten-cent allowance for breakfast, just enough to afford two plain steamed buns.

At the far end of the street, a modest hawker stall caught my attention, specializing in braised beef flank and pig intestines. During the chilly winters, steam billowed from her colossal pots, infusing the air with an irresistible blend of soy, star anise, and clove. The aroma was mouthwatering.

The proprietor of this stall was a middle-aged woman, short and chubby, her demeanor serious, never graced by a smile. Her signature tool was a pair of enormous scissors that emitted a resonant ‘chop, chop, chop’ with each deft cut. Upon receiving an order, she skillfully carved small, succulent, and heartwarming pieces from a larger slab of meat, adroitly threading them onto a bamboo skewer without the need for her hands to make direct contact. One of these meat skewers, laden with three juicy and fatty morsels, could be had for a mere ten cents.

For a young girl, it was a formidable decision: spend the entire ten cents on one of those delectable meat skewers and endure hunger for the rest of the morning, or opt for the bland but filling pair of steamed buns. As I stood there, the tantalizing aroma enveloping me, I took several deep breaths before reluctantly settling for the insipid buns.

Over the course of many years, I’ve prepared beef flank countless times, and with each sizzle and aroma that filled my kitchen, it never failed to transport me back to the hawker stall on Poetry Book Road. Those memories remain as flavorful as the dishes I’ve cooked, a cherished link to the past.

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