Chinese Hot Pot of Beef and Vegetables

RECIPE

This comforting stew teams beef with spinach, an efficient pairing because the iron in the beef enhances your body's ability to absorb the iron in the spinach. Serve it over plain Chinese noodles or all by itself with some crusty French bread--it's delicious either way.

Yield
6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups)

Ingredients
4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon aniseed, crushed
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (14 1/4-ounce) can low-salt beef broth
2 3/4 cups water
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons dry sherry
2 to 3 teaspoons chile paste with garlic2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
2 cups (1-inch) cubed peeled turnips (about 3/4 pound)
1 1/2 cups baby carrots
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
8 cups fresh spinach (about 1/2 pound)

Preparation
Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat; add half of beef, browning on all sides. Remove from pan. Repeat the procedure with remaining oil and beef. Add onions, ginger, aniseed, and garlic to pan; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in broth, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Return beef to pan. Add 2 3/4 cups water and next 5 ingredients (2 3/4 cups water through cinnamon sticks), and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour.

Add the turnips and carrots; simmer for 45 minutes or until tender. Combine 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch; add to beef mixture. Bring to a boil; cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add spinach; cover and cook for 3 minutes or until wilted. Discard the cinnamon sticks.

Nutritional Information
Calories:359 (30% from fat)
Fat:11.9g (sat 3.4g,mono 5.5g,poly 1.5g)
Protein:26.4g
Carbohydrate:35.8g
Fiber:4.5g
Cholesterol:71mg
Iron:4.8mg
Sodium:536mg
Calcium:88mg

SS Recipes

Chinese Vegetable Soup with Noodles

RECIPE

The noodles here aren't cooked in the soup; they'd absorb too much of the liquid. Instead, they're boiled separately, tossed with sesame oil, and then put into bowls, waiting to be warmed by the hot broth. The bok choy goes into the soup toward the end of cooking, so that a hint of crispness remains.

Yield
4

Ingredients
1 tablespoon cooking oil
6 scallions including green tops, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
3 1/2 cups water
3 1/2 cups canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
4 carrots, cut diagonally into 1/4-inch slices
3/4 pound napa (Chinese) cabbage (about 1/2 head), leaves shredded (about 3 cups)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 small head bok choy (about 3/4 pound), stalks halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces, leaves shredded
Grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 pound vermicelli
1 1/2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil

Preparation
1. In a large saucepan, heat the cooking oil over moderately low heat. Add the scallions, garlic, and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the soy sauce, red-pepper flakes, water, and broth and bring to a boil.

2. Add the carrots to the broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the cabbage and salt and simmer for 5 minutes longer. Add the bok choy and lemon zest and simmer until the bok choy starts to soften, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice.

3. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the vermicelli until just done, about 9 minutes. Drain. Return the noodles to the pot and toss with the sesame oil. Put some noodles in each of four bowls and ladle the soup over the noodles.

Wine Recommendation: German wines are huge sellers in Japan; their exciting juxtaposition of tangy acidity, vibrant aromatic fruitiness, and balancing sweetness is ideal for Asian cuisine. Look for a Mosel kabinett for a match made in heaven.

SS Recipes