Vietnamese Beef Stew - Bo Kho

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Step 1

Combine the beef, lemongrass, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, Chinese Spice, sugar, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Leave to marinate for an hour.

Step 2

Preheat the oven to 160C (325F) and have all your vegetables prepared.

Step 3

Put the oil in the casserole and heat over medium high heat. Sear the beef, in batches if necessary, until nicely browned.

Step 4

Add a splash of hot stock to deglaze the pan, scraping any browned bits with a wooden spoon.

Step 5

Add the shallots and chillies and stir for a couple of minutes.

Step 6

Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, carrots, cinnamon stick, star anise, kaffir lime leaves and stock and bring slowly to a rolling simmer.

Step 7

Cover the casserole and transfer to the oven. Cook for an hour.

Step 8

Take the casserole dish out of the oven – careful it will be very hot! – and stir in the butternut squash.

Step 9

Return to the oven and cook for a further 45 minutes to 1 hour until meat is very tender.

Step 10

Stir the cornflour slurry into the stew and simmer for a couple of minutes on the hob to thicken the gravy.

Step 11

Remove and discard the cinnamon stick, star anise and kaffir lime leaves.

Step 12

Add some chopped basil leaves, check the seasoning and serve with crusty bread, or over rice..