A big batch of leftover beef can be quickly transformed into saucy, comforting meals with this Cantonese concoction. Soak up all that flavour with some high protein bean curd sheets.
Time: 3/5
A lot of time savings from having ingredients prepped ahead of time.
Effort: 3/5
Mostly knife work and stirring.
Standing on the Shoulders of Prep
I often see people saying that they’re worried about getting bored of their meal preps, which stops them from cooking as much or as often as they want. That’s a pity, because a simple shift of perspective helps you get around that problem. Instead of prepping the same meal several times, you can prep the ingredients instead and turn them into varied and interesting meals.
I’ve done this before by making Cantonese style roast pork belly. Serve some of it fresh, enjoy the crispy cracking skin, then turn the rest into a stir-fry that comes together super quickly because most of the ingredients are already cooked. The same goes for the lower calorie version made with pork shoulder, which also has its own follow-up stir fry. Kind of like how tandoori chicken is the gateway to chicken tikka masala.
This time round, I did my ingredient prep by making a huge batch of Cantonese Beef Brisket in Clear Broth (although to be honest, they’re the more budget friendly boneless beef rib fingers rather than brisket; same difference). After enjoying the broth and some of the meat, I was left with plenty of tender, long-simmered beef that was infused through and through with delicious savoury flavour.
This time, the star of the show is Chu Hou paste. It’s a pre-made seasoning mix of savoury and aromatic ingredients like fermented soy beans, garlic, and ginger. Think of it like a Cantonese version of Better than Bouillon – a shortcut to a flavourful broth or stock to do your cooking in.
Beef has a robust flavour that can stand up to the intensity of Chu Hou paste, so it’s a natural pairing. Besides, bean curd sticks are also great in stews with Chu Hou paste because there’s so much surface area to grab onto the sauce.
Incidentally, the high protein soybean content of bean curd sticks lets me use less of the expensive beef as well, so that’s a double win. They’re a shelf stable meat substitute that I like to stick into all sorts of stews and stir fries.
Because most of the work was done when I simmered the beef, this recipe comes together quickly enough that it is quite feasibly served as a weeknight dinner with plenty of leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. It’s the same method that I carry forward to a hearty beef brisket curry. I hope it serves as inspiration for you to put your home cooking skills to use in rolling your ingredients into fresh and interesting meal preps!
Posts since the last recipe that was actually served with rice: 0
Dramatis Personae
Served 5.
- 340g brisket or boneless beef rib fingers, cut into sections
- 227g bean curd sticks, rehydrated overnight and cut into 1 inch sections
Aromatics
- Several cloves of garlic
- Several slices of ginger
- 1 bunch of scallion, cut into sections
Sauce
- 2 tbsp Chu Hoi paste
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
Also served with 900g of choisum. Always eat your veggies!
Executive summary
- Rehydrate bean curd sticks in fresh water overnight, in the fridge.
- Begin cooking by sweating the aromatics in oil until fragrant.
- Add beef, bean curd sticks, and sauce ingredients.
- Add a bit of water, stir to combine, then cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning, and serve.
Play by Play
The bean curd sheets take a nice long while to rehydrate. I like to do it in the fridge overnight. Cut in to more manageable sections. It doesn’t shrink as it cooks, so make it as long as you want it in the final product.
I only have the mental bandwidth to deal with one stovetop at a time, so might as well cook everything in this dishwasher-safe stainless steel pan. The choisum go in first into a nice clean pan, so the flavour stays fresh and sweet to act as a contrast to the saucy beef.
Plenty of time to prep the aromatics while all of that’s going on. After sweating the aromatics until fragrant, it’s a quick process of stirring everything together.
I give everything some time to pick up some flavour, especially for the bean curd sheets which up until this point has remained unseasoned. A couple minutes is all I need.
That’s all there is to it! Quick, easy, and a lot of meals at once.
Beef Brisket, Bean Curd Sheet and Chu Hou Sauce Stir Fry
Ingredients
- 340 g brisket or boneless beef rib fingers cut into sections
- 227 g bean curd sticks rehydrated overnight and cut into 1 inch sections
Aromatics
- Several cloves of garlic
- Several slices of ginger
- 1 bunch of scallion cut into sections
Sauce
- 2 tbsp Chu Hoi paste
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
Instructions
- Rehydrate bean curd sticks in fresh water overnight, in the fridge.
- Begin cooking by sweating the aromatics in oil until fragrant.
- Add beef, bean curd sticks, and sauce ingredients.
- Add a bit of water, stir to combine, then cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning, and serve.
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