Slow cooked tongue and beef shank

beef shank

I like the texture of tongue and beef shank (with lots of tendon), both are unique and very healthy to eat, full of collagen.

Since both of them take a while to slow cook to soften, I will buy a few pieces to fill the bottom of a big cooking pot to make it worth my time.

1. Boil tongue in a pot of water for 15 minutes, then peel/scrape off the white skin.

2. Place tongue and beef shank in a big pot, cover with water, add:

1/2 cup of fennel seed

1/2 cup of Sichuan pepper

5 -10 pieces of star anise

3 sticks of cinnamon

3 pieces of licorice 甘草

3 big pieces of preserved mandarin peel 陳皮

an inch of ginger in slices

2 pieces of 草果

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup brandy/Chinese liquor

This is Chiu Chow style seasoning (滷水).

tongue

3. Bring to boil and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Then with the lid on, switch off flame and let the meat cool down in the liquid.

4. When cool (or the next day), boil the liquid for 5 minutes and let it cool down again, repeat a few times until the meat is tender, around 4 times.

5. Cut tongue into 3 mm slices and beef shank into 1 mm slices, serve with a little of the warm liquid.

6. The liquid could be filtered and keep in fridge for future use (need to re-boil every week).