THIS IS such a yummy veal braise – it's classic Italian – and if you source quality meat you will end up with a truly magnificent dish. Serve it with your choice of crusty bread, potato purée, rice or soft polenta. The hot and numbing beef is one of my favourite Spice Temple dishes – I love eating it as a snack or with rice and boiled greens. These are two meat dishes that are worth the effort and require some skill in their execution, marking a good culinary challenge for the colder evenings.
Veal shank slow cooked in wine
Serves 4
1.5kg veal shank, on the bone
12 whole garlic cloves, peeled
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 tbsp ground black peppercorns
sea salt
1 bottle medium-body red wine
300g plain flour
1. Ask your butcher to saw the shank across the bone into three large pieces.
2. Place the pieces of veal close in a casserole with a tight-fitting lid, together with the garlic, whole and ground peppercorns and 1 tsp sea salt. Pour in enough wine to just cover them (most of the bottle).
3. Cut a circular piece of baking paper five centimetres larger than your pot, place it over the veal and push down to cover well. This will help the meat retain moisture. Put the pot on a medium heat and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and put the lid on.
4. Preheat your oven to 200°C. Mix the flour with 150 millilitres of water, making a fi rm dough. Roll the dough into sausages and press round the edge of the lid to make a thorough seal.
5. Place in the oven. Half an hour later, turn it down to 100°C and cook at that temperature for eight hours. 6. Season to taste and serve sprinkled with chopped parsley.
Hot and numbing dried beef
Serves 4 as part of a shared meal
Hot and numbing dried beef. Photo: William Meppem
Red braised brisket
1kg trimmed beef brisket
350ml Shaoxing wine
175ml light soy sauce
120g rock sugar 4cm ginger, smashed
5 cloves garlic, smashed
2 shallots (green part)
8 star anise
2 quills cassia peel of ½ mandarin
vegetable oil, for deep-frying
2½ tbsp peanut oil
4cm knob of ginger, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 tsp dark soy sauce
160ml chicken stock
1 tsp white sugar
2 tsp roasted and ground Sichuan pepper
4 tsp chilli oil
sesame oil and finely sliced spring onions, to serve
1. Cover brisket with cold water and bring to the boil. Drain, discarding water. Rinse well and set aside. Combine all other brisket ingredients in a clean pot with 2½ litres cold water and bring to the boil. Add brisket, turn heat down to barely simmering and cook for about 4 hours, until fork-tender. Once cooked, remove brisket and refrigerate overnight. Save the stock to reuse.
2. When you're ready to eat, cut brisket into 5mm-thick slices. In a wok, heat the vegetable oil to 180°C and deep-fry in small batches for 2 minutes, turning over halfway, until dark and crispy around the edges. Drain on a paper towel.
3. Wipe the wok clean, then place over medium heat and add the peanut oil. When the oil is hot, add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry until fragrant, then add the brisket and the rest of the ingredients, saving some Sichuan pepper to serve. Cook until the sauce is thick and almost reduced to a glaze. To finish, transfer to a serving plate, drizzle with sesame oil and garnish with finely sliced spring onions, then serve with rice and steamed Asian greens.
Wine Match: Hollick Cabernet Merlot 2012, Coonawarra, SA $25 With the weather cooling and hearty food on our minds and menus, this classic Coonawarra red is a great companion to the shanks. It's medium to full bodied with dark, brooding cassis and a hint of blue fruits. The merlot rounds out the palate for an enticing match with the veal and subtle pepper spice.