Chinese Braised Beef

Directions

1. 1
   Season the beef with salt and sear them on two sides in a medium-hot dutch oven or similar pot until nice and brown. Do this is batches so you brown the meet well.
2. 2
   While that's happening, mix together the beef stock, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, fish sauce, star anise and ginger. Adjust the seasoning to taste (depending on how sweet you want it and if you used low sodium or regular soy sauce)
3. 3
   Remove the beef and add the onions and cook for a few minutes until translucent, then add garlic and cook for another minute.
4. 4
   Turn the oven to 325 F. Add the liquids to the pot along with the beef (and all the beef juices that gathered on the plate) and the carrots. Stir and bring to a boil, then cover and put it in the oven for 1 hour.
5. 5
   After an hour, add the snow peas and check for doneness of the meat. You want the meat to be fall-apart tender, which should happen around the 1.5 hour mark, so put the pot back in the oven.
6. 6
   After another half hour, the meat should be fall apart tender and the snow peas cooked. If not, put it back in and check every 15 minutes. If it's done, put it on the stove top on med-low heat. Remove about 1-2 tbsp of the liquid and add it to 1 tbsp of corn starch. Mix it well and add back to the pot. Bring it to a simmer; if its thick enough, serve it. Otherwise, add another 1-2 tbsp of liquid to another tbsp of corn starch and mix it in again. Repeat until the sauce is as thick as you want. Serve with rice and a vegetable like bok choy.