Chinese beef & aubergine hotpot

Make this beef stew when the nights draw in. With aubergine and Chinese spices, the flavours are warming and it's slow-cooked for deliciously tender meat 

COOK TIME
3 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 5 star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 2kg braising steak
• (shin is best), cut into large chunks
• 1l chicken stock
• 3 red chillies, split in two and deseeded, plus extra sliced into rounds to serve
• 100g galangal (use ginger if you can’t find galangal), sliced
• 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 200ml soy sauce
• 1 tbsp demerara sugar
• 6 kaffir lime leaves
• 3 aubergines, cut into wedges
• rice and coriander, to serve

Preparation 

• Heat oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Heat a large casserole dish, toast the star anise and cinnamon until fragrant, then scoop out of the dish. Add the oil, then brown the beef in batches (be careful not to overcrowd the pan). Set the meat aside on a plate.
• Add the rest of the ingredients (except for the aubergine) to the casserole dish, stir well and bring to the boil. Add the spices and meat back in, skim off any fat that comes to the surface, then cover the casserole and cook in the oven for 2 hrs.
• Remove the lid, add the aubergine, and give everything a good stir, then return to the oven and cook for 1 hr uncovered until the aubergine and meat are tender. Rest until cool enough to eat. Scatter over the coriander and sliced red chilli, then serve with rice.