Chinese Braised Soysauce Beef and Eggs

Growing up my mom would always make braised pork or beef with soysauce eggs. Alot of times she would also cook seaweed along with the meat and eggs.   I loved eating these dishes with rice or noodles.  The other day I was craving some braised beef and eggs so I decided to make my own.  The only problem is that my mom makes it with a spice packet.  I used to get the spice packet in Chinatown in Houston.  I looked online to see if I could find a recipe to make the dish without the use of the spice packet.  I used the basic recipe for braised soysauce eggs from the RasaMalaysia website with some alterations and additions.


Basic Recipe

6-12 hard boiled eggs
4 cups water
2-2 1/2 Tbs. dark soy sauce
3 Tbs. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbs. sugar
1 stick cinnamon
2-3 star anise
1 spiced tea bag (optional)
salt to taste

Additional Ingredients

1/4 to 1/2 lb. of pork or beef (very lean cuts of meat are not as desirable--some fat is better--I used beef stew meat)
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbs. fresh ginger chopped finely
2 stalks green onions-cut in long pieces
2 red chilli peppers
1 tsp. powdered cloves (I think dried cloves would be better)
1 tsp. fennel seeds
1 tsp. coriander seeds
1/2 tsp. white pepper powder
3 tbs. cooking wine (optional--my mom uses cooking wine. I didn't use any).

I chopped up 2 cloves of garlic and about 1 Tbs. of fresh ginger.  I chopped 2 red chilies.  I also cut a few stalks of green onion.  I stir-fried these in about 3 Tbs. of oil to flavor the oil.

I chopped the beef up into bite size pieces.  I dusted the meat with flour.  I added a bit more oil to the pan and then I browned the beef with the garlic, onions, chilli, and ginger.

I put the beef into the crock pot.  Then I added the rest of the ingredients (water, soysauce, spices). 

The dish turned out pretty well.  DH liked it.  The girls loved the soysauce eggs and my son really liked the beef.  It didn't taste exactly the same as the way my mom makes it...I think the spice packet really makes a difference.  Still, I liked it overall. 

I saved the stock.  It is good for a few days in the refrigerator and the flavor seems to improve with age.  Today I will probably make the girls some more soysauce eggs and my son some more braised beef.  I'll use the leftover stock to make a soup to put over some noodles.  We'll probably have that for lunch.