Main Ingredients:
Beef tenderloin: as needed; Potatoes: as needed; Tomatoes: as needed; Onion: one; Shiitake mushrooms: one box; Carrot: one.
Additional Ingredients:
Vodka: as needed; Butter: as needed; Salt: as needed; Pepper: as needed; Basil leaves: as needed; Parsley: as needed; Beef broth: as needed; Ginger slices: 2 pieces; Olive oil: as needed.
Flavor: Other; Cooking Method: Braised; Time: One hour; Difficulty: Moderate.
Detailed Steps for Cooking (Fake) Russian-Style Braised Beef
Wash the beef bought from the supermarket, cut into pieces, put in a pot and blanch with boiling water to remove blood bubbles (since there were no beef chunks available, beef slices were used as a substitute, but beef chunks are preferred). PS: Due to Xiao Xi’s lack of concept of measurements, the following ingredients are adjusted based on the actual number of diners, so specific quantities are not provided here~
Put ginger slices in the beef broth pot, bring to a boil, add two spoonfuls of vodka, then add the beef pieces and continue cooking. PS: For a better texture, you can choose to buy beef bones from the supermarket and stew them in clear soup at home, but this will require additional time. Xiao Xi is a bit lazy, so she used the beef broth from boiling beef directly.
Cut the potatoes, half into large pieces, and the other half into small pieces for later use. Blanch the tomatoes in hot water to remove the skin, then cut into small pieces.
Cut the carrots into pieces for later use.
Cut the onion into strips for later use.
Slice the shiitake mushrooms for later use.
While cooking the soup, sauté the onion and shiitake mushrooms in butter. Once done, pour into the cooking pot and continue cooking.
After blanching the tomatoes and cutting them into small pieces, stir-fry them in olive oil until they have a soupy consistency, then pour into the cooking pot. Remember not to add water when stewing the beef, rely solely on the tomato broth, so you can stir-fry more tomatoes.
Put the smaller-cut potatoes and carrots into the pot, then add a spoonful of vodka or other white wine and continue cooking for about 30 minutes.
Test the tenderness of the meat with a fork. If it’s tender, add the large potato pieces. At this point, you can steam some rice or cook some noodles while waiting for the potatoes to reach your desired softness. Add salt, basil leaves, parsley, black pepper, and other seasonings, then it’s ready to be served~
