I posted about my overwintered root vegetables on Monday but didn’t know what I was going to do with them.
They looked good, but honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was going to find once I started to prepare them. Happy to report the inside looked just as good and decided to roast them.
How about the flavor? Parsnips, celeriac and sunchoke had no loss of flavor. The carrots and beets lost their sweetness. Wondered if it was due to sprouting or storage or both?
Left, uncooked. Right cooked.
Did not want charred vegetable so roasted at a low (convection 350°C) temperature.
ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES
Ingredients
• ¾ – 1 pound each – celeriac, parsnips, sunchoke and carrots. Peeled and cut into about 1 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon oil
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon ground black or white pepper (I used white)
• 1 – 2 cloves garlic pureed (optional)
Preparations
1. Combine all the ingredients well.
2. Spread, single layer on a sheet pan.
3. Bake at 350°C convection or 375°C regular for 40 – 45 minutes.
Use as a side, add to salad, soup, stew ……
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STAR ANISE BEEF WITH ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES (serves 4 – 6)
Ingredients
• 2 – 2½ pounds shin beef, trim and discard visible fat, cut into 1 – 1½ inch cubes. Toss with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• thumb-size piece of ginger, sliced thinly
• 1 – 2 shallots, minced
• 3 – 4 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ cup Shaoxing wine or pale dry sherry
• 2 tablespoons regular or gluten free soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dark or mushroom dark soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 – 3 whole star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 strip orange peel
• 2 or more cups beef or chicken broth or water
• 1 – 2 tablespoons oil
• 2 pounds roasted root vegetables (above)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch combines with 2 tablespoons water (stir before adding to pot).
• scallion for garnish (optional)
Preparations
1. Add oil to a preheated Dutch oven/pot. Add beef and brown well, using high heat (may need to do 2 – 3 batches). Remove and set aside.
2. Lower heat to medium. Add ginger, shallots and garlic to pot. Stir fry until shallots are translucent. Add wine, stir and scrape the pot bottom to release all the fond an wine is reduced to half.
3. Return beef to pot, add broth and/or water to cover. Stir in both soy sauces, honey, star anise, cinnamon stick and orange peel. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 1½ hours or until beef is tender.
4. Add roasted vegetables. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Thicken with cornstarch mixture. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice, noodles, pasta or mashed potatoes.
NOTE:
◊ If gluten free dark or mushroom dark soy sauce is unavailable, leave out and add 1 more tablespoon gluten free regular soy sauce.
◊ Oyster sauce may be substituted for part of the soy sauce.
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ASIAN BEET SALAD
Ingredients
• 1 cup cooked sliced beet
• ½ – 1 shallots thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, pureed
• ½ – 1 tablespoon shredded fresh ginger
• 1 – 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 – 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt or to taste
• toasted sesame seeds and cilantro for garnish (optional)
Preparations
Combine all the above, serve cold or at room temperature.
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Copyright © by Norma Chang. All Rights Reserved. Do not use/repost any photos and/or articles without permission.
Garden to Wok 
Norma, your stew has all the same flavours of the Chinese Spare Ribs that I made and loved for Chinese New Year. With the cinnamon, star anise and dark soy sauce all in there I can just imagine how delicious this would be. I am adding this to my list of things to make. I hope you have a lovely Easter weekend!
Hello Barb,
These ingredients work well for lamb shank and chicken drums/thighs also. A lovely Easter to you and your family too.
I love the look of these. Roasted root vegetables are so delicious and you have such a good variety here. Shame some of theme lost their flavour – normally roasting is great for bringing out the flavour xx
Hello Charlie,
Yes, the roasted root vegetables were good on their own as a side. It could be the carrot varieties I grew, will try different varieties this year.
My carrots come through storage with all their sweetness. It could be the variety, or the sprouting. You’d know if they ever froze in storage because freezing changes the texture to something more spongy.
Mary
Hello Mary,
No the carrots did not freeze in storage. I tend to believe it is the sprouting.
The beef stew looks hearty and tasty. Perfect for our still-snowing weather!
Hello Angie,
I think, rather I hope, we have come to the end of the snowy weather. Still waking up to temp in the 20’s and frost but hopefully all that will end soon too.
My sister makes the star anise beef stew (we call it “Pares” in the Philippines) but it doesn’t have any veggies on it. I’ll suggest your recipe. =)
Hello Kat,
Thanks, hope your sister like my recipe.
That sounds so delicious Norma. I would love to have a bunch of servings in my freezer!
Hello Alyssa,
Did not freeze any but I think this stew would freeze well.
Your beef stew sounds absolutely fantastic Norma, I adore star anise; the flavours you’ve used here remind me of Moroccan flavours – perfectly warming on a chilly Spring day.
Too bad that the beets and carrots lost their sweetness, I would have thought roasting them would have helped concentrate whatever sugars were left over. But then again that beet salad looks incredible, such a beautiful colour. I love beets anytime and pairing them with the warm spice of your stew with the Asian flavoured beet salad sounds perfect.
Our temperatures are warming finally, but we decided to go up North this weekend and enjoy a couple of days in Muskoka, hiking, snow shoeing, eating and drinking by a warm fire. We even say outside in front of a real camp fire with the sun shining and a cup of warm apple cider! And we swam in the heated outdoor pool! Yes, if one must rough it, it’s the way to go, for sure!
Happy Easter to you and your family. Hope the Easter bunny is good to you.
Hello Eva,
Thanks. The beets and carrots could be due to the varieties I selected, however, I am more inclined to think it was due to sprouting, trying different varieties this year.
We are warming up also though waking up to morning temp in the 20’s and frost, all this should come to an end soon, I hope, I need spring!
Have a great time up north, most northerner go south during the cold months, you march to a different drummer and go north.
Hi Norma, yes I know it sounds a bit strange, but we wanted a little get-away that wasn’t too far (2 hours or so) and where we could go for a nice long walk. And we got all that at Rosseau Marriott, we even snow-shoed a little bit (they have a lot more snow than we do). Plus my brother has a cottage on the same lake so they popped in for lunch on Friday and I have a very good friend in Port Sydney as short drive from Rosseau and they popped in for cocktails. It was a lovely break. I may do a little review of it soon.
Hello Eva,
Glad you had a lovely break.
I love roasted root veggies. Yours look delicious!
Hello YC,
Thanks. They were delicious as a side.
Oh that looks good. And I can eat it. There aren’t many beef stews out there that don’t have potatoes or tomatoes in it.
Hello Daphne,
Glad you can eat this beef stew. These ingredients will work well with lamb shanks, pork and chicken legs/drums also.
What a lovely recipe! Asian fusion ++ ! I am glad you are suggesting more than one soy sauce as the complexity one can achieve may be quite remarkable! Most recipes of this kind do suggest dry sherry if Chinese rice wine not handy . . . I have tried every which way thru’ the years and my palate actually likes the medium dry . . . shall definitely follow your recipe next time around :0 !
Hello Eha,
Thanks. If medium dry sherry is what you like then that’s what you should use, after all you are cooking for you. Red wine will work well also.
Too bad that the roasting didn’t enhance your beet and celeriac flavors. Still, you’d never know it to look at your stew. It looks fantastic and must taste wonderfully with that list of ingredients. You really did create a hearty stew, Norma.
Hello John,
I think it had to do with the sprouting. Did not matter much after cooking it just was not as good uncooked. It was hearty. Going to make another batch for the freezer as gardening season is coming and I sure am going to be super busy due to the late start because of the unusually cold and snowy weather.
That beet salad is to die for. I’ve not put star anise in a beef stew before. I often toss one in my rice cooker and we really like the light flavor in the rice.
Hello Maureen,
I never thought of putting star anise in the rice cooker with the rice, thanks for the idea, will surely give it a try.
Lovely sounding recipes Norma. The beef looks gorgeous, but I’m most intrigued by the beets, which I’ve never prepared Asian-style before. Ginger and rice vinegar sound like great partners for beet. I imagine it would take on a lovely pickled flavor too, the longer it is stored.
Hello Saskia,
Thought of you when I was roasting the root veggies, definitely a 1=2 recipe.
Delicious stew, what a coincidence, I made oxtail stew for tonight’s dinner, similar seasonings.
Hello Mac,
Haven’t made oxtail for a long while, thanks for the reminder.
Hi Norma, I made your Asian Beet Salad for lunch today. It made for a colorful plate, along with a baked potato and some steamed spring asparagus and a fresh fruit salad, The beet salad was delicious and so easy to make. I imagine the leftover beet salad will be even better tomorrow, once the flavors have more of a chance to blend. But, it looked and smelled so good that we just had to try it today – so glad that we did. Thanks for sharing your recipes!
Hello Ginny,
Thanks a bunch for the feedback, really appreciate it. Glad you enjoyed the beet salad, yes the left over taste better. You sure eat healthy.
Love, love, love that recipe for your beef stew with the star anise, cinnamon and oranges. Very nice warming spices for these cooler spring days. I actually have everything in my pantry to make that tonight, sounds perfect. Wishing you a super week. BAM
Hello Bam,
Honestly, how cool is the weather in HK????? I don’t think you even get frost. We are still experiencing nighttime temp in the 20’s. Had a couple spring days last week but this week is back to below normal. I am so waiting for spring.
That beef stew sounds really good to me Norma. I’ve never had a stew with star anise in it before, and I imagine the roasted vegetables bring a good deal of flavor too. 🙂
Hello Kristy,
Star anise adds a licorice taste to the stew. Yes, the roasted root vegetables added a good deal of flavor, wish I had a larger supply in storage.
Your stew looks delicious, Norma! Do you think I could incorporate it into a crockpot dish and have it cooking while I’m at work? The Asian Beet Salad looks good too!
Hello Foodie,
I do not own a crockpot so don’t know. If I were to experiment, I would just cook the beef in the crockpot and add the roasted vegetables later to serve.
I am not a beef eater but your stew looks special & appetizing though! Could I use pork stewing meat instead?
Hello Sophie,
Yes, you can use pork, chicken or lamb.
yum! simple but satisfying, and I love slow-braised meat. it becomes so meltingly tender and the sauce, so rich and I bet even yummier and sweet with the root veg!
Hello Shuhan,
Yes, the roasted root vegetables added a great deal of flavor and texture to the stew.
The stew looks delicious! Would have been perfect for dinner tonight with the weather we’ve been having. Great post Norma!
Hello Anne,
Thanks. Hope you have better weather this week.