Spiced Shin of Beef - Main

Cooking Recipes Ingredients:
1.5 kg beef shin
1/2” thick slice of ginger -- peeled and crushed
2 whole star anise (baht goh) broken into pieces
1 cup dark soy sauce
2 cups water
50 g Chinese rock sugar (pale yellow crystal lumps)
2 tablespoons sweet Chinese wine -- Mei Kuei Lu Chiew (Rose Wine)

Cooking Recipes Directions
Rinse the beef well and tie with string to keep in shape. Pierce the meat through and through all over with a metal skewer.
Put the beef into a pot that fits it snugly and add enough water to just cover it. Remove meat, add the wine to the water and bring to the boil. Replace the meat and boil rapidly for three minutes. Drain and rinse well with cold water, wash out the pot. This exercise removes the scum from the meat and the wine adds a subtle flavour.
Place the ginger in the pot with all the other ingredients -- if there’s not enough liquid to cover add a little more water, if you need to add a lot more water add some more soy sauce too. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently (the liquid should be only just bubbling) for 1½ to 2 hours or until tender. You should be able to pierce it easily with a skewer.
Turn off the heat and leave until completely cold. Remove meat, drain and dry well and wrap in foil. Place on a plate, invert another plate on top with a weight on it -- tins of canned food do fine -- and refrigerate overnight. Slice very thinly, serve as a starter with pickles or as a light meal with bread and salad.