Tenderly…

I have been buying these packs of New Zealand premium beef brisket slices…

…prepared and packed by some place here in Sibu. This is so convenient – no need to buy those huge hard-as-a-rock frozen chunks and go through the chore of slicing them. Incidentally, the price may vary a little according to the weight of the meat inside.

My missus had taken at least two packs to cook already – I can’t remember what we had the first time but the second time around, she just defrosted and deep-fried and she complained that the meat was tough. I can recall quite clearly that no, it was not fall-off-the-bone tender but it was quite all right, not really that tough but I guess this would be best for curries, stews and soups where you can simmer for a longer time.

Anyway, the other day, I took a pack and I plucked a papaya leaf…

…from my garden. I pounded the leaf and mixed it well with the meat after I had defrosted it and I let it stand for over an hour.

Be forewarned that you must not over-tenderise the meat. Once I bought the bottled papaya juice, a meat tenderiser and that morning, I marinated the slabs of beef with it for our barbecue that night.  Everyone was complaining that the beef did not have the texture of meat, more like tofu and of course, it was not nice at all.

Anyway, back to what I did that morning, I rinsed the meat well to get rid of the bits of the leaf and cut it into smaller bite-size slices before throwing it into the slow cooker together with one big Bombay onion and a handful of black peppercorn…

…and I turned it on. When the juices had come out of the meat, I added water, potatoes – pre-peeled and cut into smaller chunks, and a bit of spices (star anise, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon) and left it to boil and cook.

When it was done, I sprinkled a bit of seasoning and added the chopped spring onions from my garden (no daun sup/Chinese parsley available at the moment) and my beef soup…

…was ready to be served!

Yes, it was so very nice – the soup was very flavourful and I don’t know whether it was the papaya leaf or the slow cooker or both but the meat was very tender. I sure would want to stock up on some more of those packs of beef brisket slices for use as and when the need arises.

SWEE HUNG (2.316161, 111.840441) is located along Jalan Ruby, in the block of shops on the right – next to a hair salon at the extreme end…and on the other end, to the left is the Kim Won Chinese Medical Store and Mini-supermarket.