These delicious slow-cooked beef cheeks are just what the doctor ordered this winter! In fact, once you taste how good they are you will probably want them all year round!
sponsored by Mont Wines, Victoria
Why You Will Love These Beef Cheeks
These braised beef cheeks are super simple to make it's hard not to love them. Yes, they take a few hours in the oven but the heavingly aromas wafting through your home are 100% worth it. Filled with Asian flavours the beef cheeks will melt in your mouth. A silky smooth carrot and ginger puree, punchy name him dressing and a simple crispy shallot and coriander garnish. This dish is surprisingly simple to make but also will wow any dinner party guests!
How To Make Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks
There are a number of ingredients that go into making this dish but if you are an avid cook like myself then a lot of these are pantry staples. If this is the first time using these ingredients then don't stress as your local supermarket stocks them all and the shelf life on the bottle ingredients means you will have plenty time to whip this masterpiece up again!
Asian Beef Cheeks
As you have probably guessed we use a number of Asian ingredients for these slow cooked beef cheeks. I found all of these at my local grocery store so don't worry about having to run all over the place to locate them!
Once seared - remember colour = flavour so don't scrimp on this part all you need to do is weigh/measure out all the ingredients and pop them in an oven-proof dish and let the oven do the work. These slow-cooked beef cheeks are really that simple!!
Carrot Puree
It doesn't get any easier than making a puree. Chop your veggies into even sized pieces. I like mine to be about an inch thick so that they can take on more of the delicious ginger notes when cooking. Add a knob of ginger to the pot along with the stock and simmer until fork tender. Then just pop the carrots and braising liquid (minus the ginger) into a blender with a knob of butter and blitz until smooth.
Top tip - run your puree through a sieve to remove any lumps for a super smooth texture!
Nam Jim Dressing
Once again - no crazy hard to find ingredients here and keeping it simple with just blitzing everything in a blender! Grab your chilli, coriander, lime, fish sauce, oil, garlic, spring onion and sugar and let the food processor/blender take care of the rest.
FAQ's
A couple of faq's that will help you along the way and after you have cooked the slow-cooked beef cheeks but don't forget to add a comment below, email me, hit me up on the contacts page or DM me on Instagram if you have any further Q's
You sure can - most slow cooked foods are best prepared in advance as when they cool they often take on more of the flavours. My advice is not to reduce the sauce fully if you are planning on reheating. Reheating the beef cheeks is simple. Place them in the oven at about 150c, add a little water to the pan and allow to slowly come up to temperature.
Anything that is supposed to be cooked low n slow will work. Ossobucco, chuck beef, short ribs or even some lamb shanks will work too!
100% - that's one of the things I love about bee cheeks is their freezeability. Great to whip out midweek for a fancy meal in minutes. Remove from the freezer the night before or morning of and allow to defrost slowly. Then follow my instructions above on reheating. The puree will also freeze but I'd recommend making the nam jim fresh!
Mont Wines
Marty "Mont" Burns - the master behind the wines of Mont wines is a top-notch guy producing small-batch wines from Victoria, Australia. We have collaborated together on all his wines (except the rose) to date and I can 100% say I have none left in the house as everyone has gone down too easily.
So, if like me you need to re-stock or just purchase your first bottle to go alongside my delicious Asian slow-cooked beef cheeks dish then use this code (AFB20) to get 20% off and free delivery!!
Asian Style Beef Cheek Wine Pairing
People often ask me when it comes to pairing the food and wine together what comes first. Do, I sit at home getting smashed all day drinking wines or do I think of a recipe first and pair it with the wines. Truth is, a little of both. More often than not I will have tasted the wine a good while ago and put some notes together in this nerdy app I use but sometimes it's a last-minute taste and make a plan.
With these slow-cooked beef cheeks I actually made the dish long before I tasted the shiraz - it's only a recent release. Typically we think whites like rieslings for Asian food but I knew this needed a red that wasn't too full to stand up to the bold flavours of the slow-cooked beef cheeks. One that wasn't too high in tannins and had good fruit content and acidity too. Well, once I cracked a bottle of the Mont Wines Pyrennes Shiraz I knew it would pair a treat.
Easy drinking, medium bodied shiraz was my initial thought. Plums, a touch of raisins, blackcurrant and a kiss of oak and vanilla coming through. A nice bit of spice on the back palate, balanced acidity and a finish of medium length. This wine is perfect with the beef cheeks and one that you will open any night of the week and be happy!
Alternative Beef Cheek Recipes
Beef cheeks are one of my favourite cuts to eat - in fact, and luckily for me the family all love them too! Check out these alternative beef cheek recipes once you have enjoyed making this recipe 😉
- Beef Cheek Ragu by Yours Truly
- Slow Cooked Beef Cheek Tacos by Emily Rhodes of 'Steam and Bake'
- Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks Recipe by Julie Carlyle of 'ThermoKitchen'
- Beef Cheeks, Polenta & Kale Pesto by Yours Truly
Happy Cooking & Happy Eating Friends!
Ingredients
Beef Cheeks
- 1 kg beef cheeks 4 cheeks
- 150 ml soy sauce
- 75 ml hoisin sauce
- 75 ml kecap manis
- 1 lemongrass roughly chopped
- 2 inch piece of ginger roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 red chilli - roughly chopped
- 150 ml chinese cooking wine
- 600 ml water
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Carrot Puree
- 300 g carrots
- 400 ml vegetable stock
- 1 inch piece of ginger
- 50g butter
- 1 pinch salt
Nam Jim
- 1 green chili
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 spring onions
- 4 tbsp lime
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp palm sugar
- 1 handful coriander
Garnish
- 1 red chili
- 4 tbsp crispy shallots
- coriander
Essential Tools
- Dutch oven
- Blender
- Chef Knives
- Chopping board
- Measuring utensils
- Baking paper
Instructions
Beef Cheeks
- In a dutch oven fry the sear the beef cheeks in 1 tbsp oil until browed all over – approx. 6 minutes
- Mix together the hoisin, water, kecap manis, soy & cooking wine
- Add the liquids and garlic, ginger & lemongrass to the pot
- Bring to a simmer, place a cartouche (see tips) on top and cover with a lid
- Bake @ 150c for 2.5-3 hours or until beef cheeks are fork tender
Carrot Puree
- Peel & dice carrots and place in a saucepan with stock and ginger
- Simmer until fork tender – approx. 10/12 minutes
- Place carrots in a blender along with 75ml of stock and butter
- Blend until smooth, adding more of the cooking stock if necessary
Nam Jim
- Roughly chop the chili, garlic & spring onion
- Place in a blender with remaining ingredients and blend until smooth(ish)
Notes
Tips/Tricks
- every component of this dish can be made in advance so it is the PERFECT dinner party food as you don’t need to be in the kitchen sweating away!
- a cartouche is a covering made from baking paper that goes on top of the food that is being braised to allow some evaporation but keeps the food moist. To make one simply cut some baking paper to the size of the pot you are using
- don’t worry if the liquid doesn’t cover the meat fully – my pot was quite wide so ½ way through the cooking I just turned the meat
- you can use the sauce straight from the pot but if you want a deeper richer flavour then reduce it further
- if making this in advance then add about 100ml extra water when reheating the beef cheeks
I had to do a dinner party for 20 and these were fantastic. I chopped the cheeks in 1/2 for cooking. I double cooked them cooking for around 2 1/2 - 3 hrs day before and they were in the oven for maybe 1 1/2 to 2 hours before party. Feel apart.
I paired it with Kaffir Lime and Coconut mushy peas which made this dish beef sing and can also be done ahead of time.
I also served along with a version of baby heritage carrots done in a gingery stock.
This pea recipe is a winner. Everyone loved them and perfect with the beef and nam prick sauce. The original recipe had pan seared cod on top and a few crushed wasabi peas and a drizzle of lemon and olive oil.
Kaffir Lime and Coconut mushy peas
400g frozen baby peas
4-5 kaffir lime leaves - remove spine in middle and roughly chop.
1 small garlic clove grated
1/3 c coconut milk/ cream
2-3 tbsp fish sauce (or more to taste)
Pour boiling water over frozen peas and let sit for 2 mins. (keeps them nice and green) Blend a few peas and other ingredients until smooth. (Note sometimes the leaves can be a bit difficult to get smooth.) The stick blender seemed to cope. Then add roughly half peas and blend to rough puree and stir through rest of peas or blend until happy consistency. Season with salt and pepper and extra fish sauce if required.
I just reheated very gently over a 30 mins by setting the whole bowl of mushy peas into another bowl/pot filled with boiling water but on bench to warm through slowly. Keep covered but stir and replenish boiling water if required until warm and ready to serve. Probably could reheat in pot or microwave easily but I was doing a crowd of 20 so didn't want to risk loosing the colour and overcooking.
Any tips to make this gluten free? What is best to sub for the Chinese cooking wine?
Cat - thanks for the message. You can substitute tamari for soy and dry sherry is actually the best substitute for Chinese cooking wine. It won’t be 100% the same but it’ll get you as close as you can for substituted ingredients. Hope this helps
I made these last night - instead of using substitutions I drove 3 hours to get to an Asian grocery store - and they were worth it. Thanks for the lovely recipe; it is indeed an impressive meal and my guests loved it. I did cut my beef cheeks in half before cooking and made a second batch in another pot and also doubled the other components. I also made steamed wontons for a starter and this fed the six of us. The meal was a huge hit - thanks again!
Hi there! The recipe sounds amazing and we've got it all lined up for a dinner party tomorrow however our oven has just broken! If we were to use a slow cooker how long would you recommend cooking it in there for? I've seen other beef cheek recipes done for 8 hours in a slow cooker on low? Thanks in advance!
Dominic, thanks for the message and you are right - she is a tasty number 😉. You can cook them on the stove top in about 2 hours but I find that you need to stir them regularly so they don’t burn or in a slow cooker for 7-8hrs. You want them to retain their shape for serving but that should do you right. Alternatively if you have a BBQ you can use it like an oven and cook on indirect heat. In a foil tray and use a trivet so that the tray isn’t touching the heat source. Any other Q’s hit me up on @another_food_blogger on insta for a quicker response 😉
Me again. If I have to sub with the small red chilies how many would you suggest? Thanks!
Hey Heidi - thanks for the Q’s! Any form of lemongrass will do! The flavour might be a little different if you use pre-minced stuff but it’ll still taste great. I assume you mean Birdseye chili’s? I think they are twice as hot as red cayenne so prob cut the amount in half. Hope that helps
Thanks but wait, looks like the red chili is for garnish only? It's not listed with the beef cheek ingredients but is shown in the pot with the broth? What chili can I sub for the green one? I don't want to mess up the Nam Jim! By the way, I just found your website and I love your recipes.
Heidi - that is a bit confusing alrite!! I added 1 red chilli into the broth but as you rightly pointed out neglected to put it in the recipe. I’ll update it now. The nam jim uses green chilli as the colour was green but if you substitute a red chili the flavor will be ok. The only difference is it might be a little browner looking. Hope that helps. FYI - I’m @another_food_blogger on insta and you will get a quicker response if you message me there 😉
I'd love to make this this weekend, they sound amazing and perfect for the guests I'm having over. I've moved to a fairly remote area and it's almost winter here. Chances of finding fresh lemongrass are slim. Do you think packaged lemongrass would work well enough? (If I'm lucky enough to find that!)
This recipe could not have been easier to make. The smell of the cheeks during cooking was amazing. I cooked 6 in the same amount of liquid and they cooked to perfection at exactly 3hrs. The only alteration I made was to sub Maple syrup for the palm sugar. I also reduced the sauce to a thick glaze.
The standout for me was the carrot and Ginger puree. I've never thought to make anything like it and it complimented the cheeks perfectly! Thanks for another great recipe
My pleasure Grace! What's next on the list?
Delcious and oh so easy to make! Recipe is very easy to follow and the results speak for themselves! Clean plates around the dinner table and no left overs remain! 🙌🙌
SO happy to hear you enjoyed it and thanks for the pics too!