I’ve been making braised beef shank for many years, but the end product had never quite matched the description in my cook book. I’ve tried braising in a cast iron pot for 2 hours. I’ve also left the beef shank in a crock pot for 8 hours. In the end, I’ve never achieved the jellied braising sauce until now.

To start, I adapted the braised beef shank recipe from Ken Hom’s Fragrant Harbor Taste. I vacuum sealed the following ingredients in a FoodSaver bag, and let it marinate for a few hours.

1½-2 lbs of beef shank
6 star anise
2 Tbsp whole unroasted Sichuan peppercorns
2 oz rock sugar
3 Tbsp dark soy sauce
1½ Tbsp light soy sauce
4 slices of ginger
2 two-inch sticks of cinnamon
2 tsp five-spice powder

Next, I cooked the beef shank at 175°F for 16 hours. When the beef shank was done, I removed it from the bag and filtered the reserved juices. For the first time, the braising sauce coagulated from all the gelatin extracted from the shank. The meat was incredibly tender.

I sliced the beef shank thinly, added a dab of hoisin sauce, and wrapped it all up in a green onion pancake.