Note: if you're looking for a different way to cook beef brisket,
this is it. The beef is slow-cooked; it is important not to
skimp on the cooking time as that will lead to the meat being
quite tough.
Note: requires a metal casserole or other lidded oven pot; if you
don't have one you can improvise by using a roasting tin and
sheets of foil to cover it.
Note: freezes and reheats really well.
Ingredients
For the beef:
2.5 kg beef brisket
2 tbsp flour
2 large onions sliced into rings
2 cinnamon sticks, chopped in half
6 kaffir lime leaves
everything except 4 tbsp of the cream from 1 can of
unsweetened coconut milk
olive oil
For the spice paste:
8 red chillies, roughly chopped (not deseeded if you like
your heat)
5 large shallots, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 tbsp fresh ginger, roughly chopped
3 stalks of lemon grass, roughly chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
1.5 tsp salt
0.25 tsp ground cloves
4 tbsp of the cream from 1 can of unsweetened coconut milk
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 C.
Zizz all of the ingredients for the spice paste together in
a food processor.
Coat the brisket with the flour.
Add some oil to the metal casserole and fry the brisket on
a high heat until browned all over.
Set the meat aside, add a little more oil to the casserole
and cook the spice paste on a medium heat for 5 minutes, until
it begins to brown,
Set the spice paste aside, add a little more oil to the
casserole and cook the onions for 5 minutes, until they have
softened somewhat.
Turn off the heat, pour the coconut milk over the onions
and stir.
Cut any string from the meat, place it on top of the onions
and apply the spice paste all over it with the back of a
spoon.
Scatter the lime leaves and cinnamon sticks about in the
casserole, cover, and place in the oven.
After 30 minutes, baste the meat and turn the heat down to
160 C.
Cook for 2 hours, basting every hour.
Remove the meat from the oven and, with a really
sharp knife, slice it into 4 mm-thick slices, trying to keep
it in its shape.
Baste the meat once more, making sure to get juices between
the slices, and then return it to the oven for a further 30
minutes cooking time.