This recipe reminded me a lot of a New York Times recipe by Sarah Digregorio that I make at least once a month, Honey-Soy Braised Pork with Ginger and Lime. They are similar in ingredients, flavor and cooking method. So I wasn’t at all surprised that we loved it. The biggest (obvious) difference between them was using beef brisket, which I had never cooked before. Partially because it’s expensive, partially because I found it intimidating. This project is forcing me to go out of my comfort zone all the time though, so now was as good a time as any to jump into brisket.
The meat spends a total of 3 and a half hours on the stove over a low simmer, which means you spend 3 and a half hours smelling your dinner. It’s like having a fresh chocolate chip cookie dangled in front of your face for multiple hours. Annoying, but wow, what a delicious-looking cookie.
A 3.5 lb. hunk of brisket is one big piece of meat. I practically needed two sets of tongs to lift it in and out of my Dutch oven. Before the clock starts on smelling your dinner, the beef is seared until deeply browned on all sides. Then the honey gets her time at the bottom of the Dutch oven to caramelize and become thinner so that it can coat heads of garlic, quartered onions, and spices. Once the onions are softened, the meat is nestled back in the pot, along with beef broth (or chicken broth), soy sauce, wine vinegar and fish sauce. Then the timer begins.
210 minutes later, the fall-apart tender brisket is ready to be cut. By now the onions have become very soft memories of their former selves and pair perfectly with the meat in each bite, as do the confit garlic cloves. The braising liquid should be spooned over the top to keep everything moist and full of umami.
The closing statement to this dish is lots and lots of herbs. Alison calls for 4 cups of herbs (cilantro, mint, & basil) to be sprinkled over the top of the meat. It’s a veritable salad. And while J was worried they would get in the way of the meat, I found they were the perfect companion. I’ve never before had a salad made entirely of herbs, but this dish changed that and I am beginning to think of herbs more as standalone essentials and less as inconsequential flourishes. That’s one concept I know Alison believes in.
12 recipes cooked, 213 recipes to go.
