5-spice beef bourguignon
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Ant Duncan
5-spice beef bourguignon
All the comfort of the classic French stew but with a Chinese flavour twist. Meltingly tender beef in a rich red-wine sauce is flavoured with Chinese 5-spice, star anise and shiitake mushrooms for a hearty winter warmer. Let the casserole take centre stage on the table and serve with buttery mashed potatoes and steamed green beans
Serves: 6-8
Prep time: 45 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
488Kcal
Fat
20gr
Saturates
7gr
Carbs
17gr
Sugars
9gr
Fibre
5gr
Protein
56gr
Salt
1.3gr
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our former Junior Food Editor. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our former Junior Food Editor. An obsessive foodie with a sweet tooth, she is happiest when baking and is a firm believer that there is always room for dessert (preferably following a big bowl of pasta)
See more of Abigail Spooner’s recipes
Ingredients
- 1.5kg casserole beef steak
- about 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 celery sticks, cut into chunks
- 500g carrots, cut into chunks
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1½ tbsp Chinese 5-spice
- 3 tbsp plain flour
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 750ml full-bodied fruity red wine (such as shiraz)
- 3 star anise
- 1 beef stock cube
- 20g butter
- 1 x 300g pack chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered if large
- 1 x 120g pack shiitake mushrooms
- 6 spring onions, finely sliced
Step by step
To store
The casserole keeps for 3-4 days in the fridge, or freezes well.
- Cut the beef steak into chunky 4cm pieces and season well. Heat 1½ tablespoons of oil in a large flameproof casserole and brown the beef in 3-4 batches, over a high heat, adding a little more oil as necessary. Set aside on a large plate.
- Add a further ½ tablespoon oil to the pan and cook the onion, celery and carrots over a medium- low heat for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and Chinese-5 spice and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring. Preheat the oven to 170°C, fan 150°C, gas 3½.
- Return the beef to the casserole, along with the resting juices, and stir in the plain flour and tomato purée. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Pour in the wine plus 150ml water and drop in the star anise. Bring the mixture up to a simmer then crumble in the stock cube and stir well.
- Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven for 2 hours, or until the beef is almost completely tender – cook for longer if necessary.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large frying pan and cook the mushrooms over a fairly high heat, until golden brown. Set aside.
- After the casserole has been in the oven for 2 hours, stir in the mushrooms. Return to the oven for a further 20 minutes, then uncover for a final 20 minutes. The beef should be very tender and the sauce thickened. Leave to rest for 10 minutes.
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To serve, stir most of the spring onions through the casserole and scatter over the rest to garnish.Got a slow cooker?Brown the beef in a large frying pan, in batches, and add to your slow cooker pot. Fry the veg on a high heat for a few minutes until starting to brown then add the garlic and Chinese 5-spice. Mix in the flour and tomato purée and stir for 2 minutes, then add just 500ml red wine plus 100ml water (less liquid is required in a slow cooker), the star anise and crumbled stock cube. Bring to a simmer then pour over the beef in the pot. Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on low, or 4 hours on high, adding the mushrooms for the final hour (lid on).
