Sticky hoisin and five-spice brisket
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
Sticky hoisin and five-spice brisket
Let the oven do all the work for this one-tin, Chinese-inspired brisket. Slow-roasted with hoisin and Chinese five spice until pull-apart tender, it's piled into pancakes on night one and added to a quick egg-fried rice the next day. See Cook's Tip for what to add to make that egg-fried rice
Prep time: 35 minsTotal time: 
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Head of Food. She loves the precision and creativity of baking, turning fridge odds-and-ends into a weeknight pasta, and is always bookmarking new restaurants to try. She's happiest hosting friends around a table overflowing with food (and insisting everyone has seconds) or planning holidays around what to eat.
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Head of Food. She loves the precision and creativity of baking, turning fridge odds-and-ends into a weeknight pasta, and is always bookmarking new restaurants to try. She's happiest hosting friends around a table overflowing with food (and insisting everyone has seconds) or planning holidays around what to eat.
Ingredients
- 100g hoisin sauce
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp runny honey
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- juice of 2 oranges (about 125ml)
- 3 tsp Chinese five spice
- 50g ginger, finely grated or chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, finely grated or crushed
- approx. 1.7kg beef brisket joint
To serve (double if serving 8)
- 1 x 115g pack Chinese pancakes
- 1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
- 1 bunch spring onions, cut into matchsticks
- extra hoisin sauce, to serve (optional)
Step by step
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Preheat the oven to 170°C, fan 150°C, gas 3½. Put all the ingredients apart from the beef brisket in a bowl. Whisk to combine. Snip the strings off the brisket, unroll and trim off the excess fat. Cut into 4 large, similarly sized chunks. Transfer to a roasting tin in which the chunks fit quite snugly, then pour the sauce all over the meat, basting it to ensure it’s well coated. Pour 75ml water into the base of the tin. Cover with a sheet of crumpled baking paper, then tightly cover the tin with foil.
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Transfer to the oven and roast for 5-6 hours, turning the brisket pieces over and basting well with the sauce halfway through, until the beef is very tender and can be pulled apart easily.
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Use two forks to pull apart the meat in the tin, then toss it through the sauce until it’s coated and sticky. Warm the pancakes according to pack instructions, then serve with half the sticky pulled brisket, the cucumber and spring onion matchsticks, and extra hoisin sauce, if you like.
Any leftovers? Why not make five-spice brisket egg-fried rice...
Heat 1 tablespoon of sesame oil in a large frying pan or wok set over a medium-high heat. Pour in 4 beaten eggs, scramble until just set, then transfer to a bowl. Add a further 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to the pan with 1 tablespoon of garlic and ginger paste, the whites of 6 sliced spring onions and the leftover brisket. Stir-fry until the beef has broken up. Tip in 2 x 250g pouches long grain white rice and stir-fry until hot. Season with 1-2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, stir through the eggs, and serve topped with the spring onion greens and a drizzle of chilli oil, if liked.
