Braised bush beef and rice with smoky pineapple chimichurri

Inspired by an outback Aussie cattle station classic, this rich braised beef dish adds a tropical twist with a barbecued pineapple chimichurri.

Braised bush beef and rice with smoky pineapple chimichurri. Credit: Taste of The Tropics

• serves

  4

• prep

  40 minutes

• cook

  2 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

Beef and Marinade

• 1.3 kg bush beef (or use a gamey cut such as skirt steak, or venison; see Note)
• 1 ripe fresh pineapple (canned pineapple does not have the acid required to tenderise the meat)
• 30 g ginger, sliced
• 40 g garlic cloves, peeled
• 20 g fresh turmeric, peeled (see Note)
• 20 g soy sauce
• 20 g oyster sauce
• 10 g fish sauce
• 1 tbsp raw honey or bush honey
• 60 g tamarind puree
• 8 whole cloves
• 3 whole star anise
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 whole cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp whole white peppercorn
• 1 tsp nutmeg, freshly shaved during cooking
• 10 g ground pepperberry
• 20 g ground wattleseed
• 3 tbsp tallow (beef fat)
• 1 stalk lemongrass root (30 g), bruised
• 1 whole medium brown onion, peeled and quartered
• Salt to taste

Rice

• 2 cups short grain rice
• 3 cups water

Chimichurri

• 2 tsp fresh oregano, finely chopped (substitute dried oregano if needed)
• 4 whole ripe limes
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 long red chilli, de-seeded
• 5 g salt

Choy sum

• 50 g sesame oil
• 2 bunches of choy sum
• Pinch of salt

The braising time will vary depending on how the beef is cooked: 1 hour with a pressure cooker, 2-3 hours in a camp oven, or all day in a slow cooker.

Instructions

1. Marinade beef: Dice beef into chunky 2 cm cubes and place in a large bowl.
2. Peel pineapple, remove core and dice one half into 2 cm cubes. Set other half aside for the chimichurri.
3. Weigh 330 g of the diced pineapple and add to blender (or Thermomix). Use any remaining diced pineapple for the chimichurri. Add the ginger, garlic and turmeric to the blender. Then add the soy, oyster and fish sauces, honey and tamarind puree. Blend on medium speed until mostly pureed (in Thermomix, blend for 30 seconds on 3.5).
4. Once pureed, pour into the marinade bowl with the beef, and massage well. Set aside to marinade for 20 minutes (any longer and the acid in the pineapple will over-tenderise the meat and make the meat mushy).
5. Grind dry spices: Use a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to grind cloves, star anise, coriander seeds, cinnamon and white peppercorns to a powder. Shave in the nutmeg with a microplane and add the pepperberry andwattleseed.
6. Barbecue the beef: Heat barbecue if using. Take the beef from the pineapple marinade (don’t throw away the marinade!) and wipe the excess marinade off. Cook over an open fire or barbeque over a low, smoky heat until browned, turning frequently and if possible adding smoking chips for lots of flavour.
7. While at the barbeque, cook the pineapple for the chimichurri: Take the remainder of the fresh pineapple and slice into 1 cm thick slices. Barbeque over a low smoky fire for about 10 to 15 minutes, or until it takes on lots of that smoky flavour. Allow pineapple to cool, then finely dice, or blitz in a blender in short bursts, to a coarse consistency.
8. Fry spices and cook beef: Heat tallow in a pressure cooker on high heat, or a cast iron camp oven over a medium-heat open fire. Once hot, add ground spices, smashed lemongrass and the peeled and quartered onion. Fry until fragrant, stirring constantly, about 3-4 minutes.
9. Add the smoky barbequed beef and the saucy pineapple marinade. Pressure cook for 25 minutes. If outdoors, leave in the camp oven over the coals on a low heat for 2 to 3 hours. (This could also be left to cook in a slow cooker all day).
10. Cook rice: Cook the short grain rice in your favourite way. At home, my favourite way is with a Korean rice cooker that makes the rice soft and fluffy. Outdoors, add the rice and water to a heavy camp oven with a lid and cook slowly for around 25 minutes, until you can hear the rice gently sizzling on the bottom of the pan.
11. Make chimichurri: Place pineapple into a bowl, add the oregano and freshly squeeze lime juice by hand over the bowl, to taste. This method extracts some of those delicious oils from the skin, enhancing the flavour and complexity, just as it does with muddling a mojito or caipirinha. Finely dice garlic. De-seed and finely dice the chilli. Add garlic and chilli to bowl. Stir together and add salt to taste.
12. Cook choy sum: Heat a wok or steel pan over high heat. Add sesame oil, quickly add the choy sum and salt, briefly toss for 20 to 30 seconds to wilt and char the greens and remove.
13. To serve: Serve the rice and beef with choy sum and finish with a tablespoon or two of the pineapple chimichurri.

Note

• I use wild bush beef for this recipe; however, you can substitute for any flavoursome cut of beef – think skirt steak, or beef cheeks – or lean into a game meat such as venison. The stronger flavoured meat will shine with all the warm earthy spices in this recipe!
• If fresh turmeric is not available, frozen whole turmeric can be found in most Asian grocery stores.

 

See this recipe in Taste of The Tropics season 2 episode 1, Foodie Friends, on SBS Food and SBS on Demand from 30 April. See season 1 at SBS On Demand now.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.