P
Chinese · Hong Kong
Chinese Braised Beef Brisket — Hong Kong Style (清湯腩)
Hong Kong's beloved braised beef brisket in clear broth (qing tang nan) — a decades-long institution. The brisket is braised with turnip in a spiced clear broth (star anise, dried tangerine peel, dried mushroom, ginger), creating a deeply savoury-clear preparation that showcases the brisket's collagen-rich character. Different from red-braised brisket — this is a clear, refined preparation.
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I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
1.2 kg
beef brisket
ideally a combination of flat brisket (nam nan) and point brisket (hang nam); cut into large pieces
Your own market
600 g
daikon radish
peeled, cut into large chunks
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the broth
3
star anise
Your own market
2
dried tangerine peel
pieces, soaked briefly in warm water
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
4
dried shiitake mushrooms
whole
Your own market
40 g
2 tbsp
light soy sauce
3 tbsp
Shaoxing wine
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1.5 litres
water
cold, for braising
Your own market
For blanching
2 litres
water
cold, for the initial blanch
Your own market
Each tap is counted, so the stockist sees the demand Provenance sends them.
II
The Method
1
Place the brisket pieces in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a vigorous boil over high heat and blanch for 8–10 minutes. Drain and rinse each piece thoroughly under cold running water, removing all grey foam, coagulated proteins, and surface impurities. The brisket surface should be visibly clean; the water running off each piece should run clear.
2
Return the cleaned brisket to the pot. Add the cold braising water, star anise, dried tangerine peel, dried shiitake mushrooms, and ginger. Bring to a gentle boil, then add the light soy sauce and Shaoxing wine. Reduce heat immediately to the lowest possible simmer. The surface should show only an occasional, lazy bubble — no rolling boil. This is where the dish lives or dies: a sustained rolling boil will cloud the broth irreversibly and tighten the brisket fibres; a steady, patient low simmer converts the collagen to gelatin and keeps the broth clean and clear. Maintain this simmer for 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours.
3
Add the daikon chunks to the pot. Continue to simmer gently for a further 45 minutes. The daikon is ready when it yields completely to a skewer or chopstick with no resistance at the centre, and has taken on a translucent, ivory appearance — it will have absorbed the brisket broth and coloured slightly.
4
Remove the brisket pieces and rest briefly. Test doneness by pressing a piece firmly: it should feel yielding and soft, with a slight resistance that confirms it will hold its shape when sliced. It must not feel as though it is beginning to pull apart under light pressure alone. Slice against the grain into pieces of approximately 1.5 cm.
5
Strain the broth through a fine sieve. Taste and adjust with a small measure of light soy sauce if required. The broth should be clear, a pale amber-gold, with a clean savoury depth and a faint sweetness from the daikon and tangerine peel. Ladle the hot clear broth into a separate bowl. Arrange the sliced brisket and daikon on a serving plate apart from the broth — the broth is served as its own course alongside.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Point brisket (hang nam) from a dry-aged grass-fed animal, yielding the maximum collagen and fat layering; dried tangerine peel aged several years for complexity; long-established aromatic broth reserved and replenished across multiple cooks in the Hong Kong shop tradition.
02
Estate — A combination of flat and point brisket cuts from a traceable source; quality dried shiitake and aged tangerine peel sourced from a Chinese provisions specialist; Shaoxing wine of drinking quality.
03
Market — Fresh flat brisket from a butcher willing to identify the cut; supermarket dried shiitake and tangerine peel; standard Shaoxing cooking wine.
04
House — Flat brisket only, with the fat layer intact — never trimmed lean; dried spices from a general Asian grocery; adequate at the table but the broth will lack the layered depth of the higher rungs.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. Blanching water and rinsing water run completely clear from each brisket piece before it enters the braise.
◇Sight. The braising surface shows only intermittent, slow bubbles throughout the full cooking period — never a rolling boil.
◇Sight. The finished strained broth is clear and pale amber-gold, free of cloudiness or grey sediment.
◇Touch. Daikon yields to a skewer with no resistance at the centre and appears translucent at the edges.
◇Touch. Brisket slices hold their shape under the knife and feel yielding but coherent under firm finger pressure — they do not pull apart.
◇Where it lives or dies. The broth must never exceed a lazy simmer: a rolling boil clouds it permanently and tightens the brisket, destroying the dish's defining clarity and silken texture.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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