Chinese Beef Tendon Recipe: Slow-Cooked Tendons with a Spicy Stew!
I don’t know why but I love beef tendons more than regular meat. The soft yet chewy texture of beef tendons is so lovely that I often make this recipe. As this recipe needs slow cooking, it is best for making on the weekend or a holiday.
Let me share my Chinese beef tendon recipe. This will be a highly flavorful recipe with lots of spices and sauces. So, be prepared to taste spicy beef tendons that will not only fill your appetite but also leave a flavorsome layer on your palette.
Table of Contents
Chinese Beef Tendon Recipe Overview
This dish doesn’t take a long preparation time, but you must be patient while cooking it. See the overview below.
| Cuisine: Chinese | Difficulty: Hard | ||
| Total Time: 2 hours 45 minutes | |||
| Serving | Preparation Time | Cooking Time | Calories |
| 4 persons | 15 minutes | 2 hours 30 minutes | 399 kcal |
Ingredients Needed for Chinese Beef Tendon Recipe
This rich dish will need a lot of ingredients. Make sure you organize everything on the following list.
Main Ingredients for the Recipe
- Beef Tendon: Take about 2 lbs of beef hoof tendons.
- Onion: 2-3 large onions, thinly sliced
- Ginger: 50g of ginger, thinly sliced
- Garlic: 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
- Scallion: ½ cup of chopped scallions
- Chili Bean Paste: 1 tbsp of chili bean paste. Use doubanjiang for the most authentic flavor.
- Soybean Paste: 2 tsp
- Rock Candy: 50g
- Wide Powder Noodles: 10-12 pcs. You can use other noodles but these go well with glutinous tendons.
- Cooking Oil: ½ cup
Sauces and Seasonings for the Recipe
- Light Soy Sauce: 4 tsp
- Dark Soy Sauce: 2 tsp
- Oyster Sauce: 2 tsp
- Cooking Wine: 2 tbsp
- Salt: 1 tbsp
- Sugar: 1 tsp
- Bay Leaves: 2 pcs
- Cinnamon: 1 pc
- Red Sichuan Pepper: 10 pcs
- Green Sichuan Pepper: 10 pcs
- Star Anise: 2 pcs
- Dried Chili Pepper: 8 pcs
- Green Chili Pepper: 2 pcs, thinly shredded
- Red Chili Pepper: 2 pcs, thinly shredded
Chinese Beef Tendon Recipe: Step-By-Step Instructions
As you might have already assumed, this is going to be a spicy dish. Let’s now go through the cooking process.
You Can Also Try Mapo Tofu Non-spicy Recipe
Step 1: Clean and Blanch the Beef Tendon
The first thing you should do is to wash the tendons thoroughly. Dirt can stick to the tendon, so check all the tendons carefully. After the final rinse, add the tendons to a pot of water.
Besides the tendons, add some sliced ginger, chopped scallions, and 2 tbsp of cooking wine to the water. Turn the heat to high and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Once you see the foams get released, skim them off. Blanching will remove the meaty smell from the tendons.
Step 2: Prepare the Aromatics
While beef tendons are cooking, you should prepare all the aromatics. Cut the onion, garlic, ginger, etc., as directed above. Then, keep all the dry spices so that they are easy to use.
You Can Also Try Vegan Mapo Tofu Recipe
Step 3: Caramelize the Tendons
This will be the beginning of the main cooking process. Put the oil in a wok or a large pan and let it heat up. Add the rock candy to the hot oil and fry it. Then, put the tendons and let them caramelize for some time.
Step 4: Add the Aromatics and Dry Spices
You don’t have to be picky about putting the spices or aromatics. Keep adding them in whatever order you want. I added the onion, ginger, and garlic first. Then, I put 1 tbsp of Doubanjiang or chili bean paste and fried until it released the red oil.
Then, I added all the dry spices, such as the bay leaves, cinnamon, red Sichuan pepper, green Sichuan pepper, star anise, and dried chili pepper. Fry everything until the spices start to release fragrance.
Step 5: Add the Sauces
Once the beef tendon becomes caramelized and fragrant, you can start adding the sauces. Put the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce into the pan. Also, add the soybean paste and cook it for some time to get rid of the raw smell.
Step 6: Simmer for Two Hours
Beef tendons taste amazing when they are slow-cooked. Transfer the fried beef tendons to a stew pot. Put water so that all the tendons are covered. Close the lid and cook the tendons for about two hours on low heat.
Step 7: Add the Wide Noodles
Once the sauce has thickened and the beef tendons have become glossy, add the wide powder noodles and cook for five more minutes. Just before taking the tendons off the heat, add shredded green and red peppers.
Step 8: Serve with Rice
These soft tendons with the silky smooth sauce are super tasty with white rice. Sprinkle some chopped scallions on top for garnish and enjoy.
Nutrition Facts of Chinese Beef Tendon Recipe
This spicy and delicious dish is also rich in nutrients. You will get the approximate amount of nutrients below.
- Total Carbohydrates: 2.5g
- Protein: 42.3g
- Total Fat: 13.2g
- Saturated Fat: 4.9g
- Polyunsaturated Fat: 3.7g
- Monounsaturated Fat: 3g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Total Dietary Fiber: 0.6g
- Total Sugar: 1.2g
- Cholesterol: 111mg
- Sodium: 691mg
- Potassium: 597mg
- Calcium: 3mg
- Iron: 17mg
- Vitamin A: 2IU
- Vitamin C: 2mg
Chinese Beef Tendon Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- The first thing you should do is to wash the tendons thoroughly. Dirt can stick to the tendon, so check all the tendons carefully. After the final rinse, add the tendons to a pot of water.
- Besides the tendons, add some sliced ginger, chopped scallions, and 2 tbsp of cooking wine to the water. Turn the heat to high and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Once you see the foams get released, skim them off. Blanching will remove the meaty smell from the tendons.
- While beef tendons are cooking, you should prepare all the aromatics. Cut the onion, garlic, ginger, etc., as directed above. Then, keep all the dry spices so that they are easy to use.
- This will be the beginning of the main cooking process. Put the oil in a wok or a large pan and let it heat up. Add the rock candy to the hot oil and fry it. Then, put the tendons and let them caramelize for some time.
- You don’t have to be picky about putting the spices or aromatics. Keep adding them in whatever order you want. I added the onion, ginger, and garlic first. Then, I put 1 tbsp of Doubanjiang or chili bean paste and fried until it released the red oil.
- Then, I added all the dry spices, such as the bay leaves, cinnamon, red Sichuan pepper, green Sichuan pepper, star anise, and dried chili pepper. Fry everything until the spices start to release fragrance.
- Once the beef tendon becomes caramelized and fragrant, you can start adding the sauces. Put the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and oyster sauce into the pan. Also, add the soybean paste and cook it for some time to get rid of the raw smell.
- Beef tendons taste amazing when they are slow-cooked. Transfer the fried beef tendons to a stew pot. Put water so that all the tendons are covered. Close the lid and cook the tendons for about two hours on low heat.
- Once the sauce has thickened and the beef tendons have become glossy, add the wide powder noodles and cook for five more minutes. Just before taking the tendons off the heat, add shredded green and red peppers.
- These soft tendons with the silky smooth sauce are super tasty with white rice. Sprinkle some chopped scallions on top for garnish and enjoy.
FAQs
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about the Chinese beef tendon recipe. These answers might help you.
Which traditional Chinese seasonings or sauces are used to flavor beef tendon dishes?
Chili bean paste or Doubanjiang is one of the traditional seasonings that are used to flavor beef tendons. Besides, cooking wine, soy sauce, and oyster sauce are also used in this recipe.
Can beef tendon be used in other Chinese dishes besides standalone dishes?
Of course! Besides cooking beef tendons on their own, you can use tendons with any other beef dishes.
Should I cut beef tendons into small pieces before cooking them?
Cutting the beef tendons is optional. You can cook them as a whole or cut them into small pieces. Smaller pieces get cooked faster. But as we are cooking this for a long time, large pieces won’t be a problem.
How long can I store cooked beef tendons?
If you store in a refrigerator, you can keep cooked beef tendons for about 2-3 days. You can also keep it in the fridge for a few months and reheat it when you need it.
Conclusion
As beef tendons are tough, many people avoid cooking them. But if properly cooked, beef tendons can also be super soft and delicious. I prefer this slow-cooking process which softens the tendons and lets them absorb the flavors from spices and sauces.
Even though you need a lot of spices and sauces for this Chinese beef tendon recipe, this will be a surefire hit among your family and friends. That gelatinous texture of beef tendons and the saucy glaze on top is promised to make you hungry.
2 Comments
Ramone Burrell
May 22, 2024 at 5:42 pm
Very good recipe! I bought a pack of beef tendons recently and I was wondering if I should make them in soup or do something else. I will try this recipe this weekend instead.
Jiahe Kuang
May 23, 2024 at 2:47 am
Thanks sir, I am writing for readers like you.