Cocktail recipe — Gastrology

Gastrology bloggers dined courtesy of Ba'get.

Ba’get celebrates Mùa Đông (winter), with an array of warming winter Vietnamese dishes.

This week, we got out from the cold and into Ba’get’s warm kitchen where exotic spices and hot hearty stews were bubbling away.

Owner of Ba’get (and our host for the evening), Duy Huynh shared his recipe for Bo Kho (spicy beef stew) as we took a first look at what is new for the season at Ba’get.

Recipe: Bo Kho (spicy beef stew)

Ingredients

2 kg Gravy beef cubed

1 tb soy sauce

Spice salt:

3 tsp salt

4 star anise

1 cinnamon quill

12 cloves

10 cardamon pods

½ tsp Chinese five spice

3 Onions, coarsely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

2 lemongrass stalks, bashed

1 thumb sized knob of ginger, bashed 1 chilli (or as desired), halved

3 tb tomato paste

4 carrots, peeled & in large chunks % mandarin peel, pith removed

4 cups of beef stock

Fresh coriander & Thai basil to garnish

Method

Make spice salt: Toast spices in a dry pan on medium heat, and grind to a fine powder with salt
Combine beef, spice salt with soy sauce and marinate for 30 mins
In a wok, stirfy onions, garlic, lemongrass, chilli and ginger so they just take some colour. Add the beef and stiffly for 15 minutes. Add tomato paste, carrots and mandarin peel & continue to cook for another 5 minutes
Add beef stock and cook for 30 mins in a pressure cooker or on a gentle simmer for 2 hours or until tender. Serve garnished with Thai basil and coriander.

Serving suggestions

Bo Kho is traditionally served with a freshly baked baguette.

Our thoughts

The stew was delicious. We loved the mix of spices which made the broth both aromatic and moreish. Hearty, well-seasoned with beautiful flavours, the stew is winter comfort food at its best.

Cocktail Recipe: Chai Dreaming

Ingredients

1 heaped teaspoons of Chai Spices (such as Prana Chai)

1 tsp honey

Hot water

150 ml Soy milk

A shot of brandy

Fresh Ginger wedge Cinnamon stalk

Cinnamon sugar

Method

Add enough boiling water to cover Chai tea in a flask. Allow to infuse for 2 minutes.

Add honey and soy milk and heat with a steam wand or on a stove top to 75c

Add shot of brandy and pour into a mug garnished with ginger, cinnamon and ground cinnamon sugar.

Our thoughts

The Chai Dreaming cocktail was a stunner. A winter warmer that will knock the chill from your system this season, it had a lovely warmth from the use of fresh ginger that was soothing and comforting.