Braised Beef with Daikon (萝卜炖牛肉)

Blanch the beef

1. Cut the beef into bite-sized cubes. Put them into a pot and fill it with plenty of cold water.
2. Bring the water to a full boil. Let it boil for a couple of minutes while skimming off any foam appearing on the surface. Drain the beef and discard the water.

Braise the beef

1. Pour oil into a clean pot. Add ginger slices, star anise, bay leaves, cassia cinnamon, and Sichuan pepper. Sizzle them over low heat until fragrant.
2. Stir in the drained beef chunks and fry for a minute or so. Add chopped tomato, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, sugar, salt, and white pepper. Pour in about 1½ cups (360ml) of hot water, or just level with the meat.
3. Bring the water to a boil then turn down the heat to low. Cover the pot with a tight lid and let it simmer for 1 to 1½ hours, until the meat turns tender (see note 2 for the Instant Pot method).

Cook the daikon

1. Stir in the daikon pieces and garlic cloves. Cover the pot and leave to cook over medium heat for another 15 minutes or so, until the daikon becomes soft to bite.
2. Optionally, cook a little longer over high heat without the lid if you wish to reduce and thicken the broth.
3. Transfer the dish to a serving bowl/plate. Garnish with scallions or cilantro and serve immediately.