Braised beef using low-temperature cooking method

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 800 g roast beef, e.g. drumstick
• 1 bunch of soup vegetables (carrots, celery, leeks, parsley)
• 1 onion(s)
• salt and pepper
• 1 piece(s) ginger root, fingertip-sized
• 1 rosemary sprig(s)
• Balsamic vinegar or other vinegar
• Soy sauce without additives
• Vegetable oil for frying

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 6 hours; Total time approx. 6 hours 15 minutes

The natural taste of the ingredients is the top priority, very natural

Preheat the oven to just under 80°C. Salt the roast generously all over (rub the salt in thoroughly), and let it stand. Clean the vegetables, but don’t peel them if possible. Trim the ends of the carrots (do not peel them), and cut diagonally into 3 cm slices. Remove the outer leaves from the leeks, trim them, and cut into 3 cm slices. Peel the skin off the onions, barely trimming the roots. Halve the onions and cut into eighths, keeping the eighths together. Peel and trim the celery, and cut into 3 cm cubes. Clean the ginger thoroughly (do not peel them), and roughly slice into 0.4 cm slices. Roughly tear the parsley by hand. Place all the vegetables in a bowl, season generously with salt, and mix well with your hands so that all the vegetable pieces come into contact with the salt. Let it stand. Heat oil in a casserole dish (don’t worry about too much oil; the bottom should be covered). Add the meat (just the meat, not the water that may have settled) and sear it vigorously on all sides. Add the rosemary sprig and sear it. When the last side of the meat is seared, add the vegetables (just the vegetables, not the water that may have settled). Remove the meat and set aside. Continue searing the vegetables and let them sear slightly; the oil and liquid must have completely evaporated. Season with pepper, and if the vegetables are starting to burn, deglaze with vinegar, enough to “settle” the contents of the pot, covering the bottom but not allowing the vegetables to float. Add about 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, or a little more if you like. Leave the vegetables alone, at most swirling the pot a little to see how much liquid is left at the bottom. The vinegar and soy sauce must be completely evaporated: it will suddenly become much louder in the pot, and the bubbles will get larger. Then place the meat on top of the vegetables and add enough water to completely cover the meat. Bring everything to a boil and cover. Place the pot in the oven and cook overnight, or for at least 6 hours. To be on the safe side, check with a meat thermometer whether the meat is just under 80°C in the center. Remove the meat, wrap it in aluminum foil, and let it rest for 15 minutes. Season the vegetables and sauce to taste, adding more seasoning if desired. If you want the sauce to thicken, add a maximum of guar gum (1/2 g per 1 liter). Slice the meat, arrange some of the vegetables alongside, pour the sauce over everything, and serve! The advantage of the low-temperature cooking method is that the meat hardly loses any weight—max. 15%—and the ingredients taste natural (no extraneous flavors or aromas).