Beef and Lamb

The key here is to establish a good relationship with your butcher. Good-quality meat will make a huge difference to all your dishes. There is a lot of Wagyu out there in Australia and most of the cuts can be used in these dishes if you like. As a matter of fact, cuts like short ribs from Wagyu, with all that marbling, are really tremendous in the braised dishes.

There are only two recipes in this chapter for lamb, as it’s not used all that often in Chinese cooking (mainly in the north of the country). However, we love our lamb in Australia, so in most of the beef recipes you could substitute lamb very successfully. The braised dishes would work well with shank or shoulder, and the stir-fries with thinly sliced lamb loin. Remember that the cheaper braising cuts will have the most flavour, and that double-cooking makes them both tender and delicious.