A simple entertaining dish that you can mostly prepare before hand and let the oven do the hard work. When the in-laws started visiting more and my wife and I were working, this would be a favourite given how delicious yet simple it is to make.
Beef marinade
Five spice powder: 1 tablespoon
Ground black pepper: 1/2 teaspoon
Ginger: 2 tablespoons, grated
Orange juice: 1/2 cup
Birds eye chilli: 1 - 2 chillies, sliced
Brown sugar: 1/2 cup
Soy sauce: 2 tablespoons
Sesame oil: 1 teaspoon
Black bean paste: 1 tablespoon
Ground cinnamon: 1 teaspoon
Beef and sauce
Beef cheek: 1kg
Star anise: 3 pieces
Chinese cooking wine: 1/4 cup
Chicken stock: 2 cups (real or powder is fine)
Corn starch: 2 tablespoons
To serve
Rice
Steamed carrots
Spring onions, sliced
Mix all of the marinade ingredients together (five spice, pepper, ginger, orange juice, chilli, brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, black bean paste, cinnamon)
Place beef cheek in a heavy based tray and coat thoroughly with the marinade. Leave in the fridge over night.
Take meat out of the fridge and leave at room temperature for 2 hours.
Add star anise, Chinese cooking wine and chicken stock to the meat and marinade. Mix well.
Bake covered in foil for 2 hours at 180C. Once cooked, set aside for 10 minutes to let the meat rest, then slice. Strain the remaining marinade into a saucepan, and bring to the boil. Mix the corn starch with cold water to form a slurry and add to the remaining sauce whilst stirring to thicken into a sauce.
Plate on a bed of steam carrots, top with spring onions and serve with fresh steamed rice and the sauce.
The marinade and the beef cheek can be prepared in advance and frozen. Simply take it out on the day of cooking, defrost, add the Chinese cooking wine and stock and cook it for 2 hours. This makes entertaining even simpler.