Beef Cheek Bourguignon

I realized all my posts so far have a Japanese theme. Here's a change of flavour with an old French classic. While traditional recipes call for cuts like shoulder, I think that the cheek is the most superior of stewing meats with a good proportion of fat, collagen and muscle.

The trick with Bourguignon is that it is easy to get something cloyingly sweet. Use less vegetable and instead of only wine, I used half wine and half stock for the braising liquid. Aromatics came from a bouquet garni, clove and star anise.



Couldn’t resist showing off the Ichimonji TKC Gyuto which I sharpened with a convex bevel.


The braising liquid and vegetables were blended, strained and then mounted with butter for the sauce.