A crockpot beef stew with beef brisket, apples and oranges

A hearty beef stew with the sweetness of apples and tanginess of fresh oranges. The fruits are added much later in the cooking process to avoid overcooking them.

I personally like using fruits with beef as it seems to balance the richness of the meat. Like the Chinese would say -- more harmonizing.

600g beef brisket
2 apples
2 oranges
2 potatoes
1 big tomato
1 carrot
1 stalk coriander
2 pieces ginger
2 litre water
1 tbsp cooking wine
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp cornstarch

slow cooker

1. Cut the beef brisket into small cubes
2. Parboil in water, remove and rinse
3. Bring the water to a boil, add the beef cubes
4. Lower heat to a slow simmer and cook for 3 hours or till beef is tender
5. Peel the apples, potatoes, tomato, carrot and oranges
6. Remove all the seeds
7. Cut into small cubes and add to the stew
8. Add the cooking wine and ginger
9. When the beef and fruits are soft, add the salt
10. Remove the ginger pieces
11. Thicken the stew with some cornstarch mixture or arrowroot powder.

Recipe link: http://www.homemade-chinese-soups.com/beef-stew.html