Sauerbraten

Sauerbraten kepada orang jerman, seperti rendang daging kepada orang Malaysia. It's something special. Something very typical german.  

Sauer means sour or in this sense pickled and Braten is a term to describe roast beef. Pickled beef? How could that be tasty? Mind you, I have wondered long and hard about the taste for I have never tasted Sauerbraten. I was curious.

So after buying a big chunk of beef that day, I told mamak if he knew how to make Sauerbraten. He usually buys the ready pickled beef from the store and roast it with Ms. Maggi or Mr. Knorr. I was determined to make it from scratch so I visited my best friend the Internet. After reading through a few recipes, I was confident that I could make it from scratch. Well actually anyone could.  So to those interested to know how it is made, here it is. I translated this recipe from a german website.

First the pickling.

For about a kilo chunk of beef, you'll need : 

• 4 cloves 
• 5 allspice
• 8 juniper berries
• 10 peppercorns
• 2 bayleaves
• 300ml redwine vinegar (I use balsamic vinegar, you may use normal vinegar, but the sauce will be lighter in colour)
• 2 onions, largely diced
• 1 carrot, largely diced
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon sugar
• 750ml water or grapejuice (I use water since I use the balsamic vinegar)

Put everything in a small pot and add water. Bring the broth to a quick boil and let it cool thoroughly. Clean and dry the beef chunk and put it in a deep dish. Pour in the cold vinegar broth and make sure the whole beef is immersed in the broth. Add more water or vinegar as needed. Cover with plastic foil and place in the fridge for 3 days, turning the beef each day ( I pickled for 48 hrs only).  This is after 24hours pickling. The Braten: Take the beef chunk out of the broth and pat with kitchen towel to dry. Season with pepper on all sides. Prepare a large frying pan with a little bit oil. Fry the beef chunk on all sides till crispy. After this is done, let the beef rest on a cutting board. The same frying pan will be used for making the bratensauce. 2 tablespoons tomato puree Sieve the broth. Sort out the condiments from the veggies. Reheat the frying pan and fry the veggies from the broth. Add half of the sieved broth and add tomato puree. The Braising: a piece of wholewheat bread, you can also use ginger biscuits. It is to thicken the sauce. Preheat oven at 180°C. In a roasting pan, place the beef in the middle. Pour the bratensauce on it and cover the roasting pan. Braise in the oven for all together 3 hours at 180°C, adding a little broth at a time. After the second hour, place chunks of bread around the beef, cover and braise for another hour.  The sauce: 2 tablespoon sour cream Remove the beef from the bratensauce. Sieve the bratensauce in a saucepan. At the time, the veggies and the bread chunks will be so soft that you can press them through the metal sieve. Add leftover broth and warm through on a medium heat. Fold in the sour cream or cremé fraiché. What do you eat with Sauerbraten? Traditionally it is served with potato dumplings and pickled red cabbage. But it is versatile. Noodles, boiled potatoes and maybe with a side of roasted veggies may also do the trick. When the beef is done, it should be so soft that you wont need a knife to cut it.:D  We had ours traditional with pickled red cabbage and potato dumplings. Verdict:  Well as the name says, it is sour. Sour braised beef.  The beef was very soft. Surprisingly tasty, savoury and aromatic. For me maybe a little too sour, but Mamak told me he usually likes it very sour. Hah..What do I know, this was my first ever Sauerbraten :D. He also told me my Sauerbraten tasted original, so it is a good recipe, if anybody is interested in typical german cuisine. I am happy with the results and hoping I can bribe my in laws with it someday..muaahahahha...(udang sebalik mee?) ps: Kami raya hari Khamis..jgn mara aaa...