Braised and Sauced Cooked Meats · FFET10202
Jiang Niu Rou (soy-braised beef)
Beef slow-braised in soy sauce and spices, cooled and sliced thin, eaten cold or with noodle soup.
A deep white porcelain bowl holds thin brown slices of beef shank coated in glossy brown soy sauce, alongside star anise, cinnamon bark, ginger and green scallion, with wooden chopsticks resting beside the bowl.
Meat and poultry simmered in a seasoned sauce or brine stock until the flavour is in, ready to eat as they are.
Soy-braised beef is beef, often shank in recipes, braised in soy sauce and spices until tender, cooled and sliced thin, and eaten as a cold dish or in noodle soup. It is especially popular in northern China and is among the snacks of Beijing and Tianjin. The national intangible cultural heritage list includes the beef and mutton cooking craft (Yue Sheng Zhai sauced and roasted beef and mutton), added in the 2nd batch of 2008; it protects the craft of the Beijing house Yue Sheng Zhai for its sauced and roasted beef and mutton, not the dish of soy-braised beef itself. Yue Sheng Zhai was founded in 1765, which is the year of the shop, not of the dish.
What
Soy-braised beef is beef slowly braised in soy sauce, wine and spices, then cooled and sliced thin. Both recipes use beef shank and serve it cold; 1 also serves it as a banquet appetizer or in noodle soup.4,5
When
No dated text recording this dish was found. Yue Sheng Zhai was founded in 1765 (the 30th year of Qianlong) by Ma Qingrui; that is the year of the shop, not of the dish.2
Where
Soy-braised beef is especially popular in northern China and is among the snacks of Beijing and Tianjin. The Yue Sheng Zhai sauced and roasted beef and mutton craft is a national intangible heritage item in Beijing. A single place of origin for the dish has not been established.1,2
How
The 2 recipes work alike: the shank is blanched in water, then simmered in soy sauce, wine, rock sugar and spices such as star anise and cinnamon, for 2 hours in 1 recipe and 60 to 90 minutes in the other; the beef is then cooled in its liquid, chilled and sliced.4,5
Why
The sources listed do not say why the dish arose. Soy-braised beef is generally halal.1
Impact and influence
The Yue Sheng Zhai sauced and roasted beef and mutton craft joined the 2nd batch of national intangible heritage traditional crafts in 2008 (Beijing, no. 951, VIII-168), declared by Beijing Yue Sheng Zhai Halal Food Co.; the listing covers the house's craft, not the dish itself. A January 4, 2026 article lists Yue Sheng Zhai soy-braised beef among Beijing food gifts.2,3
No tale about this food has been found.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
This is the simpler way I make it at home: a family-style braise of beef shank in soy sauce and spices, not the way it is made in the northern shops. The two named recipes I looked at, a Chinese spiced braised beef shank and a braised beef shank, are home recipes from Chinese-American families, and neither calls the dish northern jiang niu rou. The amounts of beef, wine, light soy sauce and dark soy sauce are those of the spiced beef shank recipe, halved; the 8-minute blanch also comes from it; the ginger and scallion come from the other recipe; the other amounts are my own choices at home. The simmering time is mine: one recipe simmers for two hours and the other for 60 to 90 minutes, and I go for about an hour and a half and call it done when a chopstick slides in easily.
Ingredients
- Beef shank 500 g, in one piece
- Cooking wine 60 ml
- Light soy sauce 30 ml
- Dark soy sauce 22 ml (about 1.5 tablespoons)
- Rock sugar 20 g
- Star anise 3 pods
- Cinnamon bark 1 small piece
- Ginger 4 slices
- Scallion 2, tied in a knot
- Water about 1 liter, enough to cover the beef
Steps
- Put the shank in a pot of cold water, bring it to a boil over high heat and boil for about 8 minutes. Skim off the foam, lift the beef out and rinse it.
- Wash the pot, then add the beef, ginger, scallion, star anise, cinnamon, rock sugar, wine and both soy sauces, and pour in water to cover. Bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Turn the heat to low, cover, and simmer for about an hour and a half, turning the beef once halfway. Pierce the thickest part with a chopstick: it is done when the chopstick slides in easily and no bloody liquid comes out. If it is still firm, simmer a little longer.
- Turn off the heat and let the beef cool in its liquid, about 2 hours.
- Pour beef and liquid into a container and chill it overnight. The next day, take out the beef, slice it thin and serve it cold.
Tips
- I leave the beef to cool in the liquid before taking it out, so that it does not dry; this is my own way.
- The beef is easier to slice thin once it is fully cold, and I cut across the grain.
Allergens: soy, wheat