This is one of those recipes that tastes like you must have spent hours slaving over it in the kitchen. But, it’s not! You make it in a crock pot, but if you don’t have one, you could easily cook this in a Dutch-Oven, or a similar pan with a tight fitting lid, on the stove top or in the oven.

This recipe is so easy, that it’s great for me on those days when I just want to sit around and eat bon-bons and play on the computer all day, throwing responsibility to the wind. You know, like I do pretty much every day around here.

This is another one of those dinners that everyone around here seems to love. For the 3 year old it is kind of hit or miss though. Depending what kind of mood she is in. Or rather,  whether the princess or the evil queen has taken over her castle that day.

** For the gluten free version try Kikkoman’s GF soy sauce and either a GF flour or rice flour for making the gravy.

Asian Beef and Rice

• 1 ¹/2 to 2 lb boneless beef roast, cut into 3 or 4 chunks or pre-cut beef stew meat
• 14 ounces chicken broth
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and halved or 2 tsp minced garlic
• ¹/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 large onion, sliced and separated into rings
• ¹/4 cup flour

For the Rice:

• 1 ¹/2  cups rice, I use long grain white
• 3 1/3 cups water
• 2 tbs butter
• 1/4 tsp salt

This is ginger root. If you have never used it before, don’t be scared! It is so good! I bought a piece this size this time, because I knew that I would be using it a few times this week. If you don’t need it all, you can put it in a Ziploc and freeze the rest until you need it, to avoid it going bad on you. My cousin David taught me that. His tip was that sometimes when it has been frozen, you may need to use slightly more than the recipe calls for, if it has lost it’s strong flavor.

I cut the left “finger” off of there and peeled the skin off. Then just take your knife and cut it up into little pieces. You can make them larger or smaller than this if you like.

Turn on your crock pot so that it starts getting hot. If you are using a large chunk of beef, cut it up into bite sized pieces and set aside.

Mix together the chicken broth, ginger, garlic and soy sauce. Pour about half of that mixture into the bottom of your crock pot with half of the onions.

Then put in all of the beef and pour the remaining broth mixture over the beef. Top with remaining onion slices.

If you are going to be gone all day, just cover your crock pot and cook on low for about 7-8 hours. Or, if your like me and you never remember to get the stuff in the crock pot at a decent time in order to be ready for dinner, then cover it up and put it on high. It will be done in about 4 hours. If your not certain, just take out a piece of the beef and try it to make sure it’s tender.

When you are at the last 40 minutes or so of cooking time, scoop out two cups of the broth into a bowl or large measuring cup.

It will look like this. Then mix in your 1/4 cup of flour and whisk until it is well blended and smooth.

It should look like this. Stir the flour mixture back into the slow cooker and stir it up well. If you have had it on low, increase the heat to high. Then cook, uncovered, 30 to 40 minutes longer, or until the sauce is thickened slightly.

About a year ago I finally figured out how to cook rice. For someone who can do as much cooking as I do, I could not cook rice to save my soul. In fact, I used Minute Rice all the time because I could never screw it up! I know, I know, ridiculous.

I finally started making it in my 12 inch covered skillet and following these directions below, and it comes out perfect every time.

Place your pan on the stove over high heat and add in the butter and the salt. Once that gets hot pour in your dry rice and stir it up so that it is all covered with the butter and salt. Pour in your water, give it another stir and make sure it is distributed evenly over the bottom of the pan. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let cook for 18-20 minutes without removing the lid.

Put your rice on the plate and then spoon over the beef and gravy mixture. Your taste buds are gonna love this!