Adobong Baka - Beef Adobo

I made Chicken Adobo before and I was impressed of the vinegar and sweet taste. I was looking for a recipe to use my Crock Pot (Slow Cooker ) again and found the recipe with beef.

Making the recipe was not on my agenda for this weekend, I planned to prepare some lamb shanks, but there were non to be found. Lamb is only sold in our regular supermarkets as lamb cutlets, or rack of lamb, all the other cuts have to be ordered serveral days in advance. Or a trip to a big Turkish supermarket would have helped, but I hadn´t time for that.

I switched to beef and I did not regret it.
Last night I was out on a BBQ  birthday party, and it was around midnight when I came home. Before  I went out, I prepared the beef and the sauce and put it into the slow cooker, I started it at midnight. 9 hours later, it smelled awesome around my apartment when I woke up.

recipe for 4:
800 g braising beef cubed and fat discarded
1 tbsp oil
2 red onions
1 spring onion
1/2 leek
4 cloves of garlic
4 bay leaves
2 tbsp flour
600 ml beef stock
100 ml soy sauce
100 ml red wine vinegar
2 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper

1 bulb of fennel
2 spring onions
2 cups of rice (short grain)

Use a Crock Pot / Slow Cooker
Use a wide pan and start with the sauce.
Chop onions and leek roughly, half the garlic cloves.
In oil sweat off the onions and leek until a bit soft season with salt and pepper, add garlic and bay leaves and cook a bit more.

That´s how it looked like after 9 hours

fresh fennel and spring onions added

Add the flour and give it a very good stir until the flour is well incorporated.
Loosen with 1/3 of the warm beef stock, then add a bit more.  That way you will prevent lumps.
Keep some stock left.
Add red wine vinegar and soy sauce.
Pour the  mix into the crock pot and clean the pan.
Salt the cubed beef and in a little oil spread it out in the pan, do not overlay them. DO it in 2 or 3 batches. Brown the beef on all sides and toss it to the sauce.
When all is beef is done, pour the rest of the beef stock into the pan and loosen all the bits from the pan for the sauce. Add it to the pot.
Cook for 9 hours on high.
For some freshness, clean a fennel bulb and slice it finely. Cut up some spring onions and after 9 hours add it to the beef and stir well. Let it sit for 15 minutes, that is the time the rice needs to cook.