Beef Si Byan
Burma's brick-red beef curry: meat slow-cooked till it falls apart and the oil 'returns' to the top, built on patient browning of onion and ginger.
Overview
A Burmese curry from the country's Indian-origin community, sitting somewhere between a Madras and a Burmese ohn-no in spice profile. You marinate chunks of beef chuck or shin in turmeric, fish sauce and salt while you fry onions in oil until they're deep brown - that long onion fry is the foundation. The beef browns in the same oil, then ginger-garlic paste, paprika and chilli powder go in, then tomato and water turn it into a stew. Two hours of slow simmer until the meat falls apart at a fork. The signature finish is the see byan, a deep red-orange oil slick that rises to the top of the curry as it reduces, which is what the dish is named for. Eaten with rice or paratha, and a small bowl of pickled vegetable on the side.
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef shin (or chuck, cut into 4 cm chunks)
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric (split)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt (added later)
- 8 tablespoons vegetable oil (more than feels right - this is the dish)
- 3 onions (large, chopped)
- 8 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 1 large thumb fresh ginger (grated)
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 dried bird's-eye chillies (broken)
- 2 fresh tomatoes (grated) or 1 small tin chopped tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree
- 1 stick lemongrass (bruised)
- 4 makrut lime leaves (torn, optional)
- 800 ml hot water
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
Method
Stage 1 - Marinate
- Toss the beef with 1 teaspoon turmeric, the fish sauce, and a pinch of salt. Rest 30 minutes.
Stage 2 - Onions
- Heat 5 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat.
- Add the onion; cook 15 minutes, stirring often, until deep mahogany brown. Don't rush this.
Stage 3 - Beef
- Push the onions to the side. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil to the cleared part of the pot.
- Brown the beef hard in batches, 4-5 minutes per side.
- Return all the beef to the pot; mix with the onions.
Stage 4 - Spices
- Add garlic, ginger, paprika, the remaining turmeric, chilli powder and dried chillies; cook 1 minute.
- Stir in the grated tomato and tomato puree; cook 5 minutes until thick.
Stage 5 - Slow cook
- Add the lemongrass and lime leaves (if using).
- Add dark soy and 1 teaspoon salt.
- Pour in the hot water; bring to a simmer.
- Cover; cook on the lowest heat 2 hours, stirring every 30 minutes, until the meat shreds.
Stage 6 - Si byan
- Uncover; raise heat to medium. Cook 15-20 minutes - the sauce reduces and the oil rises to the surface in a dark red-orange slick.
- Taste; adjust salt and fish sauce.
Stage 7 - Serve
- Rest 10 minutes - allowing the oil to settle on top.
- Plate with the oil layer visible. Eat over rice with raw cucumber.
Notes
- More oil than feels right: Burmese curries use more oil than Western tastes initially expect. The oil layer on top is the cooking signal AND part of the flavour. Skim it on the plate if you must, but don't skip it.
- Patient onion browning: The colour and depth come from here. Skipping or rushing leaves a pale brown curry; doing it properly gives a deep brick-red.
- Beef shin: Best cut. Lots of connective tissue, falls apart at 2 hours, leaves the sauce silky. Chuck is the second choice.
Storage
- Refrigerate 4 days. Better on day 2.
- Freezes 3 months.
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