Extra-Rich Tomato Red Wine Beef Brisket (Pressure Cooker Version)
This pressure cooker tomato and red wine beef brisket is deeply flavorful, with tender beef simmered in a rich, tangy tomato sauce scented with warm spices. The final dish keeps a generous amount of thick sauce, making it perfect with rice or noodles.
Ingredients
- 40–60 g Heinz tomato sauce
- About 1.25 kg beef brisket (2.5 jin)
- 3–4 tomatoes
- 200 ml red wine
- 1 piece cinnamon stick
- 2 star anise
- 3 bay leaves
- A dozen or so Sichuan peppercorns
- 2 whole nutmegs
- Several scallion sections
- A few slices ginger
- 1 cilantro stalk
Steps
- 1
Here are all the ingredients.
- 2
The cut I chose is a very good thick flank brisket cut, with a mix of lean, fat, and connective tissue, so the texture is especially rich. Cut it into large chunks—be bold and do not worry about making them too big, because the beef will shrink quite a bit after cooking, so the pieces really should be large.
- 3
Place the beef brisket in a pot of cold water with the Sichuan peppercorns, scallion sections, and ginger. Bring to a boil over high heat, skim off the foam, and once the blood has been released, remove the beef and rinse it clean with hot water.
- 4
While the beef is being blanched, prepare the tomatoes. Since I used quite a lot of beef this time, I used four tomatoes. Peel three of them first and cut them into small pieces.
- 5
The cleaned beef brisket.
- 6
Heat some oil in a pan, add the scallion sections and ginger slices to release their aroma, then add the beef brisket chunks and stir-fry until the surface develops some browning.
- 7
Add the diced tomatoes and stir-fry over high heat until they soften and turn pulpy.
- 8
Using only three tomatoes is not enough to get the deep tomato flavor we want. Add some Heinz tomato sauce according to your taste—if you love a strong tomato flavor, add more. The bottle says one bottle equals 10 tomatoes, and it is zero additives and zero fat.
- 9
Pour in a large cup of red wine. It helps remove any beefy odor and adds a lovely wine aroma.
- 10
Add boiling water until it just comes level with the beef brisket. Since we are using a pressure cooker today, there is no need to add too much water.
- 11
Transfer everything to the pressure cooker and add the star anise, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and nutmeg. These spices pair wonderfully with red wine, bringing out the wine's flavor while also enhancing the beef's natural sweetness.
- 12
Once the pressure cooker comes up to pressure, reduce to medium-low heat and cook for 6 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally. Because the beef will continue simmering for another 10–15 minutes afterward, the pressure-cooking time should be slightly shorter than usual. A common issue with pressure cookers is that flavors do not penetrate as easily, so I pressure-cook first and then simmer: the pressure fully opens up the beef's connective tissue, so just another 10-plus minutes of simmering is enough for the meat to quickly absorb the flavor of the sauce while allowing the alcohol from the red wine to evaporate.
- 13
After releasing the pressure and opening the lid, season with light soy sauce and salt. Add sugar according to how acidic the sauce tastes, plus a slightly generous amount of pepper. Taste the sauce at this point; if the tomato flavor is still not strong enough, you can add more Heinz tomato sauce. Then turn to high heat to reduce the sauce. Finally, add the last peeled tomato, cut into large chunks, and cook just until the edges soften.
- 14
This dish is best with a bit more sauce, so do not reduce it until dry. The tomato sauce helps make the sauce thick and rich so it coats the beef beautifully. It is especially delicious spooned over rice or noodles. Garnish with a little cilantro before serving.
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