Do you remember those “Choose Your Own Adventure” books? To be honest, I didn’t get into them. Was it a boy thing?

Tripe cover pic

Stewed Tripe and Daikon is a rustic, home-style dish. To me, it’s a comfort food: warm and soft, chunks of umami. It’s served at every dim sum restaurant I’ve ever been to, but it’s not at all a precise recipe, unlike most dim sum. It is a forgiving recipe that gives everyone lots of choices. As my mom taught me how to make this dish, she kept saying, you could do this or that, this or that… It happened so much along the way, it felt like a choose your own adventure, and this is one I got in to.

piece of tripe 2

Adventure 1: First, are you down for eating beef tripe? I hope you are. Don’t shy away just because it’s from a cow’s stomach. It’s delicious and acts like sponge and soaks up flavors.

Adventure 2: The size and shape that you cut the tripe and daikon is flexible. Some like square pieces, some circles, and some triangles. Have fun with it. We did the tripe in rectangles (just remember that they shrink during the stewing) and the daikon in rough triangles.

cut up daikon 2

Adventure 3: We have suggested cooking times for the tripe. Cook it less if you want it to be chewier. Cook it longer if you want it to be softer. Everyone has different preferences here. We left it somewhere in the middle.

Adventure 4: The daikon needs at least 10 minutes of cooking to be soft enough, but if you want it to be softer, or you want the flavors to soak in deeper, add them earlier on in the process.

Adventure 5: The amount of sugar and salt can also be tweaked. Some like it sweeter. My mother and I don’t like savory foods to be too sweet. The salt level should be adjusted depending on if you’re eating it alone or over rice.

Ingredient Note: This recipe calls for a Chinese spice pouch, which is sold in most Chinese markets. It looks a little like a tea bag (see picture at step 3, below), but instead, it is filled with star anise, cinnamon, and a few other spices that my mom does not know the English name of. (BTW, if you’re reading the bag, it’s missing stuff for sure.) Many of the spices may not be ones you’ll use very often, so it makes sense to buy these spice pouches, made for stewing. In Chinese, we call them Loo Bau.

stew spice bag 2

After seeing how easy it is to make this dish, I may never order it again. At restaurants, the price you pay for that one order is about how much it costs to make a whole pot.  This is an -adventure you don’t want to pass up.

Stewed Tripe and Daikon 7

Stewed Tripe and Daikon
~8 appetizer size servings

  • 2 1/4 lb beef honeycomb tripe, cut into 4 pieces
  • 1 (o.44 oz) Chinese spice pouch (see pictures and explanation above)
  • 6 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 3 pieces of ginger (each size of a quarter but 1/2″ thick), smashed
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 lb peeled daikon chunks
  • kosher salt to taste

Instructions –

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add tripe and bring back to a boil. Allow to boil for 3 minutes, covered. Drain and rinse the tripe with a cold water until you can handle it.

2. Cut the tripe into roughly 2″ x 1.5″ pieces. Return to the dry pot. Add 1 cup water, spice pouch, soy sauce, ginger, and sugar. Cover and bring to a boil.

cut up tripe 2

3. Boil for 20 minutes, covered, stirring occasionally.

Stewing Tripe and Daikon 2

4. Stir in daikon and boil, covered, for another 10 minutes. Adjust salt to taste. Serve.

add daikon

Storage and Re-Heating:

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one week. Reheat on the stove top or in the microwave.

Stewed Tripe and Daikon 2

posted by jessica at 06:49 PM Filed under Chinese, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.