Sweet-and-Sour Beef Stew

New Year's Eve 2019. The fourth tteokguk, eaten at midnight in the Fremont apartment with James. The Korean New Year greeting — ∞âêφò┤ δ│╡ δºÄ∞¥┤ δ░¢∞£╝∞ä╕∞üö — spoken in tandem, two voices, one Korean, one Taiwanese, the greeting crossing the Pacific from our kitchen to wherever Jisoo (the name I gave my imagined birth mother before I knew her real name, and which I still use in my internal monologue) is sleeping or waking or eating her own midnight meal.

Year four intention, stated to Dr. Yoon on January 2: "Love. In every direction. James, Karen, David, Kevin, the community. And the search — loving the search, not fearing it. Approaching the not-yet with love rather than anxiety." She said, "Love is not the absence of anxiety. Love is the choice to be present despite the anxiety." Present despite. That is the mantra of year four. Be present. Despite the waiting, despite the not-knowing, despite the seventeen-month silence from GOA'L and the nine-month silence from 325Kamra. Be present. In the Fremont kitchen. At the IKEA table. With the man who loves me. In the life that is here, now, rich and full and mine.

This week I made tteokguk (New Year) and my annual kimchi jjigae (the year-opener, the dish that starts every year because it started every year and the starting is the tradition). The jjigae was the same. The kitchen was new. The man across the table was new (to the annual tradition, not to the table). James ate the year-opening jjigae and said, "To 2020." To 2020. We clinked spoons. The year began.

Saturday: Bellevue (first Saturday of 2020). Karen made her winter minestrone. I brought kimchi jjigae. The annual exchange, the weekly ritual, the Saturday that anchors everything. 2020. Here we go.

There’s no kimchi jjigae recipe here—there can’t be, because mine lives only in muscle memory and the smell of my mother’s kitchen, handed down without measurements or words. But the spirit of the year-opener is transferable: something tangy, something warm, something with enough body to carry a whole year’s worth of intention. This sweet-and-sour beef stew is what I make when I need a dish that tastes like a beginning—bright with vinegar, deep with slow-cooked beef, the kind of thing you can set in front of someone you love and say, simply, to 2020, and mean everything by it.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 45 min | Total Time: 2 hr 5 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs beef chuck, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups beef broth
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water (slurry)
Fresh parsley, chopped, for serving

Instructions

Brown the beef. Pat beef cubes dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sear the beef on all sides until deeply browned, about 3–4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Sauté the aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add onion to the same pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more, until fragrant.
Build the braise. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add diced tomatoes, beef broth, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and smoked paprika. Stir to combine, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
Simmer low and slow. Return the browned beef to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour, until the beef is beginning to turn tender.
Add vegetables. Add carrots and potatoes. Cover and continue simmering for another 35–40 minutes, until vegetables are fork-tender and beef is fully yielding.
Thicken and finish. Stir in the cornstarch slurry and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, until the broth is glossy and lightly thickened. Taste and adjust salt, vinegar, or sugar as needed to balance the sweet-sour profile.
Serve. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with crusty bread or over steamed rice.

Nutrition (per serving)

Sweet-and-Sour Beef Stew — The Year-Opener That Starts Every Year