Braised Beef with Tomatoes (เนื้อหม่อมจันทร์)

This dish has been our family favourite back in Thailand as long as I can remember. It's my grand-aunt's recipe - simple and versatile – you can have it with rice or bread or mashed. The trick is choosing only good quality tomatoes. They should be ripe (vine ripened will be good) and sweet with only a little bit of zing. For people who have divorced beef for any reason, pork steak is also a good alternative.

800 grams Rump Steak, fat removed and cubed

2 coriander roots, chopped

2 tablespoons soy sauce

400 mil water

Salt & Black Pepper

4 – 5 medium ripe tomatoes, halved

Rub the beef with salt and pepper, add coriander root and rest for fifteen minutes.

Heat a bit of oil in the cast iron casserole on medium high heat and brown the beef well. Add tomatoes and fry one to two minutes further before adding water. Bring to the boil and place the lid on the casserole - reduce the heat to low.

Let it simmer covered for about an hour. Remove the lid and simmer a little bit longer until the liquid reduced to half. Taste and add more seasoning if required.

Serve with mashed potatoes or steamed rice.