Slow Cooker Shredded Beef

I had a small packet of stewing steak in my freezer and I wanted to make two different dishes out of it; One Mexican, one Chinese using shredded beef. All the recipes for making shredded beef that I found contained flavourings for either cuisine, I kept looking and kept looking and finally came across this multi-purpose shredded beef recipe which was exactly what I wanted. It worked perfectly. For the Chinese recipe I sprinkled the cooked beef with some five spice powder, reheated it with some stir fried pak choi and white cabbage, and added some hoi sin sauce, then I wrapped them up in the pancakes using the recipe for the ones for moo shu pork. It was delicious.

Slow Cooker Shredded Beef (adapted from Budget Bytes)
(Serves 8)

1.8kg stewing steak, cut into chunks
500ml beef stock

 

Place the beef into the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour the beef stock over the meat, place the lid on the slow cooker, and cook on high for 4-6 hours, or until the meat is fork tender. The beef should be so tender that it shreds with the slightest pressure of a fork.

Pull the chunks of beef out of the cooking liquid and shred it with two forks. Divide the shredded beef into freezer safe containers (approximately 2 cups of shredded beef per container) and pour some of the cooking juices over top. The juices will help prevent the beef from drying and getting freezer burn while stored in the freezer. Refrigerate the beef until completely cooled before transferring to the freezer.

 

To reheat the beef, simply transfer it from the freezer container to a small pot and heat over medium-low until fully thawed and reheated. Strain the shredded beef from the cooking liquid and season according to the recipe it is being used in.