Here is a great winter warmer, which is a Nigella Lawson recipe I first came across a couple of years ago and cooked for guests one Christmas Eve (it’s our tradition to have something as far removed from the English winter as we can think of for dinner on Christmas Eve). To serve 4 hungry people you will need:

1kg shin of beef, cut into large chunks
2 onions, peeled and quartered
5cm root ginger, peeled and sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2tsp ground coriander
3tbsp vegetable oil
250ml Chinese cooking wine or sherry
4tbsp soy sauce
4tbsp dark brown sugar
2ltrs beef stock
2tbsp oyster sauce
4tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 cinnamon sticks
2 star anise

• Heat your oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2
• Blend the onions, ginger, garlic and coriander until finely chopped and fully combined
• Heat the oil in an ovenproof casserole and fry the mixture, stirring regularly, for 10 minutes
• Pour in the Chinese cooking wine or sherry and let it bubble up, then add the soy sauce, sugar, stock, oyster sauce and rice wine vinegar. Bring the mixture to the boil then add the cinnamon and star anise
• Add the chunks of beef to the pot. Put the lid on the pot and put it in the oven to cook for at least 2 hours until the meat is very tender
• Take the meat out of the pot and keep it warm while you boil the sauce vigorously on the hob to thicken and reduce

And there you are – a delicious one-pot wonder with a subtle oriental flavour.