Another Beef Stew Recipe ala Osso Bucco

I have always known Osso Bucco is a tough one to prepare, with all the pricey and not so easy to find ingredients here in Doha. "Osso Bucco" is an originally Italian dish which means "bone with a hole" and traditionally cooked with veal shanks (which, in the rare instance it's available, would be astronomically priced!) "bone and marrow in" and braised in white wine (which of course in Qatar you would first need a liquor license to buy one). Guess now you get what I mean when I say it's a tough one to make in Doha!
When I got home yesterday, there was a chunk of beef thawing on the kitchen sink. I knew that was a tough cut as I already saw it last Friday when my mom got it from the Abu Hamour Fresh Market. There's really no other way to prepare it than to stew it. But just to give the meat a little "excitement" than our usual fare, I decided to stew it with the Osso Bucco recipe from the Good Housekeeping recipe book I bought from the Philippines, although of course I have tweaked the recipe in the absence of white wine.


Ingredients:
1-1/2kg beef shank, cut into 6 chunks
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cooking oil (olive oil is ideal)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, diced (about 1cm)
1 bell pepper, diced about 1cm)
1 large celery stalk, sliced thinly
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, sliced
5 pcs dried bay leaves
1 tsp dried rosemary
1/3 cup light soy sauce
3 tbs rice vinegar
5 cups water (or more depending on the toughness of meat)
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs corn flour
salt and pepper


Method:
Season the beef with salt and pepper then dredge with flour. Sear both sides of the beef until browned. You can do this in batches ensuring that the chunks are in one layer on the pan. Remove from pan and set aside.
In a sauce pan, transfer some of the oil used in searing the beef. Reduce the heat to medium then saute in the onions, carrots, celery.
In a small bowl, mix the light soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, pepper and 1 cup of water. (I discover that mixing these ingredients together first instead of adding them separately into the pan gives a more balanced flavor). Pour over the vegetable saute and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, mushrooms, bay leaves and rosemary. Cook for another 5 mins. Then remove half of the vegetables from the simmering sauce (remove half so you don't overcook them, but leave the other half to add flavor to the sauce).
Put in the beef chunks and add the remaining water, ensuring the meat is covered in liquid. Cover and let it simmer for about 2 hours, checking from time to time to ensure the sauce is not drying out. Add more water if needed, adjust the taste with salt.
When the meat is fork tender, dissolve the corn flour in a 2 tbs. of water and pour into the pan to thicken the sauce. Simmer for another 5 minutes or until you have achieved the desired thickness of the sauce.
Remove the beef and transfer into a serving plate, slice to serving portions and serve with hot rice. Enjoy!