Chinese Daikon Beef Stew

I don't like A&J anymore. Too salty. Now the flavor sucks.

Daikon and Carrot go well together, the sweetness from each veg. complement each other. Best to try a milder veggie broth to taste the individual flavors. I added them to the stew because I like eating them together in the soft overcooked state.

Use Yellow potatoes. The ones from the farmers market. Don't peel. They don't fall apart no matter how long you cook them. No need to cut them up either. Add more potatoes if the broth is too spicy.

Added Ginger & Lemongrass to add more spice. You can taste the lemongrass/ginger flavor in the daikon. Like a lemongrass/ginger tea embedded in the daikon.

Use shoulder clod vs. beef shank. Much less fat. Trim the shoulder clod. Much healthier broth in the end.

Added 2 fresh jalapenos, handful dried chili de arbols, celery, onion, lemongrass, star anise, 5 spice powder, thyme, 3 bayleafs, water, carrots, daikon. After cooking 8-12h took out the onion, lemongrass, celery, carrots, daikon. Ate the carrots & daikon. Throw away the rest. This is the first part of the soup, building the base. Add very small amount of soysauce and/or tomato paste for color only. Added 4-7 small yellow potatoes to thicken the broth.

Building the base in 2 phases is important. None of the internet recipes talk about this. This produces the texture of the broth so it isn't based on a salty flavor. No additional salt added. The salt from the soy sauce and tomato paste is enough. That would be cheating.
Cook until broth reduced 75%. Crockpot was full to top. When tasting the liquid, it is so spicy it makes you gag. Cant drink it. After reduction some of the flavor actually penetrates through to the meat. See photo below. Note color and amount of liquid in crockpot. Cooking for 24h. Shank wont hold up to this long of a cooking time.

2nd phase add potatoes. I made a mistake and cut them up. Add daikon and anything else you want. If too spicy add a raw egg like in the ramen noodle/korean tofu soup places. Add baby bok choy or choy sum in last 2-3 minutes before serving. Don't add salt or pepper like everybody else does. You don't need it.