Asian Spiced Braised Beef

I saw this on food t.v. and was inspired to do my own take on it as I had stew beef thawed for dinner.  I got my enamel coated Dutch oven out and put it to work.  What I used:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and more to make slurry for thickening sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese five-spice powder
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 
• 4 pounds stewing beef 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced 
• 2 tablespoons organic ginger, peeled and finely diced 
• 3 heaping tablespoons "Sambal Oelek" chili paste (you do you)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1/4 cup Shaoxing wine
• 3 cups organic low-sodium "Better than Bouillon" vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce 
• 1 tablespoon pure sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh local honey 
• 3 star anise pods
• 1/4 cup dried orange peel 
• 2 bay leaves 
• Organic green onions and fresh cilantro, sliced for garnish

I put the flour, five-spice and S&P into a plastic bag.  I shook the beef in it until all was coated.  I heated the butter and olive oil in the Dutch oven over med-high heat.  I browned it in batches (4) and moved to a plate when done.  

Next the onion, ginger  and garlic went in and I sautéed until soft.  

I deglazed the bottom with the Shaoxing wine, scraping up all the browned bits.  I put in the stock, chili paste, soy sauce, honey, star anise, sesame oil, orange peel and bay leaves and brought to a boil.  

I put the beef back in, stirred and covered with a lid.  This went into a preheated 275°F oven for about 3 hours.  I poured a slurry in the last half hour to thicken the sauce up and removed the bay leaves and anise pods.  I checked the seasoning - it was spicy!  I served over coconut basmati rice and garnished with green onions and cilantro.  

This was enjoyable.  I've been on this orange peel kick so again I really liked that taste in this.  Because it was so spicy I think I could have added a bit more honey.  Other than that, the beef was fall apart tender, the gravy was nice and thick and the spices had warm rich notes different than your average beef stew.