Cooking Mama: Easy Siopao Sauce

My kids are kinda fond of siopao. (Although, for me, nothing beats Roberto's siopao from Iloilo.) Here in Cebu, there is no sauce for siopao. I have not seen that special sauce in any of the dimsums I've been to. So I decided to make my own. Of course, the recipe came off the web, too.

QUICK AND EASY SIOPAO SAUCE

Ingredients:

2 c Beef Stock (or beef cubes)
1 pc Star Anise (or 1/2 tsp 5-spice powder)
2 tbsp Corn Starch diluted in 4 tbsp water
1/4 c Onions, diced
2 cloves Garlic, chopped
Dash Ground Black Pepper
4 tbsp Brown Sugar (I used Muscovado)
2 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Rock Salt

1. Heat the saucepan and pour-in beef stock. Bring to a boil.
2. Add onions, garlic, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, salt, black pepper and star anise. Simmer for 8-10 minutes. Make sure to cover the
saucepan to trap the steam. Add extra water as needed.
3. Turn off the heat then filter the liquid using a strainer.
4. Heat another sauce pan and pour in the filtered mixture. Bring to a boil.
5. Add the diluted cornstarch and stir continuously until the sauce thickens.
6. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.

(Noticeably, my siopao sauce still has tidbits floating in the dispenser. I did not do procedure #3. Shortcut. Tee-hee!)