This Chinese Braised Beef Omasum Tripe is one of my favorite dim sum dishes. It is cooked in a rich and savory sauce that infuses every bite of the tripe. You will need to boil it for at least 45 minutes but I recommend going up to 2 hours to make it the most tender.

Can't get enough of Dim Sum? Try my Dim Sum Chicken Feet next!

overhead shot of braised omasum tripe in bowl.

🥡 About This Recipe

Growing up, my family loved going to dim sum on the weekends. We weren’t the richest, so when we went, it was usually for a special occasion like Mother’s Day. I remember my parents would always order the braised beef tripe. At the time I didn’t know what it was, but it was one of my favorite dishes. The sauce was rich, savory, slightly sweet, and the tripe was so gelatinous and tender.

I find tripe to be a very polarizing ingredient. Either you love it, or you hate it. Some people find it too plain tasting but that's why it's usually cooked in a very flavorful sauce, or you see it as an ingredient in hotpots.

Please keep in mind that the texture of tripe changes as it cooks. It starts off being very chewy, rubbery, and elastic, but the longer you cook it, the softer and more tender it becomes.

🧽 Important Notes On Cleaning Tripe

All types of tripe need to be cleaned before cooking. Your tripe is either going to be bleached or unbleached. If you got your tripe from a common grocery store, then it is most likely bleached, and it only needs to be boiled and rinsed in water.

Unbleached tripe needs to be vigorously scrubbed with vinegar and salt. This is because it hasn't undergone any processing, so there is still lots of grit and impurities on the surface. Most likely, you will not need to do this.

🧂 Ingredients

Omasum Tripe: This is a special type of tripe. It is also called "book tripe" because it has many flaps that resemble the pages of a book. I got mine in the refrigerated section of my local Asian market.
Aromatics: There are so many delicious aromatics that go into making the sauce. At the bare minimum, you will need garlic, ginger, star anise, and fermented black beans. I also like to toss in a few bay leaves for extra earthiness.
Seasonings: Oyster sauce, soy sauce, dark soy sauce for color, chili garlic sauce, white pepper, brown sugar, and red fermented bean curd. I love the flavor of fermented bean curd in this recipe. You can use either white or red fermented bean curd, but I usually use red because it gives the sauce a much better color.
Oil: For frying the aromatics, nothing else.

🔪 Instructions

omasum tripe cut into pieces on cutting board.

omasum tripe being boiled in pot of water.

STEP 1: Rinse the tripe under warm water. Place the tripe on the cutting board so that the "pages" are against the cutting board. Then cut it into 2-inch pieces. Try to only cut through the back part so that the pages stay in tact.

STEP 2: Boil the tripe for 5 minutes in a medium pot, then drain and rinse the tripe again.

STEP 3: Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Heat oil in a wok over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant. Then, add star anise, bay leaves, and fermented black beans, stirring for another 30 seconds. Pour in the sauce mixture and bring to a simmer.

STEP 4: Add the tripe and cook it in the sauce for two minutes.

water added to barely cover the tripe in the wok.

tripe after simmering for 45 minutes in the sauce.

STEP 5: Pour enough water into the wok to barely cover the tripe (about 1 ½ cups). Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and let it simmer for 45 minutes and up to 2 hours. I highly recommend letting it go for two hours as the texture improves quite a bit.

STEP 6: After it's done simmering, transfer it to a serving bowl and enjoy!

Chinese Braised Beef Omasum Tripe

🥡 About This Recipe

🧽 Important Notes On Cleaning Tripe

🧂 Ingredients

🔪 Instructions

📋 Recipe