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Hawaiian-Style Beef Stew

This local-style Hawaiian beef stew is hearty comfort food made with tender chunks of beef, carrots, potatoes, garlic, onions, and a rich tomato-beef gravy. It’s the kind of simple, satisfying meal that feels like home — warm, filling, and perfect over a bowl of hot white rice. Made with everyday ingredients and slow-simmered until the beef is soft, this is a classic local-style dish for family dinners, rainy days, or anytime you want something comforting.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 8 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Hawaiian
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Beef & Coating
  • 1 kg beef cut into large stew pieces
  • 30 –45 ml beef fat or oil for browning
  • 30 –40 g flour about 60–80 ml
  • 10 –15 g all-purpose seasoning about 15–20 ml
  • If you don’t have all-purpose seasoning: Use 30–40 g flour with about 5 g salt and 3 g black pepper instead.
Stew Base
  • 350 g onion divided
  • 200 g diced onion for cooking down at the beginning
  • 150 g onion chunks added later with the vegetables
  • 25 –30 g garlic minced
  • 30 ml shoyu / soy sauce
  • 30 ml Worcestershire sauce
  • 5 –6 g salt then adjust at the end
  • 2 –3 g black pepper about 5 ml
  • 4 –5 g sugar about 5 ml, optional
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 800 ml to 1 liter beef stock or water
Vegetables
  • 350 g carrots cut into large chunks
  • 350 g potatoes cut into large chunks
Tomato & Thickener
  • 45 ml tomato paste
  • 12 –15 g cornstarch about 20–25 ml
  • 30 ml water

Method
 

1. Toss the beef with flour and all-purpose seasoning until lightly coated. If you don’t have all-purpose seasoning, use flour with salt and black pepper instead.
    2. Brown the beef in batches over medium-high heat in some oil. Don’t overcrowd the pot. The flour coating helps the beef brown and gives the stew some body later. Remove the beef and set aside.
      3. Add the 200 g diced onion to the same pot. Cook until softened and starting to melt down into the fat and browned bits.
        4. Add the minced garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, just until fragrant.
          5. Add the beef back into the pot. Add shoyu, Worcestershire sauce, salt, black pepper, sugar, bay leaves, and 800 ml to 1 liter of beef stock or water. Use enough liquid to mostly cover the beef.
            6. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for about 1½ to 2 hours, or until the beef is getting tender.
              7. Add the carrots, potatoes, and 150 g onion chunks. Simmer for another 20-30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the beef is soft.
                8. Mix the tomato paste with a ladle of hot stew liquid until smooth. Stir it back into the pot and simmer for another 10–15 minutes so the tomato flavor blends into the stew.
                  9. Mix the cornstarch with water to make a slurry. Stir it into the simmering stew and cook for a few more minutes until the gravy thickens.
                    10. Taste at the end. Add more salt, black pepper, shoyu, Worcestershire sauce, or a little sugar if needed.
                      11. Serve over hot rice.

                        Notes

                        Serve over hot rice.
                        The onion is used two ways: diced onion at the beginning to build the stew base, and onion chunks added later so the finished stew still has pieces of onion.
                        The beef is coated in flour and seasoning before browning. This helps build flavor and gives the stew some thickness, but the cornstarch slurry at the end helps turn it into more of a tomato-beef gravy.
                        The tomato paste is added near the end because this version was cooked in cast iron. This helps reduce the amount of time the acidic tomato sits in the pot.
                        Since this stew has tomato, don’t store leftovers in cast iron. Transfer leftovers to another container after cooking.