any thoughts on how to thicken slow cooked chines style pork stew?

[3BloodyKids]

I have a really nice recipe for a Chinese style pork stew with rice wine, stock and soy sauce for the juice. The only problem is that it is of a watery consistency when it comes out of the slow cooker and has the kind of stringy bits of (proteins?) stuff that look like congealed blood IYKWIM.

(Gosh it sounds great doesn't it?!)

Anyway, I'm just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for thickening it, other than cornflour? If it was a a curry I'd perhaps add lentils or maybe whizz up the onions and garlic first, so how can I add body to the sauce of a Chinese style stew?

instant mash is good for this sort of thing

or can you serve it over noodles maybe...sort of thai soupy style??

totally ignores blood stringy congealed bits

Arrow root powder will thicken it without making it go cloudy like cornflour does.

The only other thing I can think of is to reduce the amount of liquid you put in or cook it with the lid off so the steam escapes rather than going back into the food.

Drain off the liquid and strain it then thicken separately in a saucepan with cornflour. Some Chinese use cornstarch in their cooking.

Carry on cooking in the SC but keep the lid on so as not to lose the cooking heat.

I bet your kitchen smells lovely.

Arrow root would work for this batch but next time you could try tossing the meat in seasoned flour before you cook it, the flour thickens the sauce as it cooks.

Cornflour is the way forward, I use it to thicken most Chinese/Vietnamese curries and stews.

As above arrow root or cornflour etc.

Just don't do what I did with gravy the other day - stand pouring in thickening granules, stirring and wondering why it wasn't thickening and just getting little lumps in it, only to put the pot of 'thickening granules' back in the cupboard next to the actual thickening granules and realising I'd been pouring breadcrumbs in instead

ah ok, so flour is the way forward I see. and not breadcrumbs

Or potato flour which is used in parts of China. Watch it or it'll go gloopy!

Mcdougalls thickening granules.