Beef stew too sweet and salty.

[BertrandRussell]

I made a big pot of this Hugh F-W recipe

Shin of beef with ginger and soy
A little cooking oil or beef fat
1.5kg shin of beef, cut into thick slices, bone in
Sea salt and ground black pepper
4 'thumbs' ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
6 large garlic cloves, peeled, germ removed and thinly sliced
3 tbsp tart fruit jam or jelly, such as redcurrant, plum or crab apple
10 tbsp soy sauce
350-500ml apple juice
2 fresh or dried chillies, medium-hot

It's delicious- but a bit too sweet and too salty for our taste. What would you add to the leftovers to tone it down without losing the flavour?

Sounds delicious. Would adding chopped potatoes and more cooking liquid work?
Or remove some of the rich sauce and replace with water. Reheat and taste and return some of the tasty sauce if needed.

I usually add a bit of lemon or lime juice if I have made something too sweet or salty. Cream always takes the edge off saltiness but wouldn't work with the other ingredients in this recipe ( must say I fancy trying it!).

I think I might take out some of the liquid and replace it with salt free stock or wine. I'd usually use potatoes, but the sauce is quite "light" for a stew and the might make it a bit floury, if you see what I mean. Lemon juice is a good idea, though.

If you do make it, I suggest only using half the soy sauce, and tasting the jelly first- I used a cranberry one that's sweeter than I thought it was. It really is delicious and quite different to the usual beef recipes. A bit of star anise or some other chinese-y spice would be nice too.

How about adding some coconut milk as cream doesn't quite go?

I love that recipe, definitely don't add potatoes, it wouldn't go at all! Crab apple jelly is ideal for this as quite tart. I'd only add something like water or the salt free stock or wine you suggest OP - or possibly lemon juice to make it tart again. We like it as per the recipe but always use a jelly that isn't too sweet. Also I find that light soy has a more subtle flavour than dark.

I use that recipe quite a lot. But found it v salty the first time I made it so now make with less soy, use a v tart jam (home made rowanberry) and put some water or stock in and reduce the amount of apple juice.

Also tend to stir through some red peppers and any other handy veg like Kale or spinach through 5 mins before taking out of oven as that tones it down a bit too.

It might work with potatoes.