Sometimes ugly food is the best food; galbi jjim, Korean beef short ribs, braised for 5 hours in honey, pear juice, soy, soju, mirin, black pepper and garlic. Soooo meltingly soft and a total umami bomb.
With mini king oyster mushrooms, and chunks of carrot and daikon that I specifically commissioned my bf to shape into perfect rounded golf balls for me, by commanding him to hone the sharp edges of each chunk with a vegetable peeler.
If you didn't know that trick, that's the secret of a non-cloudy braise and keeping vegetables in stews largely intact, btw; because a long cook will break down the edges of the veggies into a pulp that clouds a stew. The Koreans and Japanese hone their vegetable edges for exactly this reason.
