Chinese oso bucco

I've heard a lot about this cut of meat. Very Italian and I had no idea how to cook it so have put off buying it till now. Even as it lay in my freezer, i still put it off because of the electricity needed to slow cook it. But as it turns our, it wasn't so bad. Downside is that it only serves 2, more pieces and I'm sure my cooking time and hence my electricity bill increases too! Woolies where I bought it from helpfully provided a Chinese inspired recipe but since I was out of hoisin, I had to improvise.

Ingredients
3 pieces osso bucco
1 tsp sweet chilli sauce (i used linghams because I find sweet chilli sauce too watery, but this made my stew rather spicy)
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soya sauce
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
Grind of black pepper
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 small onion, chopped
3 potatoes, cubed
3 carrots, cubed
3 handfuls of barley
Approx 300ml water

Method
1) Brown the osso bucco in a bit of oil. When sufficiently browned, add the onion, garlic and ginger. If using a slow cooker, transfer to the cooker. Water should just cover everything but not submerge it.
2) Put in all the remaining ingredients. When it comes to a boil, skim off any scum.
3) Periodically stir and skim. Total cooking time is 2 hours on the slow cooker.
4) Serve garnished with cut chilli, on a bed of jasmine rice.