Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
Summary sentence
Serving size - time
Ingredients
For the soup
- 3 pounds beef shank (1.4 kg, cut into 2-inch chunks)
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 2-inch knob of ginger (smashed)
- 6 cloves garlic (smashed)
- 3 scallions (cut into 2-inch segments)
- 1 onion (cut into wedges)
- 1 tomato (cut into wedges)
- 4 dried chilies (ripped in half)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons spicy bean paste douban jiang
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup Shaoxing wine
- 8 cups water (to make the soup broth)
- 1 Chinese aromatic herb packet (lu bao)
For serving
- 32 ounces fresh wheat (white) noodles (900g)
- A small handful of bok choy for each serving
- Cilantro (finely chopped)
- Scallions (finely chopped)
Recipe
- Blanch the beef: Boil enough water in a large pot to cover all of the beef. Once the water is boiling, add the beef. Let the pot come back up to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Strain in a colander and rinse thoroughly with fresh water to remove any impurities.
- Cook the aromatics: Return the pot to the stove over medium heat. Add the oil, crushed ginger, garlic, scallions, and onion. Stir to lightly caramelize and cook until the onion turns translucent. Add the tomato and dried chilies.
- Add the meat and seasoning: Return the beef to the pot. Then add the tomato paste, spicy bean paste, sugar, soy sauce, and Shaoxing wine, and mix thoroughly.
- Add remaining ingredients and slow cook: Add the water and spice packet to the pot. Cover the pot with the lid and cook the soup on a low simmer for 3-4 hours.
- Cook the toppings for the soup: Once the soup is done simmering, do one last taste test and adjust salt and sugar levels as necessary. boil some noodles per package instructions, and in the last minute or two of the noodles cooking, blanch the bok choy until just tender.
- Serve and enjoy: Serve each bowl of Taiwanese beef noodle soup with a serving of noodles, a few stalks of bok choy, and generous sprinklings of finely minced cilantro and scallions.