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Taiwan, Asia

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵)

Taiwan's national noodle dish: chewy wheat noodles in a rich broth of beef shank slowly braised with chili bean paste and soy sauce.

ServingsServes 2
Total cooking time2 h 15 min
DifficultyHard
About servingsEvaporation during braising is about the same whatever the amount, so even 1 serving must start with 700 ml of water to leave enough broth. Braise plenty of meat and freeze the leftover broth; next time you only need to cook the noodles.

Method

  1. Cut the beef shank into 4 cm chunks, put them in a 20 cm pot with cold water, bring to a boil over high heat and blanch for . When grey foam rises, lift out the meat, rinse it in cold water and discard the water.

    Add in this stepBeef shank (or brisket) 400 g

    high heat

  2. Wipe the pot, add oil and fry the ginger, garlic and white part of the green onion over medium heat for until fragrant. Add the chili bean paste and diced tomato and fry over medium heat for more until the oil turns red.

    Add in this stepCooking oil 1 tbspGinger (sliced) 15 gGarlic (whole cloves) 4Large green onion (or leek) 2Chili bean paste (doubanjiang) 1½ tbspTomato 1

    medium heat

  3. Add the meat, soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, rock sugar, star anise and water and boil over high heat for . Turn down to low heat, cover and simmer for . It is done when a chopstick slides easily into the meat. Taste and season with salt.

    Add in this stepSoy sauce 3 tbspDark soy sauce (for colour) 1 tbspShaoxing wine (or mirin) 2 tbspRock sugar (or light brown sugar) 10 gStar anise 1Water 1,200 mlSalt to taste

    high heat→low heat

  4. Bring plenty of water to a boil in another 20 cm pot and cook the noodles over high heat for , adding the bok choy for the last minute, then drain.

    Add in this stepFresh wheat noodles, medium thickness (or other fresh wheat noodles) 200 gBok choy 2

    high heat

  5. Put the noodles and bok choy in bowls and ladle over plenty of hot broth and meat. Top with coriander, pickled mustard greens and green onion.

    Add in this stepCoriander leaves, pickled mustard greens, sliced green onion to taste

Cook's tip

Skim off about half the oil floating on the broth with a ladle for a cleaner taste. Braising it the day before and chilling it deepens the flavour and makes the set fat easy to lift off.

Cooking it at camp

The braise takes a long time, so finish it at home and freeze it with its broth. It thaws slowly in the cool box and works as an ice pack. At the campsite, reheat the broth on the burner and cook only the noodles in another pot; it is ready in under 20 minutes. Braising it in a Dutch oven over charcoal takes about 2 hours 30 minutes.