Taiwanese Beef Noodles Soup 紅燒牛肉麵

Beef noodles soup - Taiwan's national pride and treasure, and one of the most talked-about food by its people. There are shows featuring popular shops, their in-house secret formulas, rankings and competitions to find the best beef noodles. Some people like the darker (紅燒) soup, whereas others prefer the clearer (清燉) soup.....which means more discussions on which is superior. A famous shop with a 200 year history revealed that they make broth by boiling beef bones for 12 hours, and braise the beef shank (牛腱) for 2 hours with 32 chinese herbs....that's what we mean by rich complex flavors.

The beef noodles recipe I used today is adapted from an award-winning Taiwanese chef (李柏輝 Li Bo-hui) on TV. He created this recipe for home-cooking, knowing how a long list of ingredients could deter most of us. Less than 32 herbs but still very delicious. Simplify without compromising on taste - that's always a winner. The preparation is quite straight-forward, stir-fry the ingredients then leave the beef to braise for 2 hours. An ideal dish to make when you are home on a relaxing day. My husband gave the end product the thumbs-up, as delicious as what we get at good Taiwanese eateries.


TAIWANESE BEEF NOODLES SOUP RECIPE 
Serves 4
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Ingredients

Soup
2 lb (900g) beef shank, chuck or brisket  (cut into thick chunks)
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 knob 2 inch ginger (cut into slices)
1 large onion (chopped coarsely)
3 stalks of scallion (cut into 3 inch portions)
3 Tbsp of soy bean paste (豆瓣酱)
(If you prefer spicy flavor, use an equal mix of 豆瓣酱 soy bean paste and 辣豆瓣酱 spicy bean paste)
1/4 tsp of white pepper powder
1/4 cup cooking rice wine
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Tbsp of sugar
1 tomato (dice into chunks)
2.5 qt (10 cups) water
1 spice bag (total 20g - 5g each of sichuan peppercorn, cinnamon, fennel, star anise)
(Use a bag or sachet so the spices can be easily removed before serving) 
salt - 1/4 tsp or to taste

Others
1 lb (450g) shanghai or handmade noodles
3-4 stalks baby bok choy (optional)
8 oz (230g) pickled mustard green (sliced finely)
Handful of cilantro (chopped - optional)


Using a large pot or wok, heat up 2 Tbsp of oil over medium-high heat.
Pan-fry beef till lightly browned.
Add ginger, onion, scallion and fry till fragrant.
Create a well in the middle of pot, add and lightly-fry soy bean paste and white pepper powder.
Add cooking rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, tomato, water, spice bag and stir well.

Bring soup to a boil before reducing to low heat. Cover pot with lid and simmer for 2 hours.

Taste the soup and season with salt according to taste. As the soup will become diluted after you add noodles, it should taste a little saltier and more flavorful than if it was drank directly as a soup.

Cook noodles in boiling water per instructions on package. Drain noodles well. Place noodles in bowl and add beef soup. If you prefer to add baby bok choy, boil them in water quickly and add to bowl. Top with pickled mustard green and cilantro before serving.