In Taiwan there are a lot of different types of beef noodle soup, like “Clear Stewed Beef Noodle Soup (清燉牛肉麵)”, “Tomato Beef Noodle Soup (茄汁牛肉麵)”,” Red-Braised Beef Noodle Soup (紅燒牛肉麵)”,” Original-Flavored Beef Noodle Soup (原汁牛肉麵)” etc, all of them have nice and deep flavour. Today I want to introduce you to Red-braised. In Taiwan they use chilli bean sauce with soy sauce to create the soup base and use vegetables for the sweetness. Stir frying the beef with the onions and spices creates a real richness and depth of flavour.
When making Red-braised beef noodle soup the best cuts to use are, beef tendon, brisket, ribs or rib fingers.
Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
In this recipe I will be using beef rib fingers, the meat has a good fat content and is cut in to quite large pieces. This part of the meat does take quite a lot of cooking to make it soft. You may need to adjust your cooking time depending on the meat you use.
Also I use a frying pan and a large deep pan, however if you have a large wok or large heavy bottomed pan you can just use one pan.
Also I use a frying pan and a large deep pan, however if you have a large wok or large heavy bottomed pan you can just use one pan.
Ingredients
Beef
- 1 pinch Salt
- 1 pinch Pepper
- 600 g Beef – large chunks (I'm using Rib Fingers)
Ingredients
- 1 tsp Oil for Frying Pan
- ½ Large onion(around 120g)
- 1 tbsp Garlic Clove finely chopped
- 1 tbsp Ginger finely chopped
- 4 Star Anise
- 1 tsp Chinese Five Spices
- 1 tsp White Pepper Powder
- 3 tbsp Red bean Chill Sauce
- 4 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
- 1 piece Cassia Bark
- 2 Salad Tomatoes Roughly Chopped
- 2 Green Onions Cut in half
- 7 tbsp Soy sauce
- 6 tbsp Shaoxing Cooking Wine
- 1 Red Pepper cut to half and remove the seed (option)
- 2 litres Hot Water
- 400 g Dry Noodles
Topping (optional)
- 1 Green Onion Finely Chopped
- 1 Red Chilli Finely Chopped
- 1 Chilli Oil Sauce
- 2 Pak-Choi Boiled
Instructions
- Season the beef well with the salt and pepper.
- Add the oil into a frying pan over a medium heat. Once frying pan is hot add the beef, fry until all sides take a nice colour.
- Move the beef to one side and add the onion and stir-fry it until becomes soft. Then add the ginger and the garlic fry it until its fragrance is released then mix all ingredients well.
- Turn to a medium low heat or low heat and add the star anise, the Chinese five spice and white pepper powder then mix well.
- Add the red bean chill sauce and the tomato ketchup fry them until its fragrance is released and mix well again.
- Add the soy sauce and Shaoxing cooking wine give it a good stir and change to a medium heat and bring it to boil.
- Ready a deep sided pan, and move the all cooked ingredients into it. Next add the tomato, the green onion, the chilli, the cassia bark and cover with hot water. Use chopsticks or a ladle to stir the bottom of the pan, make sure there is nothing sticking or it will burn.
- Turn to a medium heat, and bring it to boil. Put the lid on and change to a low heat then cook it around 1 hour. (Check it occasionally and give it a stir)
- After 1 hour (see notes), check the taste (if the flavour is too deep, you could add some hot water or if it is not salty enough add a bit of soy sauce or salt). Cook the noodles and drain. Add the noodles into your bowl then ladle in the soup and meat. Next add the pak-choi, green onions and chilli.
- I really hope you enjoy your meal 🙂