A Brief History on Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
This recipe is from many on-line sources. In 1949, an estimated 2 million Chinese Nationalist soldiers and their families relocated to Taiwan following their defeat by the communists in the Chinese Civil War. Taiwanese beef noodle soup was created by these refugees who missed the taste of home. Impoverished chiefs among these veterans sold noodles as street food to support themselves, spreading the phenomenon to the nation.
Worth the Wait
The total cook time for this recipe is about 3 hours. It may not be the best for a weeknight dinner, especially if you work during the week but if you have the time to make a flavorful dish, this is certainly worth the wait!|
What You’ll Need For this Recipe
Similar to the dan dan noodles recipe, this recipe is divided into parts: spice bag, beef & broth, and noodles.
Making your spice bag:
- ½ tsp Cumin seeds
- ½ tsp Coriander seeds
- ½ tsp Szechuan peppercorn
- ½ tsp Black peppercorn
- 1/8 tsp White peppercorn
- ½ Star anise
- ¼ Cinnamon stick
- ½ Bay leaf
Spice bags usually contain whole spices and herbs to impart flavor in soups and stews. Using a pestle and mortar, bring together the ingredients mentioned above and gentle bruise them, do not fully crush them. This will help to release stronger flavor. To make your spice sachet, or spice bag, grab a cheesecloth or loose leaf tea pouch to place your spices in and string tie close with cooking twine.
For the beef and broth:
- 1 tsp peanut oil
- 1/3 inch Ginger – finely diced
- 2 cloves of Garlic – finely diced
- 2 Green Onions – separating the white and green parts
- 1 medium Onion diced
- 1 tomato, cut into 1 inch pieces
- ¾ tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp Chinese chili bean paste
- ½ tbsp soy sauce
- ¾ tbsp rice wine
- ½ lbs beef shank, cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3 cups water
- Salt to taste
Noodles and Garnish
- 1 package of wheat or glass noodles (thin rice noodles)
- Green vegetable of your choice, chopped into 2 inches pieces, you can use baby bok choy, broccoli, or swiss chard
- Green onions, green part only, chopped for garnishing
- Optional: chopped peanuts for garnishing
Cooking Directions
Start with making your spice bag and set it aside. Next, let’s cook clean the beef by first trimming away any unwanted fat. Then, heat up 1 teaspoon of peanut oil in a large pot, on medium heat and add in the diced onions. Cook the onions until they become transparent. Add in the ginger, garlic, and the white (bottom) parts of the green onions and cook for 1 minute. Then, add in the meat and cook until browned. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
In the same pot, toss in ¾ tsp brown sugar, 1 tsp Chinese chili bean paste, ½ tbsp soy sauce. Continue cooking everything together until the tomatoes are soft. Now, add back in the meat and add the 3 cups water, along with the spice bag. Turn the heat up to high and boil for 30 minutes. Bring the heat down to low and let this simmer for 2 hours or until the meat is tender.
While this is coming together, bring another pot of water to boil and cook the noodles according to the directions on the package. Once boiling, add in the noodles and the vegetable of your choice, I like using baby bok choy or broccoli. Drain the noodles and veggies and start plating! Place the noodles and veggies into bowls, top it with the soup and garnish it with your choice of tops from the green onions or crushed peanuts. Enjoy!
Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
Ingredients
Ingredients for the spice bag
- 1 cheesecloth or loose leaf tea sachet cooking twine to tie shut
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp coriander seeds
- ½ tsp Szechuan peppercorn
- ½ tsp black peppercorn
- 1/8 tsp white peppercorn
- ½ star anise
- ¼ cinnamon stick
- ½ bay leaf
Ingredients for the beef and broth
- 1 tsp peanut oil
- ⅓ inch ginger finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic finely diced
- 2 green onions, white and green parts separated diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 tomato cut into 1 inch pieces
- ¾ tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp Chinese chili bean paste
- ½ tbsp soy sauce
- ¾ tbsp rice wine
- ½ lbs beef stank cut into 1 inch cubes
- 3 cups water
- salt to taste
Ingredients for Noodles and Garnish
- 1 package of wheat or glass noodles
- 1 green vegetable of your choice I like baby bok choy or broccoli
- 1 green onions, tops only, sliced for garnish
- or crushed peanuts for garnish
Instructions
- Make your spice bag by gently bruising the whole spices with a mortal and pestle. Place the spices in the sachet or cheesecloth and tie shut with cooking twin.
- Prep and dice your ingredients (onions, green onions, ginger, garlic, and tomato)
- Clean and trim unwanted fat away from the beef
- In a large pot heat up the oil on medium heat and add the onion and fry till transparent. Add the ginger, garlic, and white parts of the green onions and cook for 1 minute. Add the meat, cook untill browned and then remove from pot to set aside.
- In the same pot, add the brown sugar, Chinese Chili bean paste, soy sauce, rice wine, and tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes are soft, add back the meat, 3 cups of water and toss in your spice bag.
- Turn the heat to high, boil for 30 minutes and then turn heat down to low. Let this simmer for 2 hours or until the meat is tender. Add salt to taste.
- While this is simmering, bring another pot of water to a boil and add in the noodles, along with the vegetable(s) and cook according to the package directions. Drain and assemble! Place the noodles and veggies in bowls, top with the soup and your choice of garnish, whether its green onions or crushed peanuts.
- Sit back and enjoy!