Taiwanese beef noodle soup

Ingredients

• Beef shank — with tendon1 kg
• Wheat noodles400 g
• Doubanjiang3 tbsp
• Soy sauce100 ml
• Shaoxing wine100 ml
• Ginger50 g
• Garlic8 clove
• Tomatoes3
• Star anise3
• Cinnamon stick1
• Rock sugar30 g
• Bok choy300 g
• Pickled mustard greens100 g
• Spring onion4
• Vegetable oil60 ml
• Saltto taste

Salt and spices grow more slowly than the rest: doubling a dish does not double the pepper.

Weight converts to ounces and volume to cups. Grams of flour are not turned into cups, because that depends on how tightly it is packed.

Method

1. 1

   Cover the meat with cold water, bring it up, boil two minutes and drain; this removes the scum.

   12 min

2. 2

   Fry the ginger, garlic and doubanjiang in oil for five minutes, until the oil turns red.

   8 min

3. 3

   Add the tomatoes, wine and soy sauce, cook three minutes and return the meat to the pot.

   6 min

4. 4

   Add water two fingers above the meat, drop in the star anise, cinnamon and sugar and simmer two hours.

   125 min

5. 5

   Lift out the meat, cut it into thick slices and return it to the broth for ten minutes.

   14 min

6. 6

   Cook the noodles in a separate pot of clean water and blanch the bok choy.

   10 min

7. 7

   Divide the noodles between bowls, add the meat and greens, ladle over the broth and top with pickled mustard greens and spring onion.

   8 min

About the dish

The broth is made on shank with its tendons. They are what give it the stickiness that clings to the lips; on lean meat alone it is just beef stock.

The base of the flavour is doubanjiang, fermented broad bean paste with chilli. It is fried in oil until dark, and without that step the soup stays flat.

The meat and broth cook together, but the noodles always cook apart, in clean water. Their starch clouds the broth and the soup loses its clarity.

Worth knowing

• — The first water must be thrown away. Without that the broth stays cloudy and grey foam collects on the surface.
• — Tendon takes longer than meat. If it is still firm after two hours, give the pot another half hour; the meat will not suffer.
• — The pickled mustard greens are not a garnish: their acidity balances a fatty broth, and without them the soup cloys quickly.

Nutrition

Per serving at the base yield, calculated from the ingredients rather than measured in a lab.

Calories

680 kcal

Protein

48 g

Fat

24 g

Carbs

68 g

More from Taiwan

• Lu rou fan — Minced pork belly braised in soy sauce with spices, spooned over white rice.