Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

Beef noodle soup was one of my favorite dishes as a kid. I tried this dish at a bunch of restaurants around Boston and each one was slightly different, so it’s a very flexible and always delicious dish. Feel free to make it your own!

- Michelle Luo ‘23

Ingredients

1.5-2 lbs beef shank or chuck, 1 inch piece of ginger, sliced 6 smashed cloves of garlic, 3 scallions (chopped into 3-inch pieces), 1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp doubanjiang (spicy bean paste), 1 tbsp white or brown sugar, ¼ cup Shaoxing win, ¼ cup light soy sauce, and 1 Chinese aromatic spice packet

Extra spices: 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns 1 tsp cumin seeds 4-6 dried chilies Any type of noodles of your choice Toppings (optional) 1 packet of pickled mustard greens Handful of bok choy, spinach, or your favorite leafy green

Method

Cut excess fat off beef and set aside. Chop beef into 2-inch chunks.

Blanch beef in boiling water and skim off foam. Remove beef into a bowl and let cool.

Fry reserved beef fat, ginger, garlic, and scallions in a large steel pot over medium heat until aromatic and lightly browned.

Add onions and fry until translucent. Add tomatoes and chili peppers and stir fry for another 3-5 minutes.

Add blanched beef chunks. Stir fry for another minute, then add tomato paste, doubanjiang, and sugar. Mix well until all pieces of beef are evenly coated.

Add Shaoxing wine and soy sauce, then add enough water to just cover the beef.

Add Chinese spice packet. If desired, put extra spices into a small fillable tea bag and add to the soup as well.

Let the soup simmer on the lowest heat setting for about 2 hours, covered, or until beef is tender. Check on the soup every 20-30 minutes to check the texture of the beef.

Remove ginger and scallion pieces and spice packets.

Boil noodles and blanch spinach (or other leafy green). Plate and top the noodles with soup, beef, and pickled mustard greens.