Beef Noodle Soup
Updated March 2021
Broth
Ingredients
Beef bones - 1000g / 2.2lb
Water - 4L
Ginger, sliced - 30g
Onion, cut in half - 1
Bay leaf - 2
Whole black pepper - 15
Method
Preheat oven to 400F / 200C
Roast beef bones, ginger, onion for 30 minutes in oven until fragrant and browned
Cook the roasted ingredients with bay leaves and black pepper for 5 hours on stove top (or 1.5 hours in a pressure cooker)
Chill overnight to easily skim off fat.
Braise
Ingredients
Beef (see note) - 1200g / 2.6 lb
Tomatoes, peeled and cut - 2
Onion, sliced thin - 1
Garlic cloves, smashed - 8
Ginger, sliced - 20g
Soy sauce - 1/2 cup
Rice wine - 1/4 cup
Sesame oil - 1 tbsp
Doubanjiang - 2 tbsp
Shachajiang - 1 tbsp
Rock sugar - 1 tbsp
White pepper
Broth - 3.5L
Spice bag:
Star anise - 3
Sichuan peppercorn - 2 tsp
Nutmeg, cracked - 1
Black Cardamom, cracked - 2
Fennel seeds - 1 tsp
Bay leaf - 2
Cinnamon stick - 1
Method
Cut the meat into pieces slightly bigger than you want to end up with. It’ll shrink as it cooks. If you want cubes, cut into rectangular pieces (rectangular strips along the grain. See this video for reference.
(Optional) The night before you’re going to braise, salt the cut meat.
Peel the tomatoes like in this video (do not seed) and cut into chunks.
Heat the contents for the spice bag in a dry skillet until fragrant. Add to a disposable tea bag.
Cover the meat in a pot with cold water, boil and skim the foam until it comes out clean. Fish out the beef and rinse clean.
Heat oil in a dutch oven. Add the blanched meat and brown on all sides. Remove meat.
Add additional oil if necessary and stir fry onion, garlic, ginger until fragrant.
Add the doubanjiang and shachajiang, stirfry until fragrant. Add the meat back in and toss to coat.
Add soysauce and let it bubble in the hot pan.
Add the tomatoes, spice bag, rock sugar, sesame oil, rice wine, and white pepper to the pot. Scrape up any brown bits
Cover and turn to low and simmer for 1 hour. Both the beef and tomatoes will release juices. Adding no water insures that the beef fully takes on the flavors of the seasonings.
After an hour, add most of the beef broth (reserve some for adjusting flavor later) and simmer for another 30 minutes or until the meat is tender to your liking.
Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
Chill to easily skim off fat and let the flavors develop in fridge over night.
Notes
I like to use chuck rib / short rib and shank. The ribs provide a meatier flavor. For the shank, get a whole one (it looks almost like a whole tenderloin), which is usually available at Asian grocery stores. Slice in half to braise. After braising, chill and cut into slices.
I don’t recommend scaling the spices proportionally. If doubling the amount of meat, tomatoes, onions, etc…I would use 1.5x the spices…otherwise, the resulting broth is a tad too herbal-y for my liking. YMMV so if that’s what you prefer, go for it.
Beef Noodle Soup
Fixings
Blanched vegetables
Chewy noodles
Chopped green onions and cilantro
Pickled mustard greens:
Soak in water for 10 minutes to remove some of the salinity
Squeeze dry and dice
Heat oil in a pan and stir fry some smashed garlic cloves
When fragrant, add in the mustard greens and stir fry
At the end, add a bit of sugar and sesame oil