Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵 (niúròu miàn))
Overview
Taiwanese beef noodle soup is a rich bowl of wheat noodles in a dark red-braised beef broth. Beef shank or brisket is braised slowly with chilli bean paste, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, star anise and other spices until very tender. The noodles are cooked separately and served in the broth with chunks of beef, blanched bok choy, chopped spring onion and pickled mustard greens. A clear version without chilli is also popular. It is often described as the national dish of Taiwan.
History
The red-braised version is generally traced to veterans from mainland China, many from Sichuan, who settled in Taiwan after 1949 and combined their chilli bean paste with local beef. Since 2005 Taipei has held an annual beef noodle festival. There are thousands of specialist shops on the island, each guarding its own recipe. Taipei has held an annual beef noodle festival since 2005.
Main ingredients
Braised beef shank, wheat noodles, doubanjiang, soy sauce, star anise, pickled mustard greens. The soup is built on red-braised beef broth and is usually served hot. Diet: contains meat; not usually gluten-free.
Explore: Beef soups · Noodle soups · Spinach and greens soups
Recipe outline serves 4 · ~200 min
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef shank, in chunks
- 500 g wheat noodles
- 2 tbsp doubanjiang, 80 ml soy sauce
- 4 slices ginger, 6 garlic cloves, 2 star anise
- 2 l beef stock or water
- bok choy, spring onion, pickled mustard greens
Allergens: Contains: Gluten, Soya. Based on the typical recipe. Recipes and products vary; always check labels if you have an allergy.
Method
- Blanch the beef, then fry the aromatics and doubanjiang in oil.
- Add the beef, soy sauce, spices and stock and simmer for 2.5 hours.
- Cook the noodles and bok choy separately.
- Serve the noodles in the broth with beef, greens and pickles.
Sources
Description, history and recipe written by SoupWiki and checked against the sources above. Calories and times are rough estimates.
