Sichuan x Taiwan Inspired Braised Beef Noodles 红烧牛肉面
This past month has been crazy hectic with wedding planning so I apologize this post has taken longer than expected. I instagrammed last month saying this would be up soon and thank you so much to you friends who remembered and have asked me about it! I guess one of the biggest problems with having 1.5 years to plan a wedding is that we keep thinking there’s still plenty of time and everything can wait! But now the big day is only 2 months away, we’re really down to crunch time and I’m starting to get really.. REALLY nervous!! Just to give you a sneak peak into what we’ve been up to, here’s a picture from our ‘Guo Dai Lai’ 过大礼－ a traditional Chinese exchange of gifts ceremony 😀
Photo taken by Daniel Siu
Alright, let’s get on topic! I am obsessed with braised beef noodles. I love the flavourful broth, the thick hand made noodles, the tasty beef, sprinkles of spring onion on top.. Yes, it is one of my all time favorite dishes! Back in Vancouver, my favorite place is Wang Ji’s on 57th and Granville. In high school, I used to go to my friend Kat’s house nearby to study for our IB exams and coming here for dinner would be our secret escape. Somehow a bowl of spicy and chewy beef noodles and girls chat could make us forget about all our stress, even if just for an hour. You know how you always have some fond memories with your childhood friends? This is one of those for me.
The first time I attempted to make this was 2 years ago when I first moved back to HK, Bosco loved it so much he had 3 bowls! But sadly for the following year, I was never able to replicate it because I just couldn’t get the beef tender and soup flavourful enough even after cooking for 3 hours. My ambitions of cooking this dish slowly died away as every time I suggested to Bosco we make it, he’d say ‘mnn how about next time?’ Yes, even Bosco says no to my food sometimes! haha 😛
Luckily, our Taiwanese friend Jon made this for us one night and shared his secret- you must choose the correct cut of beef: rib fingers! I had previously chosen beef briskets since that’s what is always served in Cantonese restaurants, but it requires extensive time to cook and soften. On the other hand, rib fingers are a really tender cut and don’t require much cooking time. Yes, finally my love for cooking this dish was sparked again! So I went out and got myself some rib fingers and to my delight, it turned out so soft and tender!
So over the past year, I have been experimenting with different herbs, spices, and vegetables. I wanted to find a way to get enough depth in the broth without having to cook it for endless hours. Who has that much time or patience anyway? I love the prickly spice of Sichuan peppercorns as well as the tomato base commonly seen in Taiwanese beef noodle soups. I found that toasting the spices and herbs first really helped to bring out their flavours. Finally, caramelizing my onions and sweating my tomatoes produced the taste I was looking for. And best of all, these simple steps helped to create a thick broth without hours of braising! This has been one of my most requested recipes and I’m so happy to finally be able to share it with y’all. I hope you enjoy and try it out yourself!
Difficulty Level: 2/3
Preparation: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Braising Time: 1+ hours
Portion: 3 people
Cost: 200 HKD (organic)
Ingredients:
400 g beef rib fingers
2 medium sized carrots
1 large brown onion
4 roma tomatoes
3 chunks crystal sugar
Premium dark soy sauce
Chinese cooking wine (optional)
1 pack of fresh basil leaves
1 pack of your favourite noodles
chopped green spring onion to garnish
sesame oil
400 g beef rib fingers
2 medium sized carrots
1 large brown onion
4 roma tomatoes
3 chunks crystal sugar
Premium dark soy sauce
Chinese cooking wine (optional)
1 pack of fresh basil leaves
1 pack of your favourite noodles
chopped green spring onion to garnish
sesame oil
*optional: Chicken stock to replace water
Spices and Herbs :
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
4 pieces star anise
2 tablespoons Lee Kum Kee brand chili bean sauce (or more if you like it spicy!)
5 pieces bay leaves (fresh or dry)
1 two-inch chunk ginger
8 cloves garlic
3 sprigs white stalk of spring onion (green part for garnishing)
Timer: 0 minutes
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
4 pieces star anise
2 tablespoons Lee Kum Kee brand chili bean sauce (or more if you like it spicy!)
5 pieces bay leaves (fresh or dry)
1 two-inch chunk ginger
8 cloves garlic
3 sprigs white stalk of spring onion (green part for garnishing)
Timer: 0 minutes
1. Preparation:
- Chop the carrots
- Chop up the tomatoes
- Finely dice the onions
- cut off the white stalk of the spring onion
- flatten the garlic with a knife to peel skin
- slice the ginger into thin slices
- Remove the tough membrane on the sides of the rib fingers as it will make the meat contract and is difficult to chew. Then slice into 2-inch cubes.
*beef will shrink once cooked, so slice them into slightly larger chunks than desired
To make life easier, measure out all the spices into a bowl first
Timer: 15 minutes
2. In a non-stick pan on medium-high heat, heat 1 teaspoon of oil, add all the ‘spices and herbs’, and fry for about 1 minute until aromatic
*I wish I could tell you to use Chinese 5 powder spice to replace all these spices but trust me, don’t do it! The loose powder will fly everywhere and attack your nose and give you a very painful coughing fit! Yes I’ve been there.
*Toasting the spices and herbs helps to bring out their flavours and reduces our cooking time
3. Add the beef in and fry until the surface is brown
*This browning of the beef is called the ‘Maillard Reaction’ (to be very Heston-y here), which increases the aroma and flavor of the meat
Timer: 25 minutes
4. Add enough room temperature water to cover the beef (2-3 cups), 2-3 tablespoons of premium dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of cooking wine, and the crystal sugars. Put the lid on and bring to a boil, then turn to low heat and continue simmering.
*what is the difference between dark soy sauce (老抽）and light soy sauce (生抽)? Dark soy sauce is less salty, has a richer flavour, and can give meats a deeper color, whereas light soy sauce is saltier and gives less depth to your food. I prefer using dark soy sauce usually.
*if you leave the fire on high the whole time, too much water will evaporate and the meat will be come tough and dry. Turning it on low keeps the meat tender while absorbing flavour.
5. While the beef is simmering, in another pan heat some oil on high heat until the oil’s surface starts to rivet and fry your onions until golden and their aroma becomes really sweet and strong
*The browner you cook your onions, the sweeter they become, giving your broth extra flavour
*you can slice the onions even thinner to cook faster and so they almost dissolve in the broth
6. Add the carrots and continue frying until slightly softened
7. Add the tomatoes and cover with lid until they soften and skin loosens off
*sweating concentrates the flavours
Timer: 45 minutes
8. Add the beef broth and basil leaves into the vegetables, cover with lid, and bring to a boil. Then simmer on low heat for at least 1 hour.
*if you are using a pressure cooker or a dutch oven for this part, your cooking time can probably be shortened to 30 minutes.
*make sure the lid is tight or else all the liquid will evaporate
I usually let the broth boil on medium heat for 15 minutes and then put the whole pot into this Zojirushi insulated vacuum container which retains all my liquids and heat for at least 6-8 hours so that I don’t need to watch the fire and can just let it braise overnight. This is great if you make it the night before, but definitely isn’t as powerful as a pressure cooker which increases the pressure inside the pot, thus increasing the boiling temperature of the food, effectively shortening cooking time.
Once done, the broth should be a dense rich red/brown color. The onions should be almost melted into the soup and the carrots and beef soft. Taste and see if you need to add more dark soy sauce or sugar.
*ladle out the spices and herbs if they bother you while eating, but I like to be reminded of what’s inside the broth so I don’t bother.
Timer: 2 hours
10. Cook your noodles
Not sure which noodles to pick? My favorite noodles are knife-cut noodles (刀削面）but they are quite hard to buy. A while ago City’Super sold them frozen but not anymore. So, these ones are currently our favorite noodles. In my opinion, try to go for frozen > dried noodles, and thick> thin noodles because I prefer a chewier texture for this broth!
Boil water and cook the noodles until they are 90% done and separate into serving bowls.
* I prefer to slightly undercook the noodles to retain their chewiness and they will continue to soak up soup as you eat.
Ladle the beef broth on top of the noodles. Sprinkle with chopped spring onions and a drizzle of sesame oil.
Enjoy it while it’s hot and before the noodles soak up the soup and get too soggy!
Bosco says: yummmm! 😀
I hope you enjoy this recipe! This is so fun and delicious. I usually like to make a large batch of the beef soup and freeze them into 1-person portion zip lock bags for convenient use next time. They are great to have in the freezer for those quick meals that you can whip up in 15 minutes; or if your significant other is like mine and likes to have midnight snacks, he’ll be a very happy peanut if you can offer this to him instead of ordering Tsui Wah or McDonald’s delivery 😛
Sneak peak behind the scenes: Bosco helping me model the noodles, but he looks like he would rather put them in his mouth! haha 😀
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Be in love with life.
Much Love,
CC
I absolutely LOVE this post!!! Well done my darling!! Now, I am upset…I have all the lovely memories of us being together but where’s my BEEF NOODLES (throwing tantrums around)??!! Can we have a “gaining weight back” session after your wedding and make all the yummy food with your recipes? I miss you!!!
Hehhee thank youuu! I miss you so much too and can’t wait to see you in jan! Hahah yes we def need to do that! I can’t wait for the wedding to just come so that I can cook everything and anything without worrying about it! But you remember our English trifle desert we made tgt with ting?? With the fruits and pudding and cake? And your curry chips! Ahahaha I miss those days so much 🙂
wow this looks amazing.. but so many spices needed! I’ll try to make it sometime 🙂
Thanks Lucy!! Heheh yeah I know the spices are quite a handful but once u buy them you will want to use them again and again for many diff things 🙂 actually I was wondering if the Chinese five spice could replace some of these if you mixed it with some oil and the chili bean paste first so that the powder won’t fly everywhere while cooking ! Hehe do let me know if you try it, I love seeing your photos 🙂
Awesome! Makes people hungry just reading this. What’s rib fingers in Chinese if we want to get it from wet market??
Hi Ranee!
The beef rib fingers are called 牛肋條 in Cantonese that is “ngau lak tiu” or mandarin “niu Li tiao”. Good luck shopping ! 🙂
Crystal
I did it!! Actually found a pack of rib fingers in supermarket … Handy!
I didn’t have all those lovely herbs … So I resorted to 5 flavours powder instead. Just toast the garlic ginger and add beer, And then add the powder. Tasted SOOO good!! Thank you for the recipe!!
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Ooh awesome! Interesting you used beer!! I’m so glad you like it! Totally my pleasure 🙂
Crap… Typo…. Meant to say “add beef”. Hahaha so silly! *embarrassed*
In terms of alcohol I used Japanese mirin instead of Chinese cooking wine. Worked well too.
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Ohhh hahaha I see! The mirin is a good idea since we add sugar in anyway too! 🙂
Rerun and was same good. I even got those thick Taiwanese noodles just for this purpose ! The best thing of making this from scratch is– we can happily drink all the soup without a worry of msg!
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Aww that’s great!! That’s exactly why I love making things from scratch too! Keep up the great work and thanks so much for sharing with me 😉
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Hi Teddy! Thanks for your sweet comment, I don’t use Twitter but if you have instagram you can follow me @cookedforyou there 😉 let me know it’s you so I can follow you back!