I’m not going to lie. If you put this Braised Beef Noodle Soup and my Spicy Beef Noodle Soup side by side, I would choose the latter.
It’s not much of a surprise, since I’ve been known to post some of our more throat-burning, tongue-numbing spicy Sichuan dishes, but for readers with tamer taste buds, this Braised Beef Noodle Soup recipe is what you’ve been waiting for.
An Easy Recipe with Complex Flavor
I’m not usually one to brag, but this recipe is what I would call a Big Success, and I’m fairly certain that it will be one of the best bowls of beef noodle soup you’ll ever have!
Everyone knows that I don’t like overly complicated recipes. The cooking method for this braised beef noodle soup recipe is very similar to my Spicy Beef Noodle Soup, and many of you have successfully made it already!
The biggest change between this recipe and that one is in the dried spices and in this case, the aromatics are doing all the heavy lifting.
What Cut Of Beef To Use:
As for the beef, you can use one of these three cuts of beef. Depending on where you live, prices can vary widely, but here are some general considerations:
- Beef chuck: economical and cooks quickly
- Beef shank: texture-wise, there’s some gristle, which requires longer simmering, but can be very good if you like that kind of thing. It also often costs 50% more than beef chuck.
- Beef brisket: it’s fattier and tastes beefier, but it does have a higher price point.
Regardless of which cut you choose, a good rule of thumb for picking your beef is to look for good marbling. This marbled fat keeps the meat from drying out and intensifies the beef flavor. This is particularly important for this braised beef noodle soup, since the beef cooks for a relatively long time. Just consider this one of those times that the “fat-free” route should be reserved for something else.
A Note On Aromatic Ingredients
As for the aromatics, I know it’s a challenge to gather these dried ingredients, but it’s absolutely worth the effort, not to mention they keep for a long time and can be used for many other Asian braised dishes. So do your best to gather as many of the aromatics listed below as you can, if not all!
Also, be careful to follow the correct quantities for each aromatic ingredient. Overloading them can transform your soup from a delicious broth into Chinese medicine!
Now let’s get started.
Braised Beef Noodle Soup: Recipe Instructions
First place the aromatics in a piece of cheesecloth tied tightly with kitchen string or disposable/fillable tea filter bags. That’s the Chinese (cassia) cinnamon, black cardamom pods (草果), fennel seeds, star anise pods, cloves, tangerine peel, bay leaves, white peppercorns, licorice root (甘草片) slices, sand ginger (山奈／沙姜), and Chinese white cardamom (白寇).
Phew. It’ll be worth it. Trust me.
Next, rinse off the beef under cold running water. In a soup pot, add 16 cups of water, the ginger, and beef. Bring to a boil and cook for a few more minutes until you see some foam floating on the top of the water.
Skim the foam off. You don’t want these impurities from the beef making your soup cloudy.
Turn off the heat, fish out the pieces of beef, and strain the resulting broth through a fine-meshed strainer, into a heatproof bowl or other pot. Set aside, along with the ginger pieces.
In another large, thick-bottomed soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the rock sugar, the white parts of the scallions, and the garlic.
Cook for a few minutes until the scallions are lightly seared. Add the beef, turn up the heat, and mix everything well.
Cook for about 5 minutes, and stir once or twice in between. Add the Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce, and stir everything together well so that the beef is coated in the soy sauce.
Now add the aromatics, plus the daikon, cut into ¼-inch thick slices, and the broth and ginger pieces that you boiled the beef in.
Bring everything to a boil and immediately turn the heat down to medium.
Simmer for 90 minutes. The broth should be steadily simmering, where you can see water moving in the pot, but not at a rolling boil.
After 90 minutes, turn off the heat and let it stand (with the lid on) for another hour.
Now your beef soup base is ready. Reheat, remove the aromatics, and add salt to taste before serving.
You add salt at this point, because adding salt too early will dry out the beef.
Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, strain, and transfer to a large bowl.
Blanch a handful of leafy greens of your choice (spinach, romaine lettuce, choy sum, and bok choy are all good). You can blanch them in the noodle water, and add it to the noodles. Then, ladle in the beef and the soup.
Top the braised beef noodle soup with the chopped green parts of the scallions you set aside earlier and some chopped cilantro (optional).
And if you really can’t resist a bit of spice, add a spoonful of your homemade chili oil. Wink! Wink!
Enjoy this braised beef noodle soup!
Braised Beef Noodle Soup (红烧牛肉面)
Ingredients
- 2 small pieces Chinese (cassia) cinnamon
- 2 black cardamom pods (草果)
- ½ tablespoon fennel seeds
- 4 star anise pods
- 10 cloves
- 1 dried tangerine peel
- 6 bay leaves
- ½ tablespoon whole white peppercorns
- 4 slices licorice root (甘草片) (甘草, gan-cao)
- 2 pieces sand ginger (山奈／沙姜) (山奈／沙姜, shan-nai / sha-jiang)
- 10 pieces dried amomum white cardamom (白寇) (白寇, bai-kou)
- 3 pounds beef chuck (cut into large chunks)
- 16 cups water
- 5 slices ginger
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 15 grams rock sugar
- 5 scallions (with the white and green parts separated)
- 1 whole head of garlic (cloves peeled but kept whole)
- 1 pound daikon (cut into ¼-inch thick slices, with each slice quartered)
- ¼ cup Shaoxing wine
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- ¼ cup light soy sauce
- Salt (to taste)
- Noodle of your choice
- Leafy greens of your choice (spinach, romaine lettuce, choy sum, and bok choy are all good)
- Handful of chopped cilantro (optional)
Instructions
- First place the aromatics in a piece of cheesecloth tied tightly with kitchen string or disposable/fillable tea filter bags. That’s the cinnamon, black cardamom, fennel seeds, star anise, cloves, tangerine peel, bay leaves, white peppercorns, licorice slices, sand ginger, and amomum white cardamon. Phew. It’ll be worth it. Trust me.
- Next, rinse off the beef under cold running water. In a soup pot, add 16 cups of water, the ginger, and beef. Bring to a boil and cook for a few more minutes until you see some foam floating on the top of the water. Skim the foam off. You don’t want these impurities from the beef making your soup cloudy. Turn off the heat, fish out the pieces of beef, and strain the resulting broth through a fine-meshed strainer, into a heatproof bowl or other pot. Set aside, along with the ginger pieces.
- In another large, thick-bottomed soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the rock sugar, the white parts of the scallion, and the garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the scallions are lightly seared. Add the beef, turn up the heat, and mix everything well.
- Cook for about 5 minutes, and stir once or twice in between. Now add the Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce, and stir everything together well so that the beef is coated in the soy sauce.
- Now add the aromatics, plus the daikon, and the broth and ginger pieces that you boiled the beef in. Bring everything to a boil and immediately turn the heat down to medium. Simmer for 90 minutes. The broth should be steadily simmering where you can see water moving in the pot, but not at a rolling boil.
- After 90 minutes, turn off the heat and let it stand (with the lid on) for another hour. Now your soup base is ready. Reheat, remove the aromatics, and add salt to taste before serving. Just remember, adding salt too early will dry out the beef.
- Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, strain, and transfer to a large serving bowl. Blanch a handful of your leafy greens of choice in the noodle water, and add it to the noodles. Then, ladle in the beef and the soup. Top with the chopped green parts of the scallions you set aside earlier and some chopped cilantro (optional). And if you really can’t resist a bit of spice, add a spoonful of chili oil. Wink! Wink!
- Enjoy!
