Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

When I polled readers of this newsletter on what you wanted me to make in the Tatung Rice Cooker and Electric Steamer, the number one request was… beef noodle soup. Interestingly, this is not rice-based, but fittingly, it is one of Taiwan’s most well known dishes.

I hadn’t actually made beef noodle soup in the Tatung before, but I thought it would be an interesting challenge that would showcase the steam cooker’s versatility. My mom told me that when she immigrated to the US, she didn’t need a stove because she had a Tatung in her dorm room. So, I developed a recipe to make the whole thing without turning on the stove at all, except for boiling the noodles.

Recipe and writing by Lisa Cheng Smith from our Taiwanese cooking series, Cooking with Steam, and her newsletter, Yun Hai Taiwan Stories.

Cooking with Steam 02: Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
好蒸氣 02 | 紅燒牛肉麵

Two Step Process

Step 1: First, braise the beef in a master stock. You’ll end up with tender pieces of beef and a richly flavored master soup base. This can be made ahead.

Step 2: Enrich the master soup base with tomato and onion to bring it closer to the sweet profile of a typical Taiwanese beef noodle soup. Dilute it with water or chicken stock, then reheat the beef slices in the soup. Combine with noodles, vegetable and garnish, served individually.

Featured Recipes

Red Braised Beef Shank

Serves 4

This is part one of the recipe—make this red braised beef shank and master stock first. Separate the beef and strain the stock. The beef can be store chilled in the fridge for several days and the stock can be frozen for several months.

Ingredients

• 440 g beef heel muscle (may also be called beef shin or shank)
• 4 pieces scallion, roughly chopped
• 4 slices ginger
• 1 head garlic, halved
• 3 pieces dried chili pepper
• 1 five spice braising pack, store-bought or homemade (see recipe below)
• 2 tbsp doubanjiang (chili bean paste)
• 2 tbsp Peanut Oil
• 26 g rock sugar
• 1/2 cup Taiwanese rice wine
• 2 tbsp Vat Bottom Soy Sauce (or high-salinity, heavy soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp Firewood Soy Sauce (or light soy sauce)
• Salt, to taste
• 6 cups water

Equipment

• Kitchen tape
• Tatung Electric Steamer (6-cup or 11-cup size; Lisa uses the 11-cup for this recipe)

Instructions

1. First, blanch the beef. Place the beef into the inner pot of the Tatung, then cover with water. The beef should be totally submerged.
2. Add 1 rice cup of water (~180 ml) into the outer pot of the Tatung.
3. Let steam for 15 minutes. Once the switch pops, open the lid. Remove the blanched beef using tongs or chopsticks, rinse the beef, then set aside. Clean out the inner pot.
4. Hack the Tatung in preparation for sautéing, or blooming, the aromatics by taping down the switch using kitchen tape. (This is an unofficial hack. Do not forget to remove the tape later!). This step can also be done in a pan over the stovetop. If doing it over the stovetop, follow steps 5-8 to sauté the aromatics. Once done, transfer them into the inner pot.
5. Add peanut oil into the inner pot.
6. Add ginger, scallion, chili peppers, rock sugar. Sauté until fragrant.
7. Add the bean paste. Sauté until fragrant.
8. Deglaze the pot with the rice wine.
9. Remove the tape from the Tatung. Add the beef, two soy sauces, five spice braise pack, halved garlic head, and water, to cover the beef, into the inner pot.
10. Add 1 rice cup of water (~180 ml) into the outer pot.
11. Let steam for 15 minutes. Once the switch pops, open the lid and taste test the brine. It should taste too salty to drink, with a hint of sweetness. If it is not salty enough, add salt.
12. Add another 2 rice cups (~360 ml) into the outer pot and continue to braise.
13. Let steam for roughly 40 minutes. Once the switch pops, open the lid and test the beef to see if a chopstick can poke through. If not, cook longer. If so, let the beef cool down by itself for up to 2 hours. Refrigerate in the brine overnight for best results, like tea eggs. Or, if you want to get to the beef noodle soup right away, use directly.

Five Spice Braise Pack

Makes 2 packs

Making your own five spice braising pack is easy and a nice way to customize your recipe. The non-negotiable five spices are star anise, cassia bark, fennel seeds, Sichuan peppercorn, and cloves. In this recipe, I’ve additionally included black peppercorn and bay leaves, but sometimes I also like to add sand ginger. I flub this in the episode, because for some reason it’s hard to remember five or more things under pressure. Make a few up at once so you always have one on hand.

Ingredients

• 1 recipe red braised beef shank
  • 440 g red braised beef shank
  • 4 cups red braised beef master stock
• 1 white onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp Peanut Oil
• 2 tbsp ketchup (or tomato paste)
• 2 cups chicken stock (or water)
• 8 baby bok choy
• 4 servings guan miao noodles (I use the knife-cut variety, which we sell in our Brooklyn gamadiam)

For the garnish

• 1 cup Hakka Sour Mustard Relish (recipe below)
• Scallion, sliced into small rings
• 1 bunch cilantro
• Su Chili Crisp, Five Spice

Equipment

• Kitchen tape
• Mesh strainer
• Tatung Electric Steamer (6-cup or 11-cup size; Lisa uses the 11-cup for this recipe)

Instructions

1. Remove the beef from the brine and set aside.
2. Strain the brine using a mesh strainer or sieve. Press down on the aromatics in the strainer to extract as much flavor as possible. Discard the aromatics once done. The remaining liquid is your lu wei beef master stock. Set aside.
   1. Optionally, if you like, you can skim the fat off the master stock (keep the fat as a condiment).
3. Slice the lu wei beef shank into 1/4” slices.
4. Hack the Tatung in preparation for sautéing the aromatics by taping down the switch using kitchen tape. (Do not forget to remove the tape later!)
   1. This step can also be done in a pan over the stovetop. If doing it over the stovetop, follow steps 5-6 to sauté the aromatics. Once done, transfer them into the inner pot.
5. Add peanut oil into the inner pot.
6. Add onion and ketchup. Sauté for several minutes, until onion is cooked down.
7. Add the lu wei beef master stock, chicken stock (or water), and the sliced lu wei beef shank.
8. Add 1 rice cup of water (~180 ml) into the outer pot. Let steam for roughly 15 minutes.
9. While the soup is steaming, cook your bok choy and guan miao noodles.
   1. Boil water in a pot over the stovetop. Once the water has reached a rolling boil, blanch the bok choy, then remove from the water and set aside.
   2. Add guan miao noodles into the same pot, and cook until JUST al dente. Strain the noodles from the pot and set aside.
10. Assemble the beef noodle soup.
11. For each bowl:
    1. Place one serving of guan miao noodles in a bowl.
    2. Strain beef soup into the bowl.
    3. Lay sliced beef on top.
    4. Lay a few pieces of bok choy down.
    5. Add a few heaping spoons of Hakka sour mustard relish.
    6. Top with cilantro and scallion.
    7. Serve with Su Chili Crisp, Five Spice.

Hakka Sour Mustard Relish

Serves 4

To me, you can’t have Taiwanese beef noodle soup without this sour vegetable, but it truly is optional. Pick up a pack of sour mustard (suan cai) at an Asian grocery store, and follow the recipe to cook it into a relish. A big batch will keep in the fridge for a couple weeks.

Ingredients

• 3 cups suan cai, chopped into small pieces (smaller than bite size, but not a mince)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 dried chili peppers
• Sugar, to taste
• 2 tbsp Peanut Oil
• White Sesame Oil, to taste
• White pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a hot wok, add peanut oil and stir fry the dried chili pepper and garlic until fragrant.
2. Add in suan cai. Stir fry to cook, then add white pepper and sugar.
3. Remove from heat and stir in sesame oil.
4. Refrigerate for up to a couple weeks.