How to make Taiwanese Beef Noodles?
Created in Taiwan, Taiwanese Beef Noodles (Neu Rou Mian) is a popular delicacy and street food on the island. There are many ways to make it including home-made level, merchandise level, and professional level.
Home-made level
Frankly speaking, I am not good at cooking. I checked out the instruction both in the books and on the Internet and tried to make a bowl of Taiwanese Beef Noodles by myself.
Home-made level
Frankly speaking, I am not good at cooking. I checked out the instruction both in the books and on the Internet and tried to make a bowl of Taiwanese Beef Noodles by myself.
Merchandise level
The recipe is provided by Li, Meisian, a senior culinary instructor for more than 30 years, and has published more than 30 recipe books.
Ingredients:
5 catties of ribs, 1 onion, 1 red chili, 5 pieces of garlic, 8 slices of ginger, 4 pieces of green onion, 6 tomatoes and 1 soybean stew pack.
Seasoning:
2 large spoon of spicy broad bean paste, 1 tea spoon of soybean sauce, some white pepper powder, and 1 tea spoon of rice wine.
Procedure:
1) Cut beef to 5 cm square beef dice.
2) Shred onion. Cut red chili and green onion into sections. Cut tomato into pieces. Set aside for later use.
3) Place beef into boiling water and boil briefly for bloodletting. Boil another pot of hot water and add adequate amount of sections of green onion, ginger, and soybean stew pack. When the water is boiling (the amount of water should allow all ingredients to submerge), place the briefly boiled beef into the boiling water. Add rice wine. When the water becomes boiling again, let the beef boils for a while, and then remove the beef from pot. Reserve the beef soup for later use.
4) Bring a wok with cooking oil to hot, and place in onion, red chili, green onion, garlic, ginger, and tomato. Stir fry. Then add beef dice and broad bean paste. Stir fry evenly.
5) Add beef soup and soybean stew pack. Add soybean sauce and white pepper for seasoning. Bring to boil and cover. Turn to low heat and simmer for 2.5 hours.
Ingredients:
5 catties of ribs, 1 onion, 1 red chili, 5 pieces of garlic, 8 slices of ginger, 4 pieces of green onion, 6 tomatoes and 1 soybean stew pack.
Seasoning:
2 large spoon of spicy broad bean paste, 1 tea spoon of soybean sauce, some white pepper powder, and 1 tea spoon of rice wine.
Procedure:
1) Cut beef to 5 cm square beef dice.
2) Shred onion. Cut red chili and green onion into sections. Cut tomato into pieces. Set aside for later use.
3) Place beef into boiling water and boil briefly for bloodletting. Boil another pot of hot water and add adequate amount of sections of green onion, ginger, and soybean stew pack. When the water is boiling (the amount of water should allow all ingredients to submerge), place the briefly boiled beef into the boiling water. Add rice wine. When the water becomes boiling again, let the beef boils for a while, and then remove the beef from pot. Reserve the beef soup for later use.
4) Bring a wok with cooking oil to hot, and place in onion, red chili, green onion, garlic, ginger, and tomato. Stir fry. Then add beef dice and broad bean paste. Stir fry evenly.
5) Add beef soup and soybean stew pack. Add soybean sauce and white pepper for seasoning. Bring to boil and cover. Turn to low heat and simmer for 2.5 hours.
Professional level
This is Chef Hou Chun-sheng winning recipe at the 2011 Taipei International Beef Noodle Soup Festival. It has been modified to serve 10 large bowls. As in many Taiwanese food recipes, the measurement of the ingredients varies, depending on your experience and personal taste. In addition, the special herbs are not easy to find outside Chinatowns. This recipe is not for the faint of heart, but then again, were you expecting a championship-winning recipe to be? For your reference, you can see pictures of Chef Hou preparing his signature dish. Good luck!
Ingredients
2.25 lbs boneless beef shanks
2.25 lbs beef bones, pieces
4 tbsp vegetable oil for sauteing
6 green onions, 4 roughly chopped into 3” for stock and sauce, 2 stalks finely sliced for topping
12-14 garlic cloves
2 inches ginger, sliced (not too think or thick)
1 red hot chili peppers, halved
2 tbsp rock sugar (about 1 oz)
¾ cup hot bean paste (or around 4 oz)
1 cup soy sauce, preferably Kimlan
½ cup spicy fermented bean curd (or around 5 oz)
¼ cup tomato paste
1 tbsp black peppercorn (around 1 oz)
2 Bay leaves, large (depending on size)
4 ½ tbsp soy paste, preferably Kimlan (around 2 oz)
2 ½ tbsp dark soy sauce,
preferably Lee Kum Kee (around 1.3 oz)
1 head of Romaine lettuce, chopped into 1” slices (roughly 1 lbs)
2 large beefsteak tomatoes, peeled and chopped into .25” cube
¼ cup cilantro, (optional topping)
2 Chinese herb bags: contains one part (.8 gram each) of Star Anise (pa-chiao),
Fennel (huei-hsiang), Angelica roots (tang-kuei), and dried orange peel (cheng-pi);
as well as three parts (2.5 grams each) of Pericarpium Zanthoxyli (hua-chiao), Cassia buds (kuei-tze), Cinnamon peel/bark (kuei-pi), and Cinnamon stick (kuei-chi).
* (The Chinese herbal shop uses a measurement system that does not have an English quivalent. However we converted it to the metric system to give you a better idea of the quantities involved.)
Fresh noodle, depending on your preference
and what’s available locally
Preparing the broth
1) Boil about 1 gallon of water and beef bones and filter out impurities.
2) Heat half of the oil and saute half of the green onions, ginger, garlic and red hot chilly peppers until you get a
nice fragrant smell. Add half of the rock sugar, hot bean paste, soy sauce to the vegetables and cook slightly before combining it to the beef bone broth.
3) Then add half the fermented bean curd and all the tomato paste.
4) Lastly, include half of the the black peppercorn, bay leaves and one Chinese seasoning bag to the broth.
5) Simmer for 6 hours then strain through a sieve. You can skim the fat off, but Chef Hous believe leaving the fat locks in more of the fragrant favors, so he usually ladles around it.
Preparing the beef shank
1) Cook the beef shank with just enough water to cover the meat, boil the meat until it’s cooked through. Let it cool
and then sliced into oval disks, about one-third inch thick. Save the beef water for later.
2) Sauté the remaining green onions, ginger, garlic and red hot chili peppers in vegetable oil until it’s fragrant. Add the remaining rock sugar, hot bean paste and soy sauce, cook briefly.
3) Add the remaining fermented bean curd, and all the soy paste and dark soy sauce, before adding the rest of the black peppercorn, bay leaf and Chinese herb packet.
4) Place the sliced beef shanks into the sauce and add just enough beef water to cover the beef slices. Stir to
ensure even mixing. Cover and cook for at least 30 minutes, if you like your meat tender, cook for a couple of hours more. Keep the pot covered while it’s cooling down. Strain and save the sauce. Separate the meat from the
dreg.
Preparing the noodle and assembling the dish
1) Boil the water, add the noodle and cook until done. Cool and Drain.
2) Remove the skin from the tomatoes, and chop them into ¼ inch cubes. (You can peel tomatoes easily by make a small cut on the skin, dropping it into boiling water for a few seconds. The skin will separate from the flesh. Take it out and dip into cold water)
3) Chop the Romaine lettuce into 1 ½ inch shreds. Flash cook the lettuce in boiling water, if your broth is not hot enough.
4) Combine four parts broth to one part sauce, or according to your personal taste.
5) Put noodles into the bowl, top with beef shanks, lettuce, tomatoes, chopped green onions and cilantro. Spoon the mixed broth on top. Enjoy!
Ingredients
2.25 lbs boneless beef shanks
2.25 lbs beef bones, pieces
4 tbsp vegetable oil for sauteing
6 green onions, 4 roughly chopped into 3” for stock and sauce, 2 stalks finely sliced for topping
12-14 garlic cloves
2 inches ginger, sliced (not too think or thick)
1 red hot chili peppers, halved
2 tbsp rock sugar (about 1 oz)
¾ cup hot bean paste (or around 4 oz)
1 cup soy sauce, preferably Kimlan
½ cup spicy fermented bean curd (or around 5 oz)
¼ cup tomato paste
1 tbsp black peppercorn (around 1 oz)
2 Bay leaves, large (depending on size)
4 ½ tbsp soy paste, preferably Kimlan (around 2 oz)
2 ½ tbsp dark soy sauce,
preferably Lee Kum Kee (around 1.3 oz)
1 head of Romaine lettuce, chopped into 1” slices (roughly 1 lbs)
2 large beefsteak tomatoes, peeled and chopped into .25” cube
¼ cup cilantro, (optional topping)
2 Chinese herb bags: contains one part (.8 gram each) of Star Anise (pa-chiao),
Fennel (huei-hsiang), Angelica roots (tang-kuei), and dried orange peel (cheng-pi);
as well as three parts (2.5 grams each) of Pericarpium Zanthoxyli (hua-chiao), Cassia buds (kuei-tze), Cinnamon peel/bark (kuei-pi), and Cinnamon stick (kuei-chi).
* (The Chinese herbal shop uses a measurement system that does not have an English quivalent. However we converted it to the metric system to give you a better idea of the quantities involved.)
Fresh noodle, depending on your preference
and what’s available locally
Preparing the broth
1) Boil about 1 gallon of water and beef bones and filter out impurities.
2) Heat half of the oil and saute half of the green onions, ginger, garlic and red hot chilly peppers until you get a
nice fragrant smell. Add half of the rock sugar, hot bean paste, soy sauce to the vegetables and cook slightly before combining it to the beef bone broth.
3) Then add half the fermented bean curd and all the tomato paste.
4) Lastly, include half of the the black peppercorn, bay leaves and one Chinese seasoning bag to the broth.
5) Simmer for 6 hours then strain through a sieve. You can skim the fat off, but Chef Hous believe leaving the fat locks in more of the fragrant favors, so he usually ladles around it.
Preparing the beef shank
1) Cook the beef shank with just enough water to cover the meat, boil the meat until it’s cooked through. Let it cool
and then sliced into oval disks, about one-third inch thick. Save the beef water for later.
2) Sauté the remaining green onions, ginger, garlic and red hot chili peppers in vegetable oil until it’s fragrant. Add the remaining rock sugar, hot bean paste and soy sauce, cook briefly.
3) Add the remaining fermented bean curd, and all the soy paste and dark soy sauce, before adding the rest of the black peppercorn, bay leaf and Chinese herb packet.
4) Place the sliced beef shanks into the sauce and add just enough beef water to cover the beef slices. Stir to
ensure even mixing. Cover and cook for at least 30 minutes, if you like your meat tender, cook for a couple of hours more. Keep the pot covered while it’s cooling down. Strain and save the sauce. Separate the meat from the
dreg.
Preparing the noodle and assembling the dish
1) Boil the water, add the noodle and cook until done. Cool and Drain.
2) Remove the skin from the tomatoes, and chop them into ¼ inch cubes. (You can peel tomatoes easily by make a small cut on the skin, dropping it into boiling water for a few seconds. The skin will separate from the flesh. Take it out and dip into cold water)
3) Chop the Romaine lettuce into 1 ½ inch shreds. Flash cook the lettuce in boiling water, if your broth is not hot enough.
4) Combine four parts broth to one part sauce, or according to your personal taste.
5) Put noodles into the bowl, top with beef shanks, lettuce, tomatoes, chopped green onions and cilantro. Spoon the mixed broth on top. Enjoy!