Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Taiwanese Beef Noodles 臺灣牛肉麵



What is not to like about a bowl of Taiwanese beef noodles (臺灣牛肉麵)? The melt in your mouth beef pieces and the fragrant broth will have one coming back for more. Defeated Koumingtang soldier brought with them many treasure after the Chinese civil war, beef noodles and many other culinary gems among them. It has since become a de facto national dish in Taiwan with an annual Taipei Beef Noodles Festival to celebrate their love affairs with this dish. The festival kicks off on the 20th september this year, what a coincidence! A Taiwanese friend of mine made this delicious noodle dish for me many years ago. When I found her handwritten recipes amongst old photographs and newspaper clippings, dinner for the next evening was sorted. This hearty meal is perfect for the few remaining chilly nights here in Melbourne. Please come back for more mouthwatering Taiwanese dishes in the coming weeks so stay tuned!
P.S A photo of the finished dish was emailed to W.F and it has got her total approval.



serves 4 generously
you'll need;
1 kg of stewing/gravy beef, cut into chunks
1 medium size Chinese radish/daikon, cut into chunks
1 large carrot (optional), cut into chunks
2 packets of Shanghai noodles*
pickled mustard greens (酸菜), sliced
chopped spring onions
5 garlic cloves, chopped
5 tbs of hot bean paste (辣辨醬)
2 tbs of dried chili flakes (optional)
1 cassia bark or 1/2 a stick of cinnamon stick
2 star anise
3 slices of ginger
1/4 cup of soy
1/4 cup of dark soy
1/4 cup of Chinese cooking wine
2 tbs of sugar
2.5 L of homemade or low sodium chicken stock
salt and pepper to taste
*dried wheat noodles can be used



Shanghai noodles and pickled mustard greens.



Blanch beef to remove impurities then rinse with cold water.



 Saute chopped garlic, hot bean paste and chili flakes if using with 4 tbs of cooking oil for a few minutes. Add in the cassia bark and star anise and ginger.



Return the blanched beef to the pot and fry the meat in the fragrant sauce for a minute or two.



Next add stock and the rest of the seasonings and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours or til the beef is very tender. half way thru the cooking add in the daikon chunks. Check for seasonings.



Cook noodles according to the packaging.



Pour hot broth together with some beef and daikon over the noodles, add some pickles mustard greens and chopped spring onions. Perfect for our chilly spring nights!

29 comments:

  1. oh tummy, u always make me craving something like thiss loorr... tgk bhn2 senang, ok i masuk list sbb mmg suke dgn mee2 mcm ni :D thanks yea!

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  2. 我沒吃牛肉也有好幾年了, 但看了你的牛肉麵我想起家來了。

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  3. That looks soooooooo gooooooood! lol

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  4. I was thinking of making pho for tonight but I think you have just changed my mind hehe!

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  5. I wish i can this bowl of noodle for my lunch today, look so tempting.

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  6. Oh doesn't that look good! Love to have a bowl of this for my dinner :)

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  7. Hi,

    lovely noodles...Pass me a bowl please...

    Dr.Sameena@

    www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com

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  8. hmmm must try this recipe but minus cili...aarrgghh...my hubby tak boleh makan cili:(

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  9. I almost can smell it! Mmmmmm looks delicious!
    Love to have a bowl of this right now!

    Big hugs!

    B xx

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  10. That is a bowl of goodness and I want a bowl of that too!

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  11. That looks authentic! I like mine with daikon too, well done! Min x

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  12. This is spooky because my next post is on Taiwanese food! I'll be sure to link this recipe to it. BTW - the photo of the finished product looks like a bowl forma night market.

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  13. I love Taiwanese beef noodles! Thanks for the recipe, it doesn't look too difficult too :)

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  14. this looks so good and reminds me of the beef noodle my mum cooks. Will def try to make it soon! Very looking forward to your coming tw dishes.

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  15. That's such a beautiful bowl of beef noodles. I love the spicy look.

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  16. Getting my Taiwanese friend to make this for us ... can't wait! It looks scrumptious

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  17. wow..this recipe sounds sooooo tempting and irresistable...

    Tasty Appetite

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  18. Now this would warm the family as our nights get increasingly chillier. Love the flavorful broth - could drink that all down.

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  19. Beef noodle festival!!?? Sounds like a perfect place for guys to bond and find single women LOL! exactly where I need to be! when is that?

    Going to China town to get ingredients thanks for the inspirational recipe!

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  20. Happy Mooncake Festival!! 中秋节快乐!
    I think I prefer to have that bowl of the beef noodle than the mooncakes ;DD

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  21. Oh! I love this beef noodle...specially when the weather gets cold...it is so comforting....great photos!

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  22. This looks so warming and delicious. The high here yesterday was 99, so it is still way to hot for this dish.

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  23. I haven't had a bowl of good beef noodles since our Taipei trip in 2007. Looks like a shopping trip to Victoria Street might be necessary :)

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  24. This is perfect for our chilly spring nights indeed. It looks so tempting!

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  25. looks great nice to learn about Taiwanese food and heres a slice of cake for you LOL

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  26. Oh yummy! I love Taiwanese beef noodles!

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  27. Hearty meal perfect for our chilly spring nights indeed. The beef noodles festival sounds like a lot of fun hehe.

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  28. I love eating steak, beef patty, stir fry beef but I just cannot bring myself to eat beef in soup, blamed to the bad encountered on beef noodle soup many many yrs ago. During my trip to Taipei, my colleague "forced" me to try the beef noodle soup, woh delicious!

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