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!