Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup, No Added Refined Sugar
International dishesNoodlesTaiwanabout 1 hour 20 minutes
Taiwanese beef noodle soup gives a bowl of deep red brown broth scented with Chinese herbs, meltingly soft beef and crisp green bok choy. It is a complete meal in one bowl, and one pot feeds the whole family.
The hardest part is keeping the broth clear while the herbal flavor stays strong. Toast the spices until fragrant and tie them into a cloth bag, and the broth stays clean. Blanch the beef for 1 to 2 minutes first to remove the scum, and the pot comes out much clearer.
This batch weighs about 4.1kg, at roughly 105 calories per 100g.
Method
Rinse 700g of beef and cut it into bite sized chunks. Peel and slice 15 cloves of garlic, slice 50g of ginger, cut 1 onion and 4 tomatoes into wedges, cut 5 spring onions into lengths, and separate the leaves of 200g of bok choy, then wash and drain them.
Bring a pot of water to the boil, blanch the beef for 1 to 2 minutes and lift it out.
Set a pan over medium heat and toast 2 bay leaves, 2 cardamom pods, 3 slices of licorice root, 2 star anise, 1 tablespoon of Sichuan peppercorn, 1 teaspoon of fennel seed and 1 tablespoon of goji berry for about 10 minutes until fragrant, then tie them into a cloth bag.
In another pot, heat 6 tablespoons of cooking oil and fry the garlic, ginger, onion and spring onion for about 3 minutes until fragrant. Add 3 teaspoons of Chinese dried chili and 45g of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and stir through.
Add 120ml of soy sauce, 120ml of white rice wine and 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce, stir well, then add the tomatoes and beef. Cook for about 10 minutes, then pour in 1 liter of water and drop in the spice bag.
Bring it to the boil over high heat, lower the flame and simmer for another 30 minutes.
In a separate pot, bring 500ml of water and 1 teaspoon of salt to the boil, cook the bok choy for about 3 minutes and lift it out. Use the same water to cook 100g of noodles for about 4 minutes, then drain them.
Put the noodles in a bowl, lay the greens on top, ladle over the broth and beef, and serve hot.
Tips
The herb mix of cardamom, licorice root, star anise, Sichuan peppercorn and fennel seed is sold at Chinese medicine shops or the spice stalls of larger markets.
Chinese dried chili can be swapped for chopped Vietnamese dried chili, added slowly so you can judge the heat.
Toasting the spices and tying them into a cloth bag keeps the broth clear rather than cloudy.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend dissolves slowly, so stir it in the hot oil for another half minute before the soy sauce goes in.
kOBE Monk Fruit Blend brings the sweetness only, and the color has to come from caramel sauce or soy sauce.
Cooking the noodles in the same water as the greens gives them a green vegetable aroma and saves a burner.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.