Beef Noodle Soup: from Sichuan, to Taiwan, and back
Beef noodle soup! In this video we'll show you the Sichuan style, touch on the Taiwan style, and talk a bit about how that soup ended up circling back to the mainland.
0:00 - Introduction
0:24 - How Beef Noodle Soup got to Taiwan
1:28 - Why don't we cover Taiwan food?
2:02 - Taiwan Noodle Soup Journeys Back to the Mainland
3:02 - How to Make Sichuan-style Red Braised Beef
6:35 - Introduction to the Sichuan Noodle shop style
7:07 - Sichuan-style Component 1, Pork Stock
8:23 - Sichuan-style Component 2, Toasted Chili Oil
10:19 - Sichuan-style Component 3, Stewed Peas
11:47 - Sichuan-style Component 4, Fresh Alkaline Noodles
13:19 - Assembling the Sichuan Noodle shop Style
14:12 - The Instant Noodle Version
16:23 - The use of stock?
VIDEOS WE ENJOYED RE THE TAIWAN STYLE
Cate Food Travel had a fantastic video of a beef noodle soup shop in Taiwan:
Taiwan Duck (really cute channel) had a nice video if you were looking for more of a recipe video:
SICHUAN RED BRAISED BEEF
* Water, ~2L
* Aromatics for the poaching liquid: ginger (姜), ~2 inches, smashed; liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ~1 tbsp; scallions, ~3, tied in a knot
* Beef brisket (牛腩), 700g
* Red Oil Chili Bean Paste, Pixian Doubanjiang (红油郫县豆瓣酱), 4 tbsp
* Oil to fry the bean paste, 6 tbsp
* Seasoning for the braise: soy sauce (生抽), 2 tbsp; dark soy sauce (老抽), 1 tsp; salt, 1 tsp
* Spices for the braise: Sichuan peppercorns (花椒), 1/2 tbsp; star anise (八角), 2; cloves (丁香), 6; dried sand ginger (沙姜), 8 psc; white cardamom (白蔻), 4; Tsaoko a.k.a. Chinese black cardamom (草果), 1
Process at 3:30. TL;DW: poach the beef for 5 minutes, then let it cool. Slice, then fry til browned. Fry the minced chili bean paste on low to stain the oil, and quickly fry the beef with it. Add the beef and red oil back to the pot together with the seasoning and spices. Simmer for 90 minutes.
NOODLE SHOP STYLE COMPONENT #1: PORK BONE STOCK
* Pork bones (猪骨), 350g (with some meat still attached)
* Aromatics for the stock: ginger (姜), ~1 inches, smashed; liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ~1 tbsp; scallions, ~1, tied in a knot
Process at 7:16. TL;DW: Blanch the pork bones in water together with a slug of Shaoxing. Remove, then to a new pot of ~2.5L of water add the blanched pork together with the aromatics for the stock. Simmer covered for three hours.
NOODLE SHOP STYLE COMPONENT #2: TOASTED CHILI OIL
* Dried chilis, 50g (we used Sichuan erjingtiao, 二荆条)
* Oil, 150g (or 3/4 of a cup). We used Caiziyou (Chinese rapeseed oil), but you can also use Indian mustard seed oil or peanut oil
* Aromatics for the oil: Ginger, ~1 inch, smashed; Onion (洋葱), ~1/4 of an onion, sliced
* Spices for the oil (optional but recommended): Cinnamon (桂皮), ½ stick; Star Anise (八角), 1; Fennel Seed (小茴香), ¼ tsp
Process at 8:36. TL;DW: Slice, then toast the chilis until brittle. Shake over a strainer to get out some of the excess seeds, then pound into a coarse powder. Heat your oil up to smoke point, let it cool down a bit, then fry the aromatics until golden brown. Add the spices, fry for a minute, then strain. Heat the oil til it bubbles around some chopsticks (~150C), then add in the chili flakes and shut off the heat.
NOODLE SHOP STYLE COMPONENT #3: STEWED PEAS
* Yellow split peas (黄豌豆), preferably whole, 100g
* Baking soda (小苏打), 1/4 tsp - if using whole split peas
Process at 10:45
NOODLE SHOP STYLE COMPONENT #4: FRESH ALKALINE NOODLES
* AP Flour (中筋面粉), 200g
* Salt, 1/2 tsp
* Sodium carbonate (碱面) -or- kansui (枧水), 1/2 tsp
* Water, 90g
Process at 11:56.
NOODLE SHOP STYLE: ASSEMBLY
* Fresh noodles, 150g (or ~100g dried noodles)
* Seasoning per bowl: salt, 1/4 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp; Sichuan peppercorn powder (花椒粉), 1/2 tsp; soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp, toasted chili oil from above -or- Lao Gan Ma chili crisp (老干妈香辣脆油辣椒), 1 tbsp
* Baby bok choy, ~1, blanched
* Stock, enough to cover everything, ~350mL
* Braised beef, ~3 tbsp; braised beef liquid, ~2 tbsp
* Stewed peas, ~1 tbsp
* Sliced scallions, ~1 tbsp
* Chopped cilantro, ~ 1 tbsp
Process at 13:24
INSTANT NOODLE VERSION
* Dried noodles, 100g (or ~150g fresh noodles) - we used 公仔面
* Seasoning: chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), 2 tsp; salt, 1/8 tsp; white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp, onion powder (洋葱粉), 1/16 tsp; garlic powder (大蒜粉), 1/16 tsp; cayenne pepper (辣椒面), 1/16 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/16 tsp
* Baby bok choy, ~1, blanched
* Carrot, ~1 inch knob, julienned and blanched
* Braised beef, ~3 tbsp; braised beef liquid, ~2 tbsp
* Fried egg, 1
* Sliced scallions, ~2 tbsp
Process at 15:50
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Footage of the hilarious instant noodle parody of Bite of China is here:
And check out our Patreon if you'd like to support the project!
Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel):
Cantonese Braised Beef with Daikon Recipe
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Braised beef with Daikon Radish (萝卜炆牛腩) is a classic and popular dish in Cantonese cuisine. You can find it everywhere. In high-end restaurants, they served it as a centerpiece on the table. In fast food places, it is a popular take-out dish. It is so delicious that street food vendors even serve it as a snack. They give it to you in a paper cup. Oh, I used to get those all the time, miss it so much.
INGREDIENTS
To blanch the beef
2.5 lb (1.13 kg) of boneless beef stew meat
2-3 liters of water
1/4 cup of chinese cooking wine (Amazon link -
2 scallions
2 inches of ginger, sliced thinly
1/2 tbsp of sichuan peppercorn (Amazon Link -
To make the sauce
2 tbsp of Zhu hou paste (Amazon Link -
2 tbsp of hoisin sauce (Amazon Link - )
1.5 tbsp of peanut butter (Amazon Link -
1 tbsp of sichuan dou ban jiang (Amazon Link -
2 pieces of Fu ru AKA fermented bean curd (Amazon Link -
3 tbsp of sugar
To braise the beef
2 tbsp of cooking oil
6 cloves of garlic
2 inches of ginger, sliced thinly
1 pieces of star anise (Amazon Link -
2 pieces of bay leaves (Amazon Link -
1 of cinnamon stick (Amazon Link -
1 piece of aged tangerine peel (Product Link -
4 pieces of gan cao (甘草) (Amazon Link -
A small piece of dried galanga (Amazon Link -
A couple pieces of red dried chilies (Amazon Link -
4 tbsp of soy sauce (Amazon Link -
2 tsp of dark soy sauce (Amazon Link -
4-5 cups (1-1.25 liters) of water
1/2 tsp of salt or to taste
2 lbs (900 grams) of Chinese Daikon radish
Diced scallion as garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
Cut the beef into 1 inch cubed. You can use boneless beef rib, bone-in short ribs, shank, bottom Sirloin Flap, fatty brisket, oxtail, even beef tendon for this recipe.
Fill a big pot with water. Add the beef along with the Chinese cooking wine, scallions, ginger slices, and Sichuan peppercorns. Bring it to a boil then skim off all the scrum. Remove the beef from the pot and set it aside.
Combine all the sauce ingredients thoroughly and set it aside.
Add oil, garlic, ginger slices, star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, orange peel, Gan Cao, dried Galangal, and red dried chilies to a heavy duty pot (preferably a clay pot, dutch oven, or cast iron pot). Stir over medium heat for a couple of minutes or until fragrant.
Add the sauce and sauteed for a few minutes to activate the flavor. Add the beef and continue to mix until every piece is well covered.
Add 4-5 cups of hot water and bring it to a boil. The amount of liquid should be able to cover the beef completely.
Add soy sauce to taste. Drizzle in some dark soy sauce for the color. Turn the heat to the lowest and let it simmer for 2 hours or until tender.
40 minutes before the beef is ready, double-peel the Daikon radish skin then cut it into big chunks. I found that the daikon radish in the USA is not as sweet as the ones that I had in China. It is more on the bitter side and it gives the soup an unbearable bitter after taste. The skin contains more bitter elements, so it is very important to double peel the skin.
Add the radish into a pot of boiling water and blanch for about 5 minutes to reduce the bitter taste. Transfer the radish into the clay pot. Give it a taste to adjust the flavor again because you want to be accurate after you added the daikon radish.
Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes. Serve with white rice or noodle.