Culpeper House

Here Lives A Man with a Pan

Main Course

Beef noodle soup

Toby

Ingredients

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, sliced

6 garlic cloves

3 slices fresh ginger

6 spring onions (scallions)

2 large mild red chillies, deseeded

3 tbsp doubanjiang*

2 small tomatoes, cut into wedges

2 tbsp brown sugar

¼ cup dark soy sauce

½ cup soy sauce

½ cup Chinese Shaoxing wine* (optional)

3 star anise

500g (17.6 oz) boneless beef shank, cut into roughly 4cm cubes

500g (17.6 oz) beef chuck steak, gravy beef or stewing beef, cut into roughly 4cm cubes

4 cups beef stock

800g (1.7 lb) cooked egg noodles

3 small bunches of bok choy, halved and quickly blanched in boiling water

finely chopped spring onion (scallions) and coriander (cilantro), to serve

Steps

  • Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, spring onions and chillies. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until the onions have softened but not coloured. Add the doubanjiang and stir-fry for another minute. Then stir through the tomatoes and the brown sugar. Now add the dark soy sauce, soy sauce, Chinese wine and the star anise. Add the beef and mix to combine. Transfer the mixture into the pot of a pressure cooker. Add the beef stock and 2 cups of water. Mix to combine. Secure the lid and pressure cook on high for 40 minutes.
  • Release the pressure from the pressure cooker and when it’s safe, remove the lid. Use a spoon to scoop off most of the excess fat from the top of the soup. Then remove the ginger slices and the star anise. Taste the soup and add more salt to your taste.
  • Divide the noodles among serving bowls. Top with bok choy and chunks of beef. Ladle over the soup. And sprinkle over the spring onion and coriander
  • Notes:– Doubanjiang is a Chinese fermented broad bean and chilli paste. It can be found at an Asian grocer or ordered online. You can leave it out if unavailable.– Chinese Shaoxing wine is a type of rice wine. You can leave this out if you would like to.