Chinese Beef Stew Noodle Soup

This is a basic soup noodle that’s especially popular in Taiwan. Everyone we’ve fed this to, including people from Bolivia, Mexico, and Romania, just love it. It’s comforting and satisfying. Do experiment with this recipe. I once made it on the same day that I made some raspberry-nectarine jam, and added a bit of jam to the soup. It was fabulous.

2 – 3 pounds beef shank

Fragrant mixture:

3 T chopped green onions

1 T finely chopped ginger root

5 cloves chopped garlic

Seasoning mixture:

1 T hot bean sauce

½ cup soy sauce

4 star anise + 1 t Szechuan pepper corn in a tea strainer/spice holder

1 cinnamon stick

2 T rock sugar

1 t garlic chili sauce (Chinese hot sauce)

6 cups low sodium soup stock

1 cup dry sherry or good red wine

Heat heavy skillet to high temperature. Brown beef shank. Allow beef shank to cool to comfortable handling temperature, and cut into 1” cubes. (Pre-cooking the beef makes it easier to cut.) In a large pot, Stir fry the fragrant mixture in 2 tablespoons cooking oil. Add the beef cubes and sauté for a minute. Add the seasoning mixture, the soup stock, and the sherry. Heat until the mixture boils, then simmer for an hour or more until the beef is tender. Cook noodles. Add vegetables to beef soup and cook on high until vegetables are cooked. To serve, put noodles in a bowl and add beef stew soup on top.