Momo's Spicy Beef Noodle Recipe

[momopi]

This is my amateur spicy beef noodle recipe, stolen by carefully spying on other people's cooking through a small crack in the wall. All ingredients can be purchased from Ranch 99 (check your local Asian grocery store). Apologies for the low quality of these photos, I took them with my cel phone.

You'll need a decent sized pot with lid, along with the following ingredients & spices. Let's start with the main item: beef. You can buy the pre-cut beef shank & tendon package from Ranch 99 for about $4-$5 per pack. A single package is sufficient for 1-2 people's dinner (buy more as needed). You can either use as is, or cut it into smaller, bite-sized pieces:



Next item is a Daikon (white radish):



And some garlic, ginger, and green onion:



For the vegetable, you can use either small bok choy, baby bok choy, or Taiwan bok choy:







The above pic is Taiwan bok choy, a "hybrid". Traditionalists might prefer baby bok choy whole, but in Taiwan some restaurants serve spicy beef noodle with Taiwan bok choy chopped.

Near the vegetable and fruit section, you'll find a row dedicated to preserved veggies, ginger, etc. Pick up a pack of pickled mustard veggie: (OPTIONAL)



Some people like to put fried tofu into the beef stew. It's not "traditional" per se, but does give it a good flavor. Be warned however, that if you add this tofu, you should eat the beef within 1-2 days. Any longer and the tofu might taste spoiled.



Now let's look at some sauces and seasonings. In the picture below, from the left to right, you'll see a package of hot chili peppers, a bottle of "dark" XO soy sauce, a bottle of "low sodium" soy sauce, Taiwan rice wine (for cooking), and Japanese mirin. In front of the bottles, from left to right, is a container of Vietnamese beef stock (OPTIONAL), white pepper, Japanese sesame oil, and dried star anise spice:



This here is a bottle of Hunan chili paste with fermented soy bean and black beans, very tasty:



This is a "seasoning packet": (OPTIONAL)



And here's the lazy cook's solution to soup stock. From left to right, Vietnamese beef soup stock powder, Swanson chicken broth, and Lee Kum Kee chicken soup powder. You'll need at least one of these, plus couple cans of chicken soup:



Some cooks also like to add a dash of Worcestershire sauce:




And of course, a package of noodle:



(continued on next post)

[momopi]

Ok, now let's put the ingredients to work.

First, we want to pre-boil the beef to get rid of any yucky stuff it might have. Open your package of beef & tendon, cut into smaller, bite-sized pieces if desired. Be warned that the meat will "shrink" since it's not on the bone, so don't cut too small. While cutting the meat, inspect for bone fragments.

Now boil a pot of water, toss in a few slices of ginger, pour a little rice wine, then put the beef in. Stir the beef for a couple of minuets, and take the beef out. DISCARD the liquid. Drain the beef.

In another pot, pour in some olive oil and heat it up. Slice your garlic cloves and toss it in. Then cut 3 slices of ginger and toss in. When the garlic is browning, toss in the beef and stir a bit, brown the beef on both sides if possible for just a couple of minuets.

Now pour in some dark soy sauce and stir. The idea here is get some flavor into the meat. Then pour in some regular soy sauce, Japanese mirin, a little sesame oil, and stir. By "stir", I mean flip the meat around inside the pot, so the flavor will get to both sides.

Toss in a couple star anise (no more than 3 recommended), couple chili peppers (crush them for more spicy taste), and 1 spoon of the Hunan chili sauce. Stir, then add some brown sugar. You can also add some pepper, but don't toss whole peppercorns into the pot. Some cooks also like to add a dash of Worcestershire sauce.

Now add a couple cups of water, just enough to cover the meat in the pot. Put in a spoon of the Vietnamese beef soup stock powder (OPTIONAL) & the Chinese spice packet (OPTIONAL, not the one inside the Vietnamese soup stock can) and stir. When the water boils, bring it down to a simmer and close the lid.

You have 2 choices here. You can either close the lid completely, or leave some space on the edges. If you leave some space, the liquid will evaporate faster and you'll need to attend the pot more carefully, but the flavor will be more concentrated. Remember to return to the pot and stir every so often so the meat will cook more evenly. When the liquid level is low, pop open a can of chicken soup stock and pour it in.

Simmer the beef for at least 4 hours. When you can poke a fork through it easily, it's done. Depending on the amount of meat in the pot, it may take 4-6 hours. Do taste-test the soup, it should be salty and spicy. Add additional cans of chicken soup and water as needed.

During the LAST hour, peel/cut the Daikon into 9v battery sized chunks and toss it in. You don't want to over-cook the daikon, or else it'd turn into mush. Do not add any other veggie into the pot. If you want to add the fried tofu, you can do it now. If this is your first time, and you're not sure how many hours it'd take to cook the beef, you can cook the daikon in another pot with some chicken or beef soup stock. Just boil it on low heat for 20 mins. If you overcook the daikon, it'd turn into mush.

Your pot of beef should look like this:



When you're ready to eat, boil 2 additional pots of water, plus a smaller pot of chicken soup (or beef soup) -- if you're using canned chicken soup, water it down. Use 1 pot to cook the noodle, and another pot to (briefly) boil the veggies. Don't over-cook the veggies, or else it'd turn into mush. If you're using the pickled mustard, it must be cooked throughly before serving.

When the noodle is cooked, drain the water. Put the noodle into a bowl, add chicken soup (or beef soup stock) and veggies. Now use a big spoon to take some of your spicy beef, daikon, and beef soup & put it into your noodle bowl. Chop up some green onions and put it in. This is what it'd look like:



You can also cook the beef in a slow cooker. If the flavors are "too much", try reducing the spices.