Niú Ròu Miàn

Taiwan's red-braised beef noodle soup: shin and tendon cooked for hours with doubanjiang and a spice bag led by star anise, the broth deep red and the noodles hand-pulled

Origin: Taiwan

From the journey of Star Anise.

Beef noodle soup is treated in Taiwan as something close to a national dish, and Taipei has held an annual competition for it since 2005. Its history is more recent and more specific than that status suggests. The red-braised form is generally traced to the military dependants' villages of the late 1940s and 1950s, settled by mainlanders who arrived with the Nationalist retreat, and particularly to Sichuanese cooks in the Kaohsiung area. It marries a Sichuanese technique, braising with doubanjiang, to Taiwanese ingredients and Hokkien noodle habits. There are two schools and they are not variations of one another. The hóngshāo or red-braised version given here is dark, spiced, and built on fermented bean paste and soy. The qīngdùn or clear-stewed version is pale, delicate, and seasoned with little more than salt, ginger, and white radish. Arguing for one over the other is a national pastime. Star anise leads the spice bag in the red-braised version and is the aromatic that carries furthest through a long braise and a strongly flavoured broth. It works here against two things at once: the fat and collagen of the shin and tendon, and the heavy fermented saltiness of the doubanjiang. Without it the soup reads as merely salty and rich. The cut matters as much as the spicing. Shin gives the meat, tendon gives the gelatinous texture that Taiwanese eaters look for above all, and a bowl sold without at least some tendon is considered incomplete.

Ingredients

Beef

1.2 kg beef shin, in 5 cm chunks
400 g beef tendon (optional but traditional)

Spice bag

4 whole star anise
1 stick cassia bark, about 8 cm
1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 whole cǎo guǒ (Chinese black cardamom), cracked
3 whole bay leaves
1 tsp fennel seeds

Braise

3 tbsp Pixian doubanjiang (fermented broad bean and chilli paste)
2 tbsp sweet bean sauce or hoisin
90 ml light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
100 ml Shaoxing wine
30 g rock sugar
6 slices fresh ginger
1 whole onion, quartered
4 whole tomatoes, quartered
2 litre water or light beef stock
3 tbsp vegetable oil

To serve

600 g thick wheat noodles, fresh or hand-pulled
200 g pickled mustard greens (suan cai), chopped
200 g leafy greens such as bok choy, blanched
4 whole spring onions and coriander, chopped

Method

Blanch the beef and tendon in boiling water for five minutes, drain, and rinse thoroughly.
Toast the star anise, cassia, Sichuan peppercorns, cǎo guǒ, bay, and fennel in a dry pan for two minutes, then tie into a muslin bag.
Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the doubanjiang and sweet bean sauce over a low heat for three to four minutes until the oil turns deep red.
Add the ginger, onion, and tomatoes and cook five minutes, then the Shaoxing wine, both soy sauces, rock sugar, water, the beef and tendon, and the spice bag.
Bring to a simmer, skim, then cover and cook very gently for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours, until the shin yields to a spoon and the tendon is translucent.
Remove the spice bag, taste, and adjust the salt. Let the pot stand for 15 minutes and skim most of the fat, leaving a thin red layer.
Cook the noodles separately in boiling water, drain, and divide between deep bowls.
Ladle over the broth, meat, and tendon, and top with blanched greens, pickled mustard greens, spring onion, and coriander.

Notes

Star anise leads the spice bag and four stars is right for this quantity; it has to carry through both a long braise and a heavily fermented broth. Pixian doubanjiang is the Sichuan chilli-bean paste and there is no real substitute. Beef tendon is what Taiwanese eaters look for and is sold frozen in Chinese groceries; the soup is good without it but noticeably less interesting. Suan cai, pickled mustard greens, are sold in packets or tins. The braise is better made a day ahead, and the fat lifts off cleanly once chilled if you prefer a leaner bowl. Freezes for three months without the noodles. The clear-stewed qingdun version is a different dish rather than a variation of this one.

The Gastrographer

Name: Niú Ròu Miàn
Prep time: 35 min
Cook time: 3 h
Total time: 3 h 40 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Taiwan
Ingredients: 1.2 kg beef shin, in 5 cm chunks; 400 g beef tendon (optional but traditional); 4 whole star anise; 1 stick cassia bark, about 8 cm; 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorns; 1 whole cǎo guǒ (Chinese black cardamom), cracked; 3 whole bay leaves; 1 tsp fennel seeds; 3 tbsp Pixian doubanjiang (fermented broad bean and chilli paste); 2 tbsp sweet bean sauce or hoisin; 90 ml light soy sauce; 1 tbsp dark soy sauce; 100 ml Shaoxing wine; 30 g rock sugar; 6 slices fresh ginger; 1 whole onion, quartered; 4 whole tomatoes, quartered; 2 litre water or light beef stock; 3 tbsp vegetable oil; 600 g thick wheat noodles, fresh or hand-pulled; 200 g pickled mustard greens (suan cai), chopped; 200 g leafy greens such as bok choy, blanched; 4 whole spring onions and coriander, chopped

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control