Taiwanese Recipe
Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
Taiwanese beef noodle soup is a broth, beef, and wheat-noodle dish that can be clear, red-braised, spicy, tomato-rich, or deeply aromatic.
Why this dish works
The dish teaches how a noodle soup can function as a complete meal. Broth, beef texture, noodle chew, pickled greens, and aromatics all matter.
Recipe at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Serves | 4 |
| Time | 2.5 hours |
| Core technique | Beef broth and noodle assembly |
| Heat level | Mild to medium |
| Best with | Pickled greens and blanched vegetables |
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef shank, chuck, or short rib
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 3 slices ginger
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 scallions
- 2 tablespoons doubanjiang or chile bean paste, optional
- 2 tomatoes, chopped, optional
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 star anise
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 8 cups water
- Wheat noodles
- Pickled mustard greens, bok choy, and scallions for serving
Method
- Blanch beef briefly, rinse, and cut into large pieces.
- Heat oil and fry ginger, garlic, scallions, and doubanjiang if using.
- Add tomatoes if using and cook until softened.
- Add beef, soy sauces, Shaoxing wine, sugar, spices, and water.
- Simmer gently until beef is tender.
- Cook noodles separately.
- Serve noodles with broth, beef, greens, pickled mustard greens, and scallions.
Variations and substitutions
- Skip doubanjiang for a mild tomato-beef version.
- Use pressure cooking to reduce time.
- Add daikon for sweetness.
- Use beef tendon for more texture.