Much as beef stew is the comfort food of Americans and Europeans, beef stew noodle soup is the comfort food of the Taiwanese. Though variations on the dish may be found throughout China, Taiwan’s take on beef noodle soup is unique: beef is braised slowly for hours and cooked in chili bean paste sauce.

12/7/2012 – We’ve recently updated this recipe, originally published Jan. 3, 2011, to answer some questions from reader Emie Lee. Thanks Emie for following the blog and sending in your questions!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 lbs of beef shank. In Chinese supermarkets, they sell beef shanks in whole pieces. This recipe calls for 2 medium-sized pieces.
• Package of noodles, either thin or thick depending on your preference
• 1 medium-sized white onion, cut into chunks
• 1 large tomato, cut into chunks
• 8 -10 cloves garlic, peeled
• 6 slices ginger
• 6 Tbs. chili bean sauce or bean sauce (not spicy)*
• ½ cup soy sauce
• ½ cup cooking wine
• 3 star anise pieces
• 3 Tbs. cooking oil
• Water to cover the meat

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. Place 2 whole pieces of beef shank into the hot water, then cook for 3 minutes. Remove beef from the pot, rinse the pieces in water, and then cut the beef into large chunks.
3. Heat oil in a wok, adding ginger and garlic first, then stir frying for about 2 minutes. Then add onion to the wok along with bean sauce, and stir fry for another 3 minutes.
4. Continue to stir fry, adding tomato and beef chunks until the meat turns white. Then add soy sauce, cooking wine and star anise. Either use the same wok or transfer to a larger pot with accompanying lid.
5. Add water to cover the meat and cook for about 4 to 5 hours over the low heat until beef is tender. The liquid in the beef stew will be condensed when it is done.
6. Cook noodles as indicated on the package instructions. Add beef stew soup into the noodle, as well as either hot water or soup stock to taste.
7. Garnish the beef noodle soup with fresh cilantro or green onion and serve.

*If you prefer strong flavoring when it comes to beef noodle soup, increase the quantity of chili bean sauce in the recipe.

What kind of chili bean sauce or bean sauce do you recommend? A picture of the packaging would help a lot.

Here is a picture of the type of sauce I use:

When cooking the meat for 4-5 hours, do you use a slow cooker or just a normal pot?  If it’s a slow cooker, what brand or kind would you recommend?

Use a regular pot to stew the meat. A slow cooker will be fine too, but a slow cooker will retain the liquid. By contrast, a regular pot will allow the soup to condense, which enhances the flavor of meat.

If you have ever enjoyed a traditional Chinese dim sum meal, you probably had an opportunity to try Siu Mai, the hearty, open-faced pork dumplings that come in a variety of regional variations.This recipe for siu mai incorporates common ingredients from Taiwanese cuisine such as water chestnuts, shiitake mushrom and white pepper.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ lbs ground pork or chicken
• 10 pcs. shrimp, chopped into a paste
• 4 pieces dried shiitake mushroom, soaked in water until soft, then finely chopped
• 1 small white onion, finely chopped
• ½ cup water chestnut, finely chopped (optional)
• 1/4 tsp white ground pepper
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp light color soy sauce
• 2 tbsp cooking wine
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 package dumpling skins (siu-mai skin), round. Note: When selecting dumpling skins for use in this recipe, remember that thinner skins are better.

Instructions:

1. Mix all of the ingredients, other than the dumpling skins, until the mixture is well-blended.
2. Refrigerate the mixture for at least one hour.
3. Place about 2 tablespoons of the mixture on each dumpling skin. If you are using dumpling skins with a smaller diameter, use 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mixture instead.
4. Hold the siu-mai on your hand, then fold the edges as if you were creating a series of flower petals, using your thumb and index finger to gather the top edges of the dumpling skin. The top of the siu mai should not gape open too widely. Shape the top of the siu mai with one hand, and then the other hand to pat the bottom of the siu mai to create a flat bottom.
5. Garnish the top of each siu mai dumpling with green peas, slivered carrots or corn kernels.
6. Steam the siu mai dumplings at a high temperature setting for approximately 10 minutes.
7. Serve with chili sauce.

Ingredients:

Part A

• 1 1/2 pounds ground chicken
• 10 pieces shrimp, chopped into a paste
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 tsp soy sauce (light colored)
• 2 tbsp. cooking wine
• 2 tbsp. water
• 1/2 cup fish paste (optional)

Part B

• 4 pieces dried shiitake mushroom, soaked in water until soft, then finely chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1/3 cup finely chopped green onion
• 1/2 cup fried shallot
• 1/3 cup finely chopped water chestnut (optional)

Instructions:

1. Mix the ingredients in Part A together with a folk or spatula and stir in the same direction (e.g., clockwise) until the mixture is well blended, approximately three to four minutes.
2. Add the ingredients in Part B, then stir until well-mixed. Store this mixture in the refrigerator for two to three hours.
3. After the chicken mixture has been chilled, heat a pot of water to boil, then turn the heat to low.
4. Prepare a bowl of water and place a metal spoon in it. (Wetting the spoon will help prevent meat from sticking to the spoon as you scoop out meatballs.)
5. Shape the chicken mixture into meatballs of 1 to 1 1/4 inch diameter by using your hands (you can wear gloves). You can do this by putting some of the mixture in your palm, then squeezing the mixture through your thumb and index finger. Scoop out the meatball by using the spoon and immediately place the meatball into hot water to cook. Place the spoon back in the water bowl and repeat the process to make more meat balls.
6. Once the meat balls have floated to the surface of the pot, cook in boiling water for two more minutes, then use strainer to remove the cooked meatballs.

Tip:

To save time, you can make extra meatballs in advance and store them in the freezer for future use.

Ingredients:

• 3 cup, cooked white rice. I use a rice cooker to prepare the rice.
• 1-2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup ham, diced
• 1/2 cup of green onion, diced
• 2/3 or 1 cup of Kimchi, cut into small pieces
• 4 Tbsp. of cooking oil
• ½ tsp. of salt
• 3 Tbsp. of ketchup
• Pinch of seaweed

Procedures:

1. Add cooking oil to the frying pan and heat over medium high heat. Pour in the egg mixture and stir fry until the eggs are firm and separate. Then add green onion and stir fry for another 30 seconds. Add ham, rice, ketchup and salt, and stir fry until the fried rice is evenly coated with ketchup.
2. Add kimchi into the fried rice and stir fry for another minute.
3. Serve on a plate and garnish with a sprinkle of seaweed powder if desired.

Where can I purchase kimchi?

You can purchase Kimchi at any Korean supermarket. Kimchi is available in a variety of flavors and levels of spiciness.

Ingredients:

part (a)

• 4 pork chops, boneless
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup cooking wine. Note: I used Taiwanese cooking michiu wine, not to be confused with Japanese sweet rice wine.
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• 1/8 tsp five-spice powder
• 1 tsp Chinese barbecue sauce
• 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped

part (b)

• 1 cup bread crumbs. Known also as Panko, a flaky bread crumb used in Japanese cuisine as a crunchy coating for fried foods
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup tapioca starch or corn starch
• 6 -8 Tbsp. of cooking oil

Instructions:

1. Flatten the pork chop, then marinate with the seasonings and ingredients listed in part (a) for at least three hours.
2. Place the tapioca starch, beaten egg, bread crumbs in three separate plates.
3. Dip both sides of each pork chop into the above ingredients in the following order: first, tapioca starch; second, egg mixture; and third, bread crumbs.
4. Heat the cooking oil in a wok and sear the pork chop first. Then cook the meat over medium-high temperature heat until it turns golden brown on both sides.
5. Cut the pork chop into slices and serve.

What is Chinese barbecue sauce?

Chinese barbecue sauce, unlike the barbecue sauce you might find at KFC, doesn’t contain tomatoes. It’s a flavorful concoction of ingredients ranging from hoisin to black bean paste. You can pick it up in most Asian grocery stores, but if you can’t find it in a store near you, the classic barbecue sauce is readily available for purchase online.

Hint

Flattening the pork chop will increase the tenderness of meat. When dipping the pork chop slices into the bread crumbs, gently press both sides of the pork chop into the plate to ensure that the crumbs stay in place.

I also like serving this dish because it gives me the opportunity to serve my family dragon fruit, the tangy, brightly-colored fruit that is a cross between a kiwi and pear. Dragon fruit is so popular in Taiwan that diabetics use it as a food substitute for rice. In this dish, it plays dual roles of distinctive garnish and fresh salad ingredient.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag Langostino (frozen and cooked), approximately 12 ounces
• 1 bag bamboo shoots, sliced into fine strips
• Optional – 3 Tbs spoons capelin roe (masago). Be sure to save a tablespoon of this for garnish
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, cut into pieces of nearly 1 inch each
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1/8 tsp white pepper or seafood seasoning
• pinch of salt, to taste
• Dragonfruit or kiwifruit for garnish

Instructions:

1. Prepare langostino as indicated on the package. Usually you can just defrost and use langostino immediately. Sometimes I also immerse the langostino into boiling water for about 15 seconds, rinse with cold water and wipe the pieces dry with a paper towel.
2. Mix langostino with all of the other ingredients in a bowl.
3. Place the mixture on a large big plate and decorate with slices dragon fruit or kiwi and garnish with capelin roe. Makes 8-10 servings.

Where can I get the Langostino and bamboo shoots?

Langostino can be purchased at Trader Joe’s in 12-ounce packages or from Costco. Bamboo shoots can be purchased at any Asian supermarket.  The shoots come with vacuum-packed in the vegetable section or ice-packed in the frozen section.

What is capelin roe?

Capelin roe is one of the ingredients of making sushi. You may recognize it as the tiny orange roe commonly seen in sushi rolls.

Photo courtesy of Quinn Dmbrowski

The Hakka are an ethnic group from the southeastern Chinese provinces. Many people in Taiwan (including my brother-in-law) are members of this group and speak some version of the Hakka dialect.

Hakka cuisine is the cooking style of the Hakka people, who were once nomadic and eventually came to adapt their culinary styles to the regions where they travelled. Some of the most popular Taiwanese dishes, such as salt-baked chicken, stuffed tofu and lotus-leaf rice, originate from Hakka cuisine.

Pork belly is a staple of many Taiwanese dishes, as some of you may already know. This recipe for Hakka bacon uses Hakka-style salting techniques to produce tender, savory slabs of pork belly.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 strips of pork belly* (approximately 1 ½ to 2 lbs.)
• 2 to 3 tbsp. coarse salt or sea salt
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ tsp five-spice powder
• ½ tsp cinnamon powder
• ½ tsp black pepper powder
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 3 tbsp of cooking wine
• 1/3 to ½ cups of soy sauce

Instructions:

1. Marinate pork strips in coarse salt for at least three hours. Keep the meat in the refrigerator during the marination process.
2. Rinse the pork belly and dry with a paper towel.
3. Marinate the pork strips with the rest of seasoning for at least 6 hours. Again, keep the meat in the refrigerator as it marinates.
4. After you have marinated the meat, transfer the pork strips and the marinating sauce to a skillet or wok. Add 1 to 1-1/2 cups of water, then cook covered over medium-low heat until the meat is thoroughly cooked. This should take 40 minutes.
5. Slice the pork when it cools and serve.

What is pork belly, and where can I get it?

Pork belly is a boneless cut of fatty meat from the belly of a pig. It is the same as fresh bacon and can be ordered from a good butcher or online from a variety of retailers, such as Niman Ranch. This is what uncooked pork belly looks like:

Make-Ahead Tip

You can make large quantities of this dish and store in freezer. This dish is a convenient pairing for a variety of different dishes. You can slice and serve it, stir fry the pieces with vegetables, add to a piping-hot bowl of ramen, or use it to accent a platter of fried rice. The sauce can also be strained and saved for later use, for example, as an flavor-enhancement for a dish of dry noodles.

Ingredients:

• 20 pieces medium-large shrimp, peeled, deveined
• 2 pieces calamari steak, cut into strips
• 1 cup fresh scallops
• 2 packs udon*
• 2 romaine hearts, cut into chunks
• 2 tomatoes, sliced into wedges (optional)
• Shredded green onion, to taste

Seasonings:

• Pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp cooking wine
• Black pepper, to taste
• Cooking oil
• Seasame dressing (or any salad dressing you prefer), to taste

Instructions:

1. Separately marinate shrimp, calamari strips and scallops in cooking wine with a pinch of salt.
2. Cook udon as indicated by the instructions on the package.
3. Heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-high in a skillet. Pan fry both sides of the shrimp, the calamari strips and the scallops separately until the pieces turn light golden brown. Sprinkle black pepper to taste and set aside.
4. Place cooked udon first in a large salad bowl. Next, place romaine chunks over udon. Then place all the pieces of cooked seafood on the top of romaine.
5. Decorate the salad with sliced tomato wedges and garnish with shredded green onion.
6. Serve with dressing. Makes 6-8 servings.

What is udon, and where can I get it?

Udon are pencil-thick Japanese-style noodles. Note that each package of udon usually contains 5 small packs. This recipe calls for two udon packs. You can buy udon either fresh or frozen from Asian grocery stores; for fresh udon, check in the refrigerated shelves next to the dumpling skins and other noodles. Here is a package of udon:

Seafood often takes the spotlight in Taiwanese cuisine, since the coast is never far from any spot on the island. Taiwanese stir fried dishes are light and mild in flavor, which accentuates the freshness of ingredients like the shrimp used in this dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 4-5 large eggs, beaten
• ½ cup green onion, diced
• 1 Tbsp. tapioca starch dissolved in 3 Tbsp. water
• 1 tsp. cooking wine
• Cooking oil
• Salt, to taste

Procedure:

1. Marinate the shrimp with 1/8 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of cooking wine for 10 minutes.
2. Heat 2 tbsp. of oil in the pan over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and stir fry until 80% cooked. Remove and place shrimp in the mixture of beaten eggs.
3. Add to the mixture the following: 1/4 teaspoon of salt, along with the starch-water mixture and green onions.
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium-high in the same pan and pour the mixture into pan. Gently stir fry the contents of the pan until the eggs are firm and soft. This dish is best served piping hot.

How do you devein shrimp?

I usually cut a line on the back of the shrimp with a knife and remove the black vein.  The cut will help the shrimp more plump and flavorful as it cooks.

How can I tell whether the shrimp and eggs have been cooked long enough?

In preparing this recipe, it is better to undercook than to overcook, since an undercooked pan of eggs and shrimp can be heated again until ready. If the shrimp and eggs taste dry or tough, they may have been cooked for too long.