Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

As I mention earlier in my post, we don’t really have a real Asian market here. The closest one would be in Dallas about 5 to 6 hours drive, so the motivation to cook can be pretty limited too. That had recently changed since our little town finally had a real Chinese/Oriental Market. I was the first to check it out! Yes, that how excited I was. So as I was grabbing everything to put into my basket, I made my way to the cooler section and noticed the Taiwanese noodle. I nearly jumped for joy! I knew right away that I will make it this coming Sunday.
In all honestly, I never had this since I moved to Texas 5 years ago and just thinking about it made my mouth water. The blend of spices with the hot soup and oh so tender beef just compliments the chewy hands pulled noodle to perfection. This noodle soup is so soothing and delicious that it hard to any other noodle to compete with. It one of those noodle that once you have it, you’ll crave for more and more.

3 Pounds of beef shank cut into 2” inches pieces
5-6 Garlic cloves, slightly crushed
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp sesame oil
3 Sliced gingers
5 Slightly crushed scallion, cut halved crosswise
1 Tsp Chinese five-spice powder
4 Star anise
½ Tsp of white pepper
1 Tbsp of beef soup base
½ Tsp of black pepper
1 Tsp of sea salt
4 Dried chilies
¼ Cup chile bean sauce
3 Tbsp of Shaoxing rice wine
2 Tbsp of rock sugar
½ Cup of soy sauce
3 Tbsp of dark soy sauce (add more for darker broth)
5 plus Quart of water

1 Bunch water crest or baby bok choy, broccoli flower
2 Package fresh hand pull Taiwanese noodle (find it in your Asian market)

1. Put all the ingredients together and bring to a hard boil.
2. Remove any scum on the top to make the soup clear.
3. Lower the heat to medium and cook for another 1 ½ hours or until beef shank is tender. If you put tendon in there cook the tendon ½ first.
4. When it done do not cover and let it sit for a couple of hours to fully absorb the flavor. Or make it overnight and refrigerated.
5. To serve, in another pot add water to almost full and bring it to boil. Cook noodle to package instruction.
6. Drain and add the vegetable and soup.

Enjoy.