Beef Brisket Noodle Soup

Beef Brisket Noodle Soup

Beef Brisket Noodle Soup originated in China and is made out of beef, beef stock, vegetables and noodles (commonly used is the egg noodles). It is a very common noodle dish in Southeast Asia and East Asia and you will see a lot of variations throughout the region like the Pho Bo in Vietnam and the Beef Ramen in Japan.

History says that the original Beef noodle soup was invented by the Hui people which is a Muslim ethnic group in China during the Tang Dynasty in which they use halal beef and no soy sauce.  Since the this dish became popular all over the world so popular this noodle soup even the Instant Noodles nowadays have this flavour.

I always enjoy this dish and is one of my favorite Chinese dishes but not all restaurant I guess do it right as some of them is missing that beefy soup flavour or missing the consistency and sweet/salty flavour of that beef brisket sauce.  To get the best flavours in this dish you need to make your own beef stock using beef leg bones boiled slowly for at least 2 hours, using the bought stock in supermarkets wont yield the taste you get from Chinese restaurants.  Also the beef brisket used for this dish (not the soup) is cooked separately together with any ligaments that you can get from the boiled leg bones, also cooked slowly until the texture from that beef ligaments make soup thick in consistency.

So if you have a bit of time and patience preparing for a nice noodle soup then try this one at home and make sure don’t miss a step or make a shortcut to enjoy the real flavours of this dish.

Ingredients

3 large beef leg bones, cut in half

500 g beef brisket, diced

200 g beef ligaments, diced

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup oyster sauce

3 tbsp red sugar

1 thumb sized ginger, sliced

1 bunch onion leaves, chopped

toasted garlic

1 packet fresh yellow egg noodles

1 bunch pak choy

3 large red onions, 2 quartered and 1 finely chopped

freshly ground black pepper

fish sauce

sesame oil

3 liters water

Method

1. In a large pot add 3 litres water, leg bones, beef ligaments, 2 pcs quartered onions, black pepper corns, salt (adjust according to you liking).  Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours

2. Once cooked using a colander drain the liquid and reserve.

3. Separate the boiled ligaments and carve any ligaments you can get from the bone then set aside.

4. In a pot add beef brisket and cooked ligaments, soy sauce, oyster sauce, red sugar, ginger, 1 liter of beef stock and salt (this should be a bit salty as normal as the flavour would come from this sauce).  Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hour or until the beef is very tender and liquid should be reduced by then and the ligaments would make the consistency thick and sticky.

5. In another separate pot, boil the remaining beef stock together with onions, black pepper, 3 tbsp toasted garlic and fish sauce (according to the saltiness you like).  Turn the heat off once the onions are cooked to the point of disintegrating.  Using a strainer drain and reserve the liquid.

6. In a separate pot boil water with dash of salt and blanch the pak choy.  Drain then set aside.

7. In a separate pot boil water and cook yellow noodles for 3 minutes, drain then rinse with cold water.

8. Boil another set of water and soak the cooked noodles then drain.

9. In a bowl, place noodles and pak choy, then add soup, and 2 scoopful of the brisket with the sauce.  Top it with 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp of toasted garlic and 1 tbsp of chopped green onions.  Enjoy while its hot.