Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

I must be the worst blog keeper everrrr... either that or I just severely lack in stress-management skills :( The school year's almost over and that means more tests are coming up. I'm currently stressing over the Pathology NBMEs we're having in a 2 weeks... sigh, keeping up with school is one thing, but having to memorize the morphology and mechanisms of all the diseases taught throughout the past 2 years sounds nearly impossible right now. And with so many little quizzes here and there, i just can't find the right time to start studying for the NBMEs, ARGHHHHHHHHHHH. But anyways, here's a wayyyyy overdue blog post for Taiwanese beef noodles that has been requested by Aisha about... a month ago O_o. You can probably find ten thousand different ways to make beef noodles online, but here's a simple throw-it-all-in-a-pot recipe from my mom. She scribbled the steps onto my recipe book the year i left for college and it has never failed me since. So enjoy this post as i probably won't be updating in a while, tata!

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
from MamaC
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 kilogram beef (ones with tendon are the best choice)
• Water, enough to cover the beef
  
• 7 slices of ginger
  
• 5 garlic cloves, smashed
• Red chili peppers, chopped (to taste)
  
• 1 Chinese spice pouch (or 1-2 tablespoon 5 spice powder)
  
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup soy sauce (to taste)
  
• 3 - 4 tablespoon black bean sauce (to taste)
• 1 - 2 tablespoons brown sugar (to taste)
• 2 tomatoes, sliced (optional)
• 1 medium white radish (daikon), diced into 1 inch cubes
• 2 medium carrots, diced into 1 inch cubes [i was too lazy to dice mine]
  
• Chinese noodles
• Spring onions, chopped (for garnish)
• Bok choy, cooked (optional)
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Rinse the beef and cut them into pieces or slices [picture 1].
2. Blanch the beef in boiling water for about 3 - 5 minutes, strain, and wash off the dirty foam from the beef [picture 2].
3. Bring water, ginger, garlic, red chili peppers, and spice pouch/five-spice (do not open the pouch!!) to a boil [picture 3].
4. Add in the beef, soy sauce, black bean sauce, and brown sugar [picture 4].
5. Bring the soup to a boil. Turn down to low heat and let is simmer, covered, for 30 minutes - 1 hour [picture 5].
6. After simmering, add in the tomatoes (optional), white radish, and carrots [picture 6, 7]. Continue simmering, covered, for another 30 minutes - 1 hour. Make sure the vegetables are cooked through. Season to taste with salt or other condiments.
   
7. Boil and strain the noodles [picture 8]. Serve with Beef soup, bok choy (optional), and garnish with chopped spring onions.
   

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup