Taiwan

 Welcome to Taiwan!  Let's be real.  Time has gotten the best of me the last 6 weeks.  We did this meal about a month ago, and I'm just now getting to writing about it.  Sad, I know.  I originally chose Taiwan because they were in the news so much.  We were praying for them and their country; praying for the leaders who were dealing with all that was being thrown at them.  It's another country that I would LOVE to visit, as it just looks beautiful. According to Google, the population of Taiwan is 23.57 million people and the capital is Taipei.  Their national dish is...

 

Beef Noodle Soup!

Yep.  Pretty simple, you say?  Not exactly.  I learned that there are several ingredients to the broth and that it takes a very long time to make.  But the results?  Superb.  Delicious.  Rich.  Fantastic.  The nice thing about making this dish was that you do a lot of prepping, but not a lot of actively making the meal.  Just let it sit and do it's thing!  Here's what I did:

BEEF NOODLE SOUP

2 pounds stew meat, sliced

2 tbsp avocado oil

2 inch piece ginger, unpeeled, and cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 head garlic, crushed

3 dried chilies de arbol

1/4 C rice wine

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp black vinegar (I found mine at an Asian market)

1 tsp sugar

2 onions, quartered

3 plum tomatoes, quartered

4 star anise pods

1 tbsp whole black peppercorns

Salt, to taste

6 baby bok choi

24 oz thick rice noodles

Pickled mustard greens, for garnish

1. In a large pot, heat oil on medium-high heat and brown the stew meat.
2. Push the meat to the side of the pot, and add ginger, garlic, and chilies to the center.  Cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
3. Stir in the rice wine, soy sauce, black vinegar, and sugar, and cook for 1 minute.
4. Add the onions, tomatoes, star anise, peppercorns, 2 tbsp salt and 8 cups water.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, and cook, covered, for 1 hour.
6. Turn off the heat and let stand, covered, for another hour.
7. Uncover the pot and transfer the beef to a bowl.
8. Strain the broth and set aside, and throw away the solids.
9. Return the beef and the broth to the pot and reheat over medium.
10. Let the rice noodles start soaking in warm water about 20 minutes before you eat.  
11. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
12. Add the bok choi and cook until tender, about 2 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl.
    
13. When ready to serve, drain the rice noodles and add them to the bottom of your serving bowl.
14. Divide the bok choi, beef, and broth among the bowls, garnish with pickled mustard greens, and enjoy!

(Source: Beef Noodle Soup)

As I said before, this was delicious soup.  It will especially be delicious when we make it again on a cold, rainy day!  A couple learnings from making this recipe though:

1. Pickled mustard greens are not called this at the grocery store.  It's sometimes called pickled cabbage, but not to be confused with sauerkraut.  Ours was pickled napa cabbage and carrots.
2. Chop the bok choi up into pieces rather than cutting in half or leaving whole.  It makes it so much easier to eat!
3. The rice noodles will get soggy if you keep them in the broth for leftovers.  I wouldn't recommend doing this.

 

The broth is amazing the next day.  Seriously.  I could drink this out of  a mug!  I very much look forward to making this again this winter.  There was a depth of flavor that I was very impressed with.  And I think next time we will make it with some veggies and leave out the noodles.  But, you should at least try it with the noodles first!

 

ME

Taste of Beef Noodle Soup (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 9

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 1

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 9

 

HANDSOME HUSBAND

Taste of Beef Noodle Soup (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 8

Spicy (hot) (1 is not at all spicy, 10 is uneatable): 0

Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 9

Another delicious country in the books!  Join us next time (in a few days!) in Uruguay!