Asian Beef Noodle Soup
A little bit like ramen and a little bit like Phở, this healthy, nourishing soup is made from homemade beef stock, shiitake mushrooms, buckwheat soba, fresh scallions, grass-fed beef, herbs and whole spices..
Preparing Asian Beef Noodle Soup
Serves 2
(adapted from a recipe by Jennifer Iserloh)
4 shiitake mushroom caps
4 oz grass-fed beef (I’m using a small muscle cut from a chuck roast)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled & minced
1 finely minced hot chile pepper
1/2 teaspoon star anise
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Szechuan pepper
1/2 package organic buckwheat soba
1 cup beef stock
2 cups seasonal herbs and greens (I have pea shoots, cress, cilantro and basil), coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon pastured butter
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon traditional fermented shoyu
Set the trimmed beef in the freezer to firm up so that it is easier to slice.
Grind the anise, fennel, cloves, cinnamon and Szechuan pepper together in a spice grinder (you’ve just made Chinese Five Spice).
Pre-heat a heavy skillet over medium heat for 15 minutes. Add the butter, then quickly sauté the mushrooms, ginger, chiles and garlic until fragrant. Sprinkle a little of the 5 spice over the top and stir to combine. Unused 5 spice will keep in an airtight container for up to 6 months.
Add the broth, noodles and shoyu. Cover and cook until the noodles are tender, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, slice the beef across the grain as thinly as you possibly can. As soon as the noodles are tender, drop the meat into the boiling broth and give it a swirl. Add the fresh herbs, greens and scallions and heat until wilted, about 1 minute. Serve immediately.
This post is part of The Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday!
elya said,
October 16, 2009 at 7:33 pm
This looks so delicious! I can almost smell it just by looking at the picture!
Ren, I have a broth question: if you freeze your broth, what containers do you use?
Ren said,
October 16, 2009 at 7:36 pm
Thanks!
I freeze broth in mason jars, leaving about an inch of headroom (the broth in the picture above was frozen at the time the shot was taken).
elya said,
October 17, 2009 at 12:32 am
Fantastic! I am about to invest in a very large stock pot, so I can make stock and freeze left overs for the future, yay!
What would be the best way of thawing it?
Ren said,
October 17, 2009 at 3:07 pm
From a food-safety standpoint, its best to thaw it in the refrigrator.
You can run the jar under warm water to loosen it enough to spoon into a pan, then bring it up to at least 140 degrees (bacteria multiplies very quickly between the temperatures of 40 to 140 degrees).
Jen said,
October 16, 2009 at 9:40 pm
Mmmmm! There is nothing better than a nourishing soup this time of year. Your soup looks so good! All you need is miso. :)
I freeze my broth in glass too. I’ve heard they can break, but it’s never happened to me… until now. My beautiful jar of beef broth is cracked. It’s not shattered though, so I hope to salvage it when I thaw it.
I must have a well stocked pantry, because I have every ingredient needed for this recipe, except star anise and Szechuan pepper. I think I’m going to go for it. :)
Ren said,
October 16, 2009 at 10:44 pm
I thought about adding miso; don’t know why I didn’t.
I haven’t lost any jars of broth yet (knocking wood) !
You could substitute black and green peppercorns for the Szechuan and a tiny bit of licorice for the anise. Not the same, but fairly close.
sustainableeats said,
October 20, 2009 at 12:58 am
Ren, this sounds great! I am about to pickup a 1/4 cow next week so I see a whole lotta beef broth in my future! I pressure can my beef broth so I have more room in the freezer for meat.
My computer crashed last month and I’m just getting things semi-normal again. I’ve missed the RSS feeds!
Ren said,
October 21, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Thanks, Annette! Curious- are you getting your cow in primals or final cuts?
sustainableeats said,
October 21, 2009 at 1:13 pm
final cuts – I don’t have a sharp enough knife or the training to do that bad boy justice.
Fight Back Friday October 16th | Food Renegade said,
October 22, 2009 at 10:41 pm
[...] Day)33. Little Locavores (Days of Squash & Pumpkins)34. Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes! (Melissa)35. Ren @ Edible Aria36. Kitchen Stewardship (WIN both of Nina Planck’s Real Food books!)37. Brie38. Anna Migeon39. [...]