A Restaurant Quality Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup Made simple with an Instant Pot

If I had to highlight 2 important things about this recipe, they’re:
– use an instant pot!
– find the aromatic spice packet at an asian supermarket

If you’ve got these, I guarantee this recipe will be certified simple™.

————————————

I’ve broken down the video into chapters so that you can easily skim through the sections while cooking:

0:00 Intro
0:09 Background
0:36 Ingredients Overview
1:47 Special Spice Packet
3:07 Cutting and Preparing Ingredients
4:22 Preparing the Beef
5:19 Cubing the Beef
5:45 Instant Pot Broth Making Process
8:41 Preparing Perfect Bok Choy
9:11 Preparing Fresh Noodles
9:32 Releasing Instant Pot Pressure
10:00 Straining the Broth
10:30 Pulling out the Beef
11:06 Plating
11:22 Debrief

————————————

Ingredients (Serves about 4 generously. 10 if you’re serving bite sized portions for a pot luck 😅):
Protein:
– 2 pound beef shank (1 pound is also fine)

Aromatics:
– 1 yellow onion, rough cut into wedges
– 1 tomato, sliced into quarters
– 6 cloves garlic, crushes
– 2 inch piece ginger, sliced
– 4 scallions, chopped
– 4 whole dried chillies

Sauces:
– 1/2 cup soy sauce
– 1/2 cup shaoxing cooking wine
– 1 tablespoon tomato paste
– 2 tablespoons of douban jiang sauce (1 tablespoon is also fine)

Misc:
– 3 red dates (substitute: 1 tablespoon sugar)
– 6 dried shiitake mushrooms (optional)
– 8 cups beef broth
– 1 spice packet (REALLY important: you can find this spice packet at an asian supermarket, if you can’t acquire your hands on one, you can make your own satchet of cinammon, fennel, ginger, cumin, and clove)

Toppings for Garnish (to taste):
– scallions
– cilantro
– bok choy
– pickled mustard greens

————————————

High Level Instructions:

Preparations
1. cut all the aromatics (i.e. yellow onion, green onion, tomato, ginger, garlic)
2. cut toppings / garnish for later:
– Sliced green onions
– Roughly sliced cilantro
– Minced Pickle Mustard Greens

3. Set aside

Preparing the Beef
1. Season the beef with salt and pepper on both sides
2. Sear the beef on both sides until you acquire nice browning
3. Boil the beef for 1minute to remove unwanted fats that would otherwise make our broth cloudy
4. Rinse the beef under water
5. cut beef into 1.5 inch cubes
6. Set aside

Instant Pot Process
1. Add ~2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2. Add:
– 1 yellow onion (sliced into wedges)
– 4 green onion (roughly sectioned into thirds / fourths)
– 6 crushed garlic
– 2 inch blocks of ginger
Sauté until translucent. About 3 minutes.

3. Add:
– 4 whole red chillies
– 1 whole tomato (quartered)
Continue to sauté. About 1 minute.

4. Add:
– 1 – 2 pounds of cubed beef
– 1 tablespoon tomato paste
– 2 tablespoons of douban jiang
– 1/2 cup shaoxing cooking wine
– 1/2 cup of soy sauce
– 8 cups of beef broth
Stir to combine.

5. Add the 3 red dates (or sweetener of choice)
6. (Optional) Add 6 shiitake mushrooms
7. Add the spice packet
8. Close the instant pot and set Instant Pot to Meat / Stew mode for 100 minutes

Cook the Bok Choy
1. Boil the bok choy for exactly 45 seconds (careful not to overcook)
2. Quickly remove bok choy and rinse in cold water to stop cooking
3. Set aside

Cook the Fresh Noodles
1. Boil your fresh noodles as instructed by the noodle’s packaging
2. Set aside
Pro Tip: I suggest that you prepare the noodles as close to plating time as possible so that the noodles do not clump while sitting.

After the Instant Pot Finishes
1. fast release the pressure
2. Separate the cubes of beef from the broth. The beef tends to acquire tough if left in the broth overnight.
3. (Optional) Strain broth to separate cooked ingredients. This will prevent mushy ingredients and whole ingredients from being accidentally plated into your bowls.
4. (Optional) After the broth has cooled, skim out the excess fat / oil from the broth. This will improve the broth clarity.

Enjoy your delicious, hearty, and comforting Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup!