| Beef noodle soup | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| A bowl of beef noodle soup | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 牛肉麵 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 牛肉面 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | beef noodles | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Beef noodle soup is a Chinese noodle soup made of stewed beef, beef broth, vegetables and Chinese noodles. It exists in various forms throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia. It was created by the Hui people (a Chinese Muslim ethnic group) during the Tang Dynasty of China.
In the West, this food may be served in a small portion as a soup. In China, a large bowl of it is often taken as a whole meal with or without any side dish. In Taiwan, vendors that sell beef noodle may also have optional, often cold side dishes, such as braised dried tofu, seaweed, or pork intestine. Beef noodles is often served with suan cai (Chinese sauerkraut) on top, green onion, and sometimes other vegetables in the soup as well.
In Chinese, "牛肉麵" literally means "beef noodles". If one orders "牛肉湯麵" or "beef soup noodles" in a restaurant in Taiwan, Mainland China, or Hong Kong, they might be given a very inexpensive bowl of noodles in only beef broth but no beef. If one orders a "牛肉湯" or "beef-soup", they could be given a more expensive bowl of beef broth with chunks of beef in it but without noodles.
Beef noodle is often served as fast food in China, with Mr. Lee being the largest chain. In Taiwan it is considered a national dish and every year the city of Taipei holds an annual Beef Noodle Festival, where various chefs and restaurants compete to see who is the best beef noodle in Taiwan.
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There are two common variations of beef noodle which differ in the way the broth is prepared. When soy sauce is added, the soup is called red roasted or braised beef noodles (紅燒牛肉麵). In this version, the stew meat is sometimes stir fried with hot sauce,before being simmered as soup. Chefs also let the stock simmer for long periods of time with bone marrow; some vendors can cook the beef stock for over 24 hours. This type of beef noodle tends to be spicy because Doubanjiang and Five-spice powder are sometimes added. This type of soup is influenced by that of Szechuan hot and sour soups, therefore it is sometimes referred to as "Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup" (四川牛肉麵), but this name is incorrect as it was invented in Taiwan. There are several variations with the broth, such as spicy, tomato, garlic, and herbal medicine. The tomato variation (番茄牛肉面) is popular in Taiwan and features chunks of tomatoes in a rich red colored soy-tomato broth.
The Chinese Muslim style of beef noodles known as clear-broth or consomme stewed beef noodles (清燉牛肉麵). It often uses halal (清真) meat and contains no soy sauce, resulting in more taste of the beef in the soup. Salt, red chilis, star anise, white pepper, and green onions are used to add flavoring to the soup. In halal restaurants, only quality local beef from the Taiwanese zebu (黃牛, lit. "yellow cattle") prepared by the local halal butcher is used for the beef noodles.
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