Sichuan Beef Noodle Soup with Pickled Mustard Greens

I love this recipe and come back to it often when it's cold out, or someone has a cold--it's like a great, fiery alternative to chicken noodle soup. That said, I always 1) use bone in shanks and 2) brown them in the pot first. I'm not sure why you wouldn't since both add so much more flavor?

• trent880

• Denver, CO

• 1/28/2020

This was absolutely delicious. It was a little bit of effort admittedly but the outcome was completely worth it. I will definitely make this again. Just a note, the garnishes make the soup really come to life-do not skip out on them if you can!

• antonys1

• New York, NY

• 2/18/2012

When I found this recipe, I was looking to recreate the "Spicy Beef Sichuan" soup that I used to eat as a hangover cure at a now defunct restaurant in Austin, TX. As the soup was cooking, a familiar smell began to waft throughout the house and I knew that I had chosen the right recipe. I think that the Star Anise and the Sichuan/Szechuan peppercorns were a must. The Sichuan peppercorns are very fragrant and have kind of a smoky aroma, not at all like regular peppercorns. If you read below, they are actually a dried berry. My changes: Used beef chuck roast (fat trimmed), I also used thick, precooked Organic Udon Nooodles, added a tsp of crushed red pepper (maybe a little more), added the bok choy to the soup about 15 minutes before serving to incorporate into the broth, then added the noodles and cooked for another few minutes.

• magpie77

• 2/8/2011

I've been trying to find a restaurant in Singapore that has authentic Taiwanese beef noodle soup. I've been out of luck. Thank goodness for this recipe. It was so delicious. It reminded me of the excellent beef noodle soups in Los Angeles. I would extend the simmering time. I highly doubt that 1 hr is enough to cook the shank until it is tender. I simmered for 2.5 hrs and it was edible; however, I'm going to to let it cook more until the beef melts in my mouth.

• tazzychu

• Singapore

• 1/4/2011

The soup was delicious. For the "hot bean paste" I used "black bean garlic sauce" which I found readily available. Both products are primarily fermented soybean. Since the substitute lacked kick I threw a serrano pepper into the base of the soup. Also did not have the Sichuan peppercorns but didn't miss it! Another thing to note is that the traditional chinese sugar is more akin to "raw" sugar. So a better substitute than standard sugar is brown sugar in my opinion.

• brendan_fh

• West Hollywood

• 11/29/2010

My family loved this recipe...Ok I cheated on some the ingredients: I used a pinch of Chinese five spice powder instead of star anise and black bean sauce instead of the chili sauce, and used angel hair pasta. I did however pickle my own mustard greens and they were truly delicious.

• Anonymous

• Annapolis, MD

• 10/31/2010

Way too much salt. 2 tablespoons plus the salt in the soy sauce. Otherwise it would have tasted great. Surprised no one mentioned the saltiness before. I would make it again, but would not add salt to it.

• RachelSP

• 10/26/2010

I really love this dish! its actually very easy to make, the flavor combination is great, kind of like a very hearty pho with out the lemon grass flavors. the hardest part was finding the ingredients. I actually ended up making the pickled mustard greens myself- its way easy mustard greens, white vinegar, water, 2 tbsps each of salt and sugar, 3 whole garlic cloves and some chopped jalapeno peppers and in the fridge for 2-3 days. I also left out the sichuan peppercorns since I couldn't find them either but I'm not missing anything. This dish was delish!

• kmmrp5

• 9/12/2010

This is a great soup with a really flavorful broth. Next time I will probably use beef stew meat instead of the beef shank (although the texture of the meat came out perfectly since I used my pressure cooker) becuase the cut is so fatty that you lose a lot after trimming. Here are the changes I made: forgot to get green onions, used regular ground pepper instead of the peppercorns, added a cup of tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes, used Japanese soba noodles, cut up bok choy and sauteed in sesame oil and put on top of soup bowls, did not make pickled mustard greens.

• chandraceta

• Seattle, WA

• 5/29/2010

This was great. I used Eden organic whole wheat udon noodles which were perfect. Now I'm planning to make pickled mustard leaves - two summers ago I planted some Asian greens seeds; the mustard comes back every year, early and prolific, so it is fun to find a use for it. Look online at Saveur for a very easy recipe. Also I used black bean chili paste, but put extra soy and Sriracha hot sauce on the table.

• jbrich

• cape cod

• 5/11/2010

Recipe was good, made 1/2 of the recipe in a slow cooker over low for 5 hours, came out nice and tender. Not as spicy as I would've liked though, would up the peppercorns next time. I strained the soup, skimmed off that fat (there was quite a bit), before putting the meat and tomatoes back in.

• calsurf77

• san francisco, ca

• 4/11/2010

The practice of briefly simmering meat is very common in Chinese cooking. It gets the blood taste out. Adding black bean garlic paste would really change this soup, I think. For Sichuanese taste, the sichuan hot bean paste is important.

• ratgirlny

• 3/28/2010

Can't believe I spelled "meat" incorrectly! pardon me!

• phishsos

• 3/17/2010

regarding the comment below-- this method of "browning" meet in hot water is also known as "tang" in Mandarin, which literally means, "hot" or "to heat." Like browning raw meet in a pan, by putting it in hot water for a second, you are cooking it enough to render some of the fat in the meat, and to rid the raw meat of blood (which could taint the flavor of the broth). This is a pretty traditional Chinese technique.

• phishsos

• New York, NY

• 3/17/2010

Bring large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add beef; return water to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer until beef is brown on outside, turning occasionally, about 8 minutes; drain. Rinse beef under cold water until cool; cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Wipe out pot. Brown the beef? in boiling water? wipe out the pot? sounds more like one is browning the beef by frying it first.. and wiping out the oil afterwards.

• AdmFubar

• 3/16/2010