Beef noodle soup! In this video we'll show you the Sichuan style, touch on the Taiwan style, and talk a bit about how that soup ended up circling back to the mainland.

0:00 - Introduction
0:24 - How Beef Noodle Soup got to Taiwan
1:28 - Why don't we cover Taiwan food?
2:02 - Taiwan Noodle Soup Journeys Back to the Mainland
3:02 - How to Make Sichuan-style Red Braised Beef
6:35 - Introduction to the Sichuan Noodle shop style
7:07 - Sichuan-style Component 1, Pork Stock
8:23 - Sichuan-style Component 2, Toasted Chili Oil
10:19 - Sichuan-style Component 3, Stewed Peas
11:47 - Sichuan-style Component 4, Fresh Alkaline Noodles
13:19 - Assembling the Sichuan Noodle shop Style
14:12 - The Instant Noodle Version
16:23 - The use of stock?

VIDEOS WE ENJOYED RE THE TAIWAN STYLE

Cate Food Travel had a fantastic video of a beef noodle soup shop in Taiwan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkHqCYS3kJ0

Taiwan Duck (really cute channel) had a nice video if you were looking for more of a recipe video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZbhc6qI-no

SICHUAN RED BRAISED BEEF

* Water, ~2L
* Aromatics for the poaching liquid: ginger (姜), ~2 inches, smashed; liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ~1 tbsp; scallions, ~3, tied in a knot
* Beef brisket (牛腩), 700g
* Red Oil Chili Bean Paste, Pixian Doubanjiang (红油郫县豆瓣酱), 4 tbsp
* Oil to fry the bean paste, 6 tbsp
* Seasoning for the braise: soy sauce (生抽), 2 tbsp; dark soy sauce (老抽), 1 tsp; salt, 1 tsp
* Spices for the braise: Sichuan peppercorns (花椒), 1/2 tbsp; star anise (八角), 2; cloves (丁香), 6; dried sand ginger (沙姜), 8 psc; white cardamom (白蔻), 4; Tsaoko a.k.a. Chinese black cardamom (草果), 1

Process at 3:30. TL;DW: poach the beef for 5 minutes, then let it cool. Slice, then fry til browned. Fry the minced chili bean paste on low to stain the oil, and quickly fry the beef with it. Add the beef and red oil back to the pot together with the seasoning and spices. Simmer for 90 minutes.

NOODLE SHOP STYLE COMPONENT #1: PORK BONE STOCK

* Pork bones (猪骨), 350g (with some meat still attached)
* Aromatics for the stock: ginger (姜), ~1 inches, smashed; liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ~1 tbsp; scallions, ~1, tied in a knot

Process at 7:16. TL;DW: Blanch the pork bones in water together with a slug of Shaoxing. Remove, then to a new pot of ~2.5L of water add the blanched pork together with the aromatics for the stock. Simmer covered for three hours.

NOODLE SHOP STYLE COMPONENT #2: TOASTED CHILI OIL

* Dried chilis, 50g (we used Sichuan erjingtiao, 二荆条)
* Oil, 150g (or 3/4 of a cup). We used Caiziyou (Chinese rapeseed oil), but you can also use Indian mustard seed oil or peanut oil
* Aromatics for the oil: Ginger, ~1 inch, smashed; Onion (洋葱), ~1/4 of an onion, sliced
* Spices for the oil (optional but recommended): Cinnamon (桂皮), ½ stick; Star Anise (八角), 1; Fennel Seed (小茴香), ¼ tsp

Process at 8:36. TL;DW: Slice, then toast the chilis until brittle. Shake over a strainer to get out some of the excess seeds, then pound into a coarse powder. Heat your oil up to smoke point, let it cool down a bit, then fry the aromatics until golden brown. Add the spices, fry for a minute, then strain. Heat the oil til it bubbles around some chopsticks (~150C), then add in the chili flakes and shut off the heat.

NOODLE SHOP STYLE COMPONENT #3: STEWED PEAS

* Yellow split peas (黄豌豆), preferably whole, 100g
* Baking soda (小苏打), 1/4 tsp - if using whole split peas

Process at 10:45

NOODLE SHOP STYLE COMPONENT #4: FRESH ALKALINE NOODLES

* AP Flour (中筋面粉), 200g
* Salt, 1/2 tsp
* Sodium carbonate (碱面) -or- kansui (枧水), 1/2 tsp
* Water, 90g

Process at 11:56.

NOODLE SHOP STYLE: ASSEMBLY

* Fresh noodles, 150g (or ~100g dried noodles)
* Seasoning per bowl: salt, 1/4 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/8 tsp; Sichuan peppercorn powder (花椒粉), 1/2 tsp; soy sauce (生抽), 1 tsp, toasted chili oil from above -or- Lao Gan Ma chili crisp (老干妈香辣脆油辣椒), 1 tbsp
* Baby bok choy, ~1, blanched
* Stock, enough to cover everything, ~350mL
* Braised beef, ~3 tbsp; braised beef liquid, ~2 tbsp
* Stewed peas, ~1 tbsp
* Sliced scallions, ~1 tbsp
* Chopped cilantro, ~ 1 tbsp

Process at 13:24

INSTANT NOODLE VERSION

* Dried noodles, 100g (or ~150g fresh noodles) - we used 公仔面
* Seasoning: chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), 2 tsp; salt, 1/8 tsp; white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), 1/8 tsp, onion powder (洋葱粉), 1/16 tsp; garlic powder (大蒜粉), 1/16 tsp; cayenne pepper (辣椒面), 1/16 tsp; MSG (味精), 1/16 tsp
* Baby bok choy, ~1, blanched
* Carrot, ~1 inch knob, julienned and blanched
* Braised beef, ~3 tbsp; braised beef liquid, ~2 tbsp
* Fried egg, 1
* Sliced scallions, ~2 tbsp

Process at 15:50
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Footage of the hilarious instant noodle parody of Bite of China is here:
http://tv.sohu.com/20140524/n399989801.shtml

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Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg