Braised Beef Chinese Noodle Soup on a Snowy Afternoon in Chicago

Ingredients:

• 2 small pieces Chinese cinnamon
• 2 black cardamom pods
• ½ tablespoon fennel seeds
• 4 star anise pods
• 10 cloves
• 1 dried tangerine peel
• 6 bay leaves
• ½ tablespoon whole white peppercorns
• 4 slices licorice root
• 8 pieces dried white cardamom
• 3 pounds of beef chuck, cut into large chunks
• 16 cups water
• 5 slices fresh ginger root
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 15 grams of rock sugar
• 5 scallions (with the white and green parts separated)
• 1 whole head of garlic (cloves peeled but kept whole)
• ¼ cup dry sherry wine
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• ¼ cup light soy sauce
• Salt, to taste
• Noodle of your choice
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Instructions:

1. Place the aromatics in a piece of cheesecloth tied tightly with kitchen string. That’s the cinnamon, black cardamom, fennel seeds, star anise, cloves, tangerine peel, bay leaves, white peppercorns, licorice slices and white cardamon.

2. Rinse off the beef under cold running water. In a soup pot, add 16 cups of water, the ginger, and beef. Bring to a boil and cook for a few more minutes until you see some foam floating on the top of the water. Skim the foam off.

3. Turn off the heat and take out the pieces of beef.

4. Strain the broth through a fine-meshed strainer, into a heatproof bowl or other pot. Set aside, along with the ginger pieces.

5. In another large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the rock sugar, the white parts of the scallion, and the garlic. Cook for a few minutes until the scallions are lightly seared. Add the beef, turn up the heat, and mix everything well.

6. Cook for about 5 minutes, and stirring occasionally. Now add the wine, dark soy sauce, and light soy sauce and stir to combine.

7. Add the aromatics, the broth and ginger pieces that you boiled the beef in. Bring everything to a boil and then immediately turn the heat down to medium. Simmer for 1 1/2 hours.

8. Turn off the heat and let it stand with the lid on for another hour. Now your soup base is ready.

9. Reheat the soup, remove the aromatics, and add salt to taste before serving.

10. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions, strain, and transfer to a large serving bowl.

11. Cover the noodles with a serving of the beef and the soup. Top with the chopped green parts of the scallions you set aside earlier and chopped cilantro. Enjoy!