Beef Noodles - Variations

Variations

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). Braised beef noodles was reputedly invented by KMT's Sichuan Province recruits who fled from mainland China to Kaoshiung, Taiwan. Therefore it is sometimes (misleadingly) referred to as "Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup" (四川牛肉麵). The red braised beef noodles has the most common type of beef noodle in Taiwan. The beef is often stewed with the broth and simmered, sometimes for hours, but sometimes it is stir fried with hot sauce. 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. There are several variations with the broth, such as spicy, tomato, garlic, and herbal medicine. The tomato variation (番茄牛肉麵) 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 consommé 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.