~762 cal · 66g protein · 37g carbs · 36g fat (estimated, per serving)
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Bowl of dark beef noodle soup with bok choy and pickled greens
🇹🇼 Taipei
Taipei holds an annual festival just to crown its best beef noodle soup, and every contender guards a broth recipe balancing soy, rock sugar, and doubanjiang. It’s the island’s comfort food and its fiercest culinary debate at once.
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Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
Ingredients
Serves 4 —
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2 lbs beef shank, thick slices
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1 lb wheat noodles, thick and chewy
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2 tbsp doubanjiang (chili bean paste)
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1/2 cup soy sauce
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1.5 tbsp rock sugar
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3 star anise
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1 stick cinnamon
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2 dried chilies
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a generous handful ginger, scallions, garlic
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2 tomatoes, quartered
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4 baby bok choy
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1/2 cup pickled mustard greens, chopped
Instructions
1
Blanch the beef slices, rinse, and set aside — a clear broth starts clean.
2
Fry ginger, garlic, scallions, and doubanjiang in oil until brick-red; add soy, rock sugar, spices, and tomatoes.
3
Add the beef and 10 cups water. Simmer, partly covered, 2–2.5 hours until the shank wobbles.
4
Cook the noodles and blanch the bok choy in the same water.
5
Build bowls: noodles, broth, beef, bok choy, and a spoonful of pickled greens — the sharp counterpoint that finishes the dish.
Taipei noodle-shop tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers — know your destination
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Taipei. A city that argues nightly over the best beef noodle soup.
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Taiwan. Night-market island with a noodle-soup obsession.
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Asia. From street-cart woks to slow monastery kitchens.
The story behind this dish is up top — worth a read while the pot works.
👩🍳
Richard Moore & Kelsey Tucker
Recipes cooked, tested, and researched by the creators of Spin the Globe. How we build our recipes →
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