Beef Brisket Noodle Soup

Beef Brisket Noodle Soup is a Chinese dish of slowly braised savoury sweet beef served over thin noodles in a hot rich beef bone broth

Beef Brisket Noodle Soup originated in China and is made out of beef, beef stock, vegetables and noodles (commonly used is the egg noodles). It is a very common noodle dish in Southeast Asia and East Asia and you will see a lot of variations throughout the region like the Pho Bo in Vietnam and the Beef Ramen in Japan.

History says that the original Beef noodle soup was invented by the Hui people which is a Muslim ethnic group in China during the Tang Dynasty in which they use halal beef and no soy sauce.  Since the this dish became popular all over the world so popular this noodle soup even the Instant Noodles nowadays have this flavour.

I always enjoy this dish and is one of my favorite Chinese dishes but not all restaurant I guess do it right as some of them is missing that beefy soup flavour or missing the consistency and sweet/salty flavour of that beef brisket sauce.  To get the best flavours in this dish you need to make your own beef stock using beef leg bones boiled slowly for at least 2 hours, using the bought stock in supermarkets wont yield the taste you get from Chinese restaurants.  Also the beef brisket used for this dish (not the soup) is cooked separately together with any ligaments that you can get from the boiled leg bones, also cooked slowly until the texture from that beef ligaments make soup thick in consistency.

So if you have a bit of time and patience preparing for a nice noodle soup then try this one at home and make sure don’t miss a step or make a shortcut to enjoy the real flavours of this dish.

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Beef Brisket Noodle Soup

  • Author: Raymund
  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Cook Time: 5 hours
  • Total Time: 5 hours 15 mins
  • Yield: 6 1x
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Chinese

Description

Beef Brisket Noodle Soup is a Chinese dish of slowly braised savoury sweet beef served over thin noodles in a hot rich beef bone broth


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 3 large beef leg bones, cut in half
  • 500 g beef brisket, diced
  • 200 g beef tendons, diced
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup oyster sauce
  • 3 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 thumb sized ginger, sliced
  • 1 bunch onion leaves, chopped
  • toasted garlic
  • 1 packet fresh yellow egg noodles
  • 1 bunch pak choy
  • 3 large red onions, 2 quartered and 1 finely chopped
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • fish sauce
  • sesame oil
  • 3 liters water

Instructions

  1. In a large pot add 3 litres water, leg bones, beef tendons, 2 pcs quartered onions, black pepper corns, salt (adjust according to you liking). Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 hours
  2. Once cooked using a colander drain the liquid and reserve.
  3. Separate the boiled tendons and carve any ligaments you can get from the bone then set aside.
  4. In a pot add beef brisket and cooked tendons, soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, ginger, 1 liter of beef stock and salt (this should be a bit salty as normal as the flavour would come from this sauce). Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hour or until the beef is very tender and liquid should be reduced by then and the tendons would make the consistency thick and sticky.
  5. In another separate pot, boil the remaining beef stock together with onions, black pepper, 3 tbsp toasted garlic and fish sauce (according to the saltiness you like). Turn the heat off once the onions are cooked to the point of disintegrating. Using a strainer drain and reserve the liquid.
  6. In a separate pot boil water with dash of salt and blanch the pak choy. Drain then set aside.
  7. In a separate pot boil water and cook noodles for 3 minutes, drain then rinse with cold water.
  8. Boil another set of water and soak the cooked noodles then drain.
  9. In a bowl, place noodles and pak choy, then add soup, and 2 scoopful of the brisket with the sauce. Top it with 1/2 tsp sesame oil, 1 tsp of toasted garlic and 1 tbsp of chopped green onions. Enjoy while its hot.

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29 Responses

  1. This looks delicious! I have never made brisket in a soup before but I think this is the recipe to try it with. Thanks for the mini history lesson as well. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving or just a great week if you are not celebrating Thanksgiving.

  2. feastonthecheap says:

    YUM! I’ve been looking for a recipe like this, I’m definitely gonna try this out, thanks so much for sharing!

  3. T Pearce says:

    If you are based in the south eat of England Won Kei in Londons china town does the best version of this soup

  4. Loriben says:

    I’ve tried this last week and it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe! I added a sprinkle or 2 of chilli flakes. Yum!

  5. Char says:

    Is step #5 a separate stock from step#1 or do u use the stock from step1?

  6. Linda Mirza says:

    Hello! I’m writing to you from Chicago. I’m having trouble with understanding the difference between tendon and ligament. I bought a pkg of actual tendons, a pkg of brisket, and meat that is, for lack of a better word, “long-lost muscle looking. It said shank, but there’s no bone. I’m a little lost!

    • Raymund says:

      Hi Linda,

      You bought the correct thing, tendons that is. I think the time I wrote the Asian shop I bought it from called it ligaments so I ended up calling it ligaments as well but later on they changed it to tendons. About the shanks it should be just leg bones just for making the soup, it gives a lot of flavour.

  7. Mark Dube says:

    Hi Raymond,
    I have had this soup in Edmonton , Alberta and it is the best. the difference is that the Asian fellow I was with added red rice vinegar to the soup and it made it even that much better. Have you ever tried it that way, just wandering cause that makes the soup even better IMO? Thank for recipe will give it a try

  8. Michelle says:

    I forgot to dice my tendons. Will this have made any difference to anything?

    • Raymund says:

      Nope. You can chop it afterwards so its easier to eat. : )
      Tendons are used to give more flavour and make the soup thicker, it has a nice texture to it as well

  9. Michelle says:

    Thanks! Sorry! Me again! Clearly I’m cooking this right now haha! I only ended up with 1.5 ltr of stock after cooking for 3 hours…..that means only half a litre for soup! should I just add water?

    • Raymund says:

      It should be like that so the taste is beefier. If you want to dilute it add boiling water before serving. It all boils down to taste preference 🙂

  10. Michelle says:

    Oh dear God this was EXACTLY what I wanted. Tastes better than my local restaurant!

  11. Ollie says:

    How come the color of your soup is clear? Is that what the authentic beef brisket noodles supposed to be?

  12. Duwan says:

    I tried this recipe and it was really good.

  13. Joe says:

    Absolutely delicious! Will definitely be making again. I followed each step and turned out better than my store brought one.
    I added half the sesame oil and add chili oil.

  14. Kade says:

    I had a cold and was hoping to find a recipe for a soup that wasn’t chicken noodle but would also make me feel better…this is now going to be my go to, and I’ve already promised to make my parents and my girlfriend some! All the flavors pair together so well, and the green onions? You can never forget about the green onions.

  15. K V says:

    Just wondering why the stock has to be cooked and seasoned separately. Is it okay to just throw everything in a pot, and then strain it after to use for the soup broth?

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