Sichuan-Style Red Braised Beef Noodles Recipe | Hong Shao Niu Rou Mian

This red braised beef noodle soup recipe technically takes hours to make – but it's hours of waiting time. In terms of actual 'doing time', it's more like a couple of minutes.

红烧牛肉面 hóngshāo niúròu miàn is quite possibly my favourite noodle soup dish. There are many different ways of making hong shao beef noodle soup, especially depending on province in China. But my favourite style is spicy-numbing Sichuan style.

Sichuan red braised beef noodle soup uses doubanjiang – fermented chilli and bean paste – as well as plenty of Sichuan peppercorns and a little extra fragrant chilli oil for an extra kick and numbing bite. To make hong shao niu rou mian, you have to saute the beef first before simmering it with water and more ingredients to make the beef broth. Sauteing the beef first adds almost caramelised notes.

Right before serving the hong shao rou with the soup and noodles, you also add a few more ingredients directly to the serving bowl – such as a dash of sesame oil, a little more chilli oil, and a bit of black vinegar. These are all down to taste though, and you can add a little more or a little less of this part as you like.

I mentioned that this red braised beef noodle soup recipe takes hours to make – that's because you have to let it simmer for a couple of hours to let all the flavours develop and the beef get nice and tender. This is actually the easy part – as long as you have your pot on a low, steady simmer, you can simply walk away and wait for the ingredients to work their magic.

You can also watch me make this on my YouTube channel:

Ready? Let's go.

(Serves 3–4)

Ingredients:

For the Beef:

500g chopped beef shin or braising steak
2 tsp ground five spice
1 tsp pink Himalayan or sea salt
Dash of vegetable or ground nut oil

For the Broth:

800ml boiling water
2cm cube of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
5–6 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 black cardamom
1 stick cassia bark
1/2 star anise (or a small one)
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
1 tbsp Sichuan doubanjiang (fermented chilli bean paste)
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 onion, quartered

For Each Bowl:

1 tsp Sichuan chilli oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp black Chiangkiang vinegar (optional)
Flat wheat noodles (I like dao xiao mian / knife-shaved noodles the best), cooked to packet instructions
Pak choi or choi sum, steamed or lightly fried
Chopped spring onion and coriander (to garnish)

Method:

1. In a large saucepan, brown the beef in oil over a medium heat with the five spice and salt.

2. Pour over the water, and add all the rest of the broth ingredients. Cover and simmer over a low heat for four hours.

3. Boil and drain your noodles, and steam your greens just before you're ready to serve. Prepare each of your bowls by placing chilli oil, sesame oil and the black vinegar at the bottom. Add the noodles on top, pour over the soup and beef, and top with the greens, spring onion and coriander.

That's it! Enjoy, and have fun.