Chinese Cinnamon Beef Noodle Soup

"This was published in a Fine Cooking magazine a couple of years ago. I was so excited to have found a relatively easy yet very flavorful noodle soup for my family. My husband (the ultimate food critic) loves this and doesn't mind eating it for days. He says it reminds him of when he was in Taiwan. High praise, indeed! Packaged stewing beef is often made up of irregularly shaped pieces from different cuts, so I cut my own stew meat using a boneless chuck roast or two 3/4 inch thick chuck steaks."
 
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photo by Sackville photo by Sackville
photo by Sackville
photo by Sackville photo by Sackville
Ready In:
1hr 50mins
Ingredients:
15
Serves:
6-8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Cut beef chuck into 3/4 in thick chunks if you did not purchase precut stewing beef.
  • Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When very hot, add the cinnamon, scallions, garlic, ginger, anise seeds, and chile paste; cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
  • Add the water, broth, soy sauce, and vinegar; bring to boil over high heat.
  • Add the meat and bring to vigorous simmer. Lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, partially covered, until the meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours, checking to be sure that the soup doesn''t boil or stop simmering.
  • Shortly before the soup is done, bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook the noodles according to package directions until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water.
  • When the meat is tender, remove the cinnamon sticks. Add the bok choy to the soup and simmer until the stalks are crisp-tender and the greens are very tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in the noodles and let them warm through. Serve immediately, garnished with the cilantro leaves.
  • I'm guessing on the serving size as I no longer follow the recipe. I use the ingredient list as a guide.

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Reviews

  1. This was absolutely amazing soup! My BF loves cinnamon, and this had just the right amount. He was surprised at how good it was. We didn't have any anise seeds, so I used a teaspoon of Chinese 5 spice powder and it worked wonderfully. Definitely a keeper!
     
  2. This is just so good, but it's pretty salty if you don't use low sodium soy sauce or broth!
     
  3. I had really high hopes for this recipe - it made my kitchen smell wonderful while cooking. I cooked it exactly as written. The flavor just didn't deliver though. My DH thought it was good, and me just ok. I was really disappointed it didn't have the spark of flavors that it smelled like while cooking, Hoping it's better re-heated tomorrow.
     
  4. OMG my house smelled amazing while the soup simmered on the stove. I forgot to add the bok choy, but it still was absolutely wonderful. The entire family loved it. Great recipe!
     
  5. Wonderful. I also had to sub the anise with chinese 5 spice. Also had to use sriracha insted of chili paste, but it turned out awesome anyway. My meat wasn't as tender as I would of liked & I used pre-cut stewing meat so the advice about cutting your own meat is spot on. I have very tender meat when using pre-cut meat for my stew so don't know what makes that difference. Maybe I will simmer this soup a little longer next time. Any how, a wonderful asian soup you can make at home! & the house smelled amazing while this soup simmered! Thank you for posting.
     
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Tweaks

  1. I make a very similar soup. The differences are: no chicken stock or rice vinegar or cilantro, and I use fresh baby spinach in place of the bok choy. I use a whole star anise or two instead of the seeds, and pick out the pods at the end. (Well, I try.) And my version calls for putting the noodles into the bowls and spooning the soup over top--can't imagine it makes much difference. My family LOVES this soup, even the kids. It works great in the crockpot, too. Just FYI, we've made it with buffalo and with lamb, and both versions are as good as the original. And leftovers, if you have any, are even better than the first time!
     

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