Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup - part 2

(By Jim)

So, I've been making Szechuan Beef Soup monthly since we posted this. I've refined the recipe slightly, to make it taste like the soup we get at A&J Restaurant, a Chinese place with locations in Annandale, VA, and Rockville, MD. I started with the base recipe that we used back in May. I've since doubled the recipe so we could put up plenty of it. The refrigeration also makes it easy to skim the fat off the top. We typically make it on the weekend, and then either refrigerate or freeze all of it until we need a quick meal.

I've been buying broad Shanghai noodles at our Asian market for it. They're cheap, fresh, and taste nearly as good as homemade. Also, I've started using the Shaoxing cooking wine. To offset the extra salt from that, I use low-sodium Kikkoman soy sauce. I'm using star anise now, and only using the 5-6 pods, as it was much stronger than our 5-spice powder. Another change is using crosscut beef shank meat with the bone in. It has more chunks of just meat, more good connective tissue that makes it nice and gelatenous, and less fat to trim away before freezing.

Finally, we were eating at A&J after I made the first or second batch, and Barbara said "What is the citrus taste in this?" I immediately figured out "Orange Peel". We use the zest from one whole Florida juice orange. You might find tangerine peel, either dried or fresh, to taste good as well.

This weekend we were at A&J, and Barbara said that she may like my soup more now than she likes theirs. I think they're slightly different, but both are very good expressions of the same thing.

Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup Part 2

4-5 lbs beef shank bone-in, cut into steaks
5 quarts water
1 cup shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine)
1 cup low-sodium Kikkoman soy sauce
2 4-inch pieces of ginger, cut into several pieces and crushed with the back of a knife
6 green onions, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
12 cloves garlic, crushed with the back of a knife
20 cilantro stems, leaves separated from stem pieces
Zest of one orange
5-6 star anise pods
4 tsp szechuan peppercorns
2 tsp red pepper flakes


Soak beef in cold water for 20 minutes to remove blood, then dispose of water

Bring water to boil in stock pot.

Add beef, return to boil, skim foam and impurities from surface.

Reduce to simmer, add shaoxing, soy sauce, star anise, szechuan peppercorns, pepper flakes, ginger, green onions, garlic, and cilantro stems.

Simmer for 2 1/2 hours.

Remove beef, then strain solids from the broth. Discard solids.

At this point I usually separate the broth into 6 one-quart deli takeout containers. Then I remove the beef from the bone, strip off the fat and cartilage from the beef, then share it among the soup containers. You can now freeze or refrigerate the soup solidify the fat on top to remove it.

When you're ready to serve, take out one quart for each person for a main dish (or 1 for two or three people for a soup course). Bring to a boil, add noodles, and cook until noodles are done.

Also, if desired add steamed greens or use broth to cook baby bok choy or watercress. Serve in soup bowls with cilantro leaves and green onion tops for garnish.

Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup

Lots of cooking in the kitchen this weekend. As much for the need to eat and prep my Daring Baker's May challenge as it was to relieve stress. While I can't say what I prepped for the Daring Baker's challenge, I can report that we have several containers of strawberry jam that I made yesterday.

Today was the DB prep as well as noodle for some Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup that Jim cooked up. We've only had this dish at restaurants and wanted to make it at home but never found the right recipe. Today while surfing the net, Jim came across a recipe that looked good. Using it and several others he put together a soup that was slap your momma good. I know.....terrible term to use on Mother's Day but it's true, this soup was great! And there is enough leftover for dinner tomorrow night.

To go with it, I also made scallion pancakes, another elusive recipe that I've tried to make several times before with limited success. But after looking at several, I made one that came as close to the real thing as ever.

Scallion Pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
vegetable oil

Mix the flour, water and salt in a bowl until a ball is formed. Turn out onto a flat surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until smooth. Add flour or water as needed. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Unwrap the dough and divide into 6 sections and roll into balls. Keep covered until ready to roll out. One piece at a time, roll out the dough into a circle about 1/8" thick and brush with oil.
Scatter about 1-2 tbsp of the scallions on top of the dough.
Roll up the dough like a cigar.
Then coil it up .Cover and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. When all are done, take out one piece and roll it out to about 1/8" thickness. (don't worry if it squishes out green onions)Heat a skillet over medium heat with 1 tsp oil. When hot add one pancake and cook until the bottom is golden brown, flip over and brown the other side. Repeat with remaining pancakes. Slice into 4-6 pieces and serve.


Egg Free Chinese Noodles
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp corn or peanut oil
1 cup water

Mix all the ingredients and knead by hand for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.

Unwrap the dough, cut into 4 equal pieces. Cover set aside. Take one piece at a time and flatten with your hands into a disc. Roll out to a 14 inch square (and less than 1/8" thick), dusting with flour as needed. Move the dough to a cloth or paper towel to dry while you work on the other three pieces.

Taking the first piece you rolled out, liberally dust both sides with cornstarch, smoothing it out with your hands. taking opposite edges, fold the dough into thirds. Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough into even strips about 1/8" in width (or slightly wider if you like). Unroll the noodles by tossing them with your fingers. Spread them out on a cookie sheet to dry for 15-20 minutes. You can cook them at this point or put them in a plastic bag and refrigerate or freeze them.

To cook them: Place in boiling soup or water for about 3 - 4 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup
3 1/2 lbs beef short ribs bone-in
2 1/2 quarts water
1/2 cup aji-mirin (or shaoxing and additional brown sugar if needed)
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tsp five spice powder (or 5-6 whole star anise pods)
2 tsp whole szechuan peppercorns
1 tsp red pepper flakes
4 inch piece of ginger, cut into several pieces and crushed with the back of a knife
6 green onions, green parts chopped, white parts crushed with the back of a knife
6 cloves garlic, crushed with the back of a knife
10 cilantro stems, leaves separated from stem pieces

Soak beef in cold water for 20 minutes to remove blood, then dispose of water
Bring 2 1/2 quarts of water to boil in stock pot.
Add beef, return to boil, skim foam and impurities from surface.
Reduce to simmer, add aji-mirin, soy sauce, five spice powder, szechuan peppercorns, pepper flakes, ginger, white part of green onions, garlic, and cilantro stems.
Simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Remove beef, then strain solids from soup and add soup back into pot. Debone the beef, then remove fat and cartilage and add back into pot.

Return to boil, use soup to cook chinese wheat noodles (store-bought or use recipe here). Also, if desired add steamed greens or use broth to cook baby bok choy or watercress. Serve in soup bowls with cilantro and green onion tops for garnish.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Sorry it took so long to get this recipe posted. If you remember, I was going to post it just after I wrote this. This soup is so easy to make and very tasty.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
4 oz. chopped green chilies
14½ oz. beef broth
10¾ oz. chicken broth
10¾ oz. cream of chicken soup, condensed
6¾ oz. cooked chicken breast, chopped
1½ cups water
1 tbsp. steak sauce
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/8 tsp pepper
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can whole corn, drained

Sauté onion and garlic in 2 tbsp. hot oil in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT the cheese and corn. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 1 hour. Add cheese and corn, simmer 10 minutes.

I’d recommend serving it with fresh cornbread.

Virtual Recipe Club - Soup edition

Alysha at The Savory Notebook has come up with a pretty neat idea, a virtual recipe club. She's still toying with it being a weekly or a monthly. As she puts it, "I'm torn. I think I'll wait until the end of the week to see what the round-up looks like and then decide. A month seems too long, but perhaps a week isn't enough time. I'm not dead-set on either one, so let's just see what works best for everyone else."

I think a monthly event works well for me as long as it's the same time each month, I'll be able to remember it. But I'll be happy to join in even if it's weekly.

Her current theme is soups. And I just happen to have a recipe that I've recently tried and REALLY liked. It's called Ribollita (Tuscan Vegetable and Bread Soup). It was a goup effort soup made at work by all of the library staff. We selected a recipe and posted the ingredients in the staff kitchen. Everyone signs up to bring in at least one of the ingredients. I usually bring in my big soup pot.

Last month the soup selected was the Ribollita and we chose to make it on a Wednesday as most of the staff work on that day. Tuesday afternoon, ingredients began to fill up the fridge and on the big day, we made soup.

The best part is the aroma. It fills up the entire building. Our library is has a homey feel to it as it is, but when you fill it with the aroma of good food, it's like heaven. Library patrons come in sniffing and asking what smells so good. When we tell them it's staff soup day, they want to be made staff just for the day. Hehe. We've even had them ask for the recipe.

I didn't take picures because 1) I didn't know at the time that I'd be blogging about it and, 2) nobody at work knows I have this blog! I've kept it my little secret. It's almost slipped out once or twice and I know that sooner or later someone's gonna find out. Let's hope it's later. I don't mind non-coworker friends or family reading it but felt I needed to keep it out of my work life. Does that sound strange?

Anyway, on to the recipe.
Ribollita (Tuscan Vegetable and Bread Soup)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 large cloves of garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 ribs celery, chopped
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
2 cans (15 oz. each) small white beans (or cannellini beans)
6 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups tomato sauce
3 cups stale chewy Italian bread, crust removed (tear bread into small chunks)
1 small white onion, finely chopped , for garnish
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, for garnish
Extra virgin olive oil, for garnish

Heat a large sauce pot over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp. olive oil, garlic, onion, carrots, celery and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper and saute until the vegetables begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Add beans, chicken stock, and tomato sauce. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove lid and stir in bread chunks. Continue stirring. When soup becomes thick* and bread is distributed evenly, adjust seasonings. Remove the bay leaf.

Serve soup in shallow bowls and top with raw onion, generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

*Some Ribollitas can be so thick the spoon will stand upright in the pot. Make yours as thick or as thin as you like by adding more bread or chicken stock.