Instant Pot Braised Beef Noodle Soup

I am up to my noodley shenanigans again! Today I am sharing a Braised Beef Noodle Soup. I feel apprehensive calling this a Taiwanese Braised Beef Noodle Soup, since the recipe is really a combination of a bunch of recipes I've tried in the past and have tweaked over time to suit our tastes, but essentially it would be best related to Taiwanese beef noodles--although I'm sure a purist would say otherwise. Bay leaves are not usually part of the recipe, but I find that it gives a little somethin' somethin' to it. I also find that other recipes have more star anise and use spicy bean paste for the telltale spice kick, but after a few times of recipe testing, we found that we weren't fond of the heavy licorice flavor of star anise in our broth, and that spicy bean paste often ended up being too spicy (at least for my husband, who is decidedly weak against spice haha). I tend to add some chili paste on top of my noodles before I eat, and it tastes just as good!

I developed a love for beef noodle soup when I stayed in Taiwan for a few weeks as a tween/teenager and again when I went on a mom and daughter trip back in 2014. I stayed with my cousins and my aunt once took me to a place not far from her home in Taipei that sold affordable, homemade and delicious beef noodle soup. I remember the steaming pots of beef broth, assorted beef cuts including brisket, shank, tripe and tendon being scooped up to be placed on top of freshly boiled noodles. You could smell the broth and beef as you approached the restaurant from outside. Taiwan is hot and humid, especially during the summer, but you will still see plenty of people queuing up for a good bowl of beef noodle soup on any day.​ This dish is so popular that you'll see it in restaurants, street vendors and even at the airport!

The photos below were taken back in 2014 when I went to Taiwan with my mom and we revisited the same beef noodle shop near my aunt's home! Look at all the honeycomb tripe, beef tongue and beef tendon!! Yummm! Next to it is a photo of a bowl of beef noodle soup we ate at the airport in Taipei. Even for airport food, the noodles were super nice and chewy, flavorful broth and large chunks of soft beef. Ah the memories ♥🍜

I tend to pair this recipe with my handmade noodles (super easy to make) but if I'm pressed for time or too lazy, I will use store bought (either fresh flour noodles or the dried kinds). You can even use instant noodles if you wish!

As for the beef, I truly recommend using beef shank over other cuts of beef. It is an affordable cut of meat, is fatty and has tendon throughout, so after cooking in the Instant Pot, that fat and collagen from the tendon is infused and melted into your beef stock broth to be super unctuous and delightfully beefy. No beef bones needed for an intensely flavorful broth.

Store Bought Noodle

Handmade Noodle

INGREDIENTS: 6 servings

• 3 boneless beef shank
• 2 beef tendons (optional)
• 1 lb beef tripe (optional)
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 2 tomatoes (quartered)
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 box low sodium beef stock (32 oz)
• 1/3 cup light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup rock sugar
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tbsp five spice powder
• 2 tbsp szechuan peppercorns (or black peppercorns)
• 2 bay leaves 
• 8 slices ginger
• 2 cloves garlic (sliced)
• 1 star anise
• 1/3 cup shaoxing wine
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Noodles

TOPPINGS:

• Bok choy (optional)
• 2 tsp white pepper (optional)  
• Cilantro (optional)
• Fried garlic(optional)
• Finely diced chili pepper (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Put the Instant Pot setting to Saute and stir fry the ginger slices, garlic, star anise and peppercorns until fragrant. Add the chopped onions and tomatoes. Meanwhile, on the stove top, boil a pot of water and boil all the beef, tripe, tendon for about 2 minutes. Then, wash under cold running water and set aside.
2. Add the beef shank and other beef cuts (tripe/tendon) on top. Then pour the box of beef stock in, bay leaves, the brown sugar, rock sugar, shaoxing wine, light and dark soy sauce, cinnamon, five spice powder, tomato paste and oyster sauce on top and mix. Add enough water to the beef stock so that it reaches just below the meat. 
3. Set the Instant Pot to High Pressure Cook, Meat/Stew setting for 1 hour and 30 minutes. After it is done, allow the Instant Pot to vent the steam. If you are cooking on stovetop, put it on a low simmer for 3 hours.
4. Once it is done cooking, release the pressure on the Instant Pot and while it is venting the steam, you can boil your noodles. Hand made noodles are the best for this recipe, but store bought flour noodles are also great. You can learn to make my deliciously yummy, chewy hand made noodles here. 
5. Boil the noodles just 1-2 minutes short of the package instructions for store bought (or handmade), drain and run them through cold running water to remove an excess starch. This helps to make the noodles nice and chewy. 
6. Remove the beef shanks from the Instant Pot (after venting) and slice to your preferred thickness. It will be super soft! We find usually 2-3 people can enjoy 1 shank depending on your portion preference. 
7. Ladle about 4-5 cups of broth into a pot for the stove top (or enough to serve the amount of people who are eating). Taste the broth in the pot and add salt and pepper as desired. You can cook the cleaned bok choy in the broth if you wish, or you can boil separately. Drop the noodles in and allow to cook for another minute or two. This step helps to not only reheat the cold noodles, but helps some of that flavor to seep into the noodles themselves.
8. Lastly, ladle the soup and noodles it into your serving bowls, add your bok choy, chop up some fresh cilantro to garnish on top and enjoy! This is also delicious if you sprinkle some fried garlic and shallots on top, or with some chopped red chilis for extra heat if you like spicy.

We make this so often at home because you can just toss everything into the pot and have it set to start on its own so that when we get home from work, we just have to boil noodles and throw everything together within minutes! Comforting, warm, and slurpy beefy noodle goodness. Enjoy!

Until next time, 
​Jenny