Beef Noodle Soup

A rich, slow-braised beef shank and noodle soup in a five-spice and soy broth, widely considered Taiwan's unofficial national dish.

Beef noodle soup emerged in Taiwan in the years following 1949, when soldiers and families from mainland China's Sichuan province settled near Kaohsiung's Gangshan military village. They adapted Sichuanese doubanjiang (chili bean paste) braising techniques to local ingredients, creating a dish that did not exist in this form on the mainland. It grew so central to Taiwanese identity that Taipei has run an annual Beef Noodle Soup Festival since 2005, with dozens of restaurants competing for the best broth. Despite most Taiwanese being historically more inclined toward pork, beef noodle soup became the dish most associated with the island's post-war food culture.

The broth should be built from beef bones and shank simmered for hours with doubanjiang, star anise, and soy, not stock cubes. Shank meat should be tender enough to pull apart with chopsticks but not falling apart. Hand-pulled or knife-cut wide noodles are preferred over dried noodles.