And so this leads to the adventure I am enjoying right now as I type. I merged a couple of recipes, neither of which had exact ingredient amounts, so we'll see how this actually ends up! I'll let you know what I have done, under the disclaimer that I have never made beef brisket before.
First, I gathered my ingredients. I'm going to include the price in parentheses for those of you who are curious (I am usually interested in that sort of thing!) 4.5 pounds of beef brisket ($18), half a pound of ginger (<$1), 4 cloves of garlic (pennies), 5 stems of green onion (don't remember how much this cost, but definitely <$1)
Second, I prepared the ginger, garlic, and green onions. I washed the ginger, peeled it (though left on the hard-to-reach spots), and sliced it into long thin pieces. I tried to maximize the surface area so that there would be as much delicious ginger flavor seeping out as possible. I washed the green onions, chopped off and discarded the hairy roots, and chopped them into small pieces. (By the way, Steve says if your green onions slices are still connected and you have a hard time cutting them, your knife needs to be sharpened. I guess this is the test for whether or not your knife needs to be sharpened.) Finally, I simply minced and crushed the garlic.
Next, I got out my huge hunk of beef brisket and cut it into cubes with sides of length about 1 or 2 inches.
Then, I poured a few tablespoons of canola oil into my stockpot and sauteed the ginger and green onions. After a couple minutes, I added the garlic. Then, I inhaled deeply because it smelled marvelous. Then, I added meat bit by bit to brown the edges (making sure to remove the browned meat temporarily to make room for the meat that still needed to be browned).
Once all the meat was browned, I threw all my meat into the stockpot and added maybe 3/4 cup of rice wine, then stirred. This step will deglaze the bottom of the pot a bit and of course will add flavor. Then, I added 4-5 tablespoons of chu hou paste, 3 cups of water, 4-5 tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/4 cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup dark soy sauce, 3 or 4 stars of anise, 1 stick of cinnamon, and a little freshly ground black pepper.
I stirred all that well, then covered the pot and let it simmer for two. whole. hours. At the end of two hours, you want to have about half the liquid that you started with. This might mean you will need to add a little bit more water, or it might mean that you need to simmer your beef with the lid slightly ajar. It all depends on your specific pot. Just keep an eye on the stove and don't fall asleep (especially since you might wake up to a fireman carrying you down a ladder).
I tasted the beef and it was just like it was supposed to be: extremely tender and flavorful. I gave myself a pat on the back. Of course, my first try wasn't perfect. Next time I make beef brisket, I'm going to use some Chinese peppercorn. I think that will add a kick to mimic the flavor of the soup we had at United Noodle.
The next day, Steve and I boiled some udon noodles and bok choy in a small pot of just the broth. We then savored a wonderful bowl of soup with thick, yummy noodles; tender, savory beef; refreshing, healthy bok choy; and bright green onions. Yum!
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| The resulting beef noodle soup: beef brisket, udon noodles, bok choy, and green onion. I wish I had taken a picture of the bowl I had at United Noodle for comparison! |
Now, it's time to address the question of whether or not making beef brisket noodle soup is cheaper at home than eating it at a restaurant. The noodles were $8 and the bok choy was maybe $2 or $3. Then, adding in the cost of the beef brisket recipe brings the total to about $30. There should be enough noodles and meat for at about 10 bowls of soup. I probably should have bought more bok choy. Bummer. But beef brisket will probably remain after all the noodles are gone, so we can eat the brisket with rice, thus increasing the worth of the meal. I'm not sure how to measure the worth of the time that went into making the soup, but all in all, it seems that this is a very cost-effective way of eating beef noodle soup, especially if you are the kind of person who cannot have only one bowl! ^_^