Taiwanese beef noodle soup

Cheat your way to full-on flavour in a fraction of the time!

Serves

Prep Time

15 mins

Cook Time

20 mins

Oh, you’re in for a treat with this one! If you’re searching for an easy Taiwanese beef noodle soup recipe, you’ve just found your new favourite. This version uses New Zealand beef mince, making it a fuss-free dinner that’s perfect for busy weeknights. No need to spend hours in the kitchen, just whip up a rich, flavourful broth, toss in your noodles, and let that quality beef mince soak up all the delicious spices. The result is a hearty, slurp-worthy Taiwanese beef noodle soup that’ll warm you up and have everyone asking for seconds. Perfect for anyone wanting a simple twist on a classic, and another easy meal using beef mince.

Kirsten McCaffrey

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Ingredients

300g Quality Mark beef mince
1 Tbsp rice bran oil
4 garlic cloves
minced
1 thumb sized piece fresh ginger
minced
2 spring onions
chopped
1 Tbsp Good Chow Everything Sauce
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp tomato pastei
½ tsp Chinese five spice
4 cups reduced-salt beef stock
2 carrot
sliced
2 celery stalks
sliced
½ cup button mushrooms
sliced
2 bok choy
sliced lengthwise

To serve

200g noodles
cooked
½ cup mung bean sprouts
Handful fresh coriander
Chilli crisp
to serve

Method

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, spring onion whites, and stir-fry for 1–2 minutes until aromatic.

Add the beef mince and cook until browned. Stir through the everything sauce, rice wine, sugar, tomato paste and five spice.

Add the carrots, celery and mushrooms, cook for a minute and then add the stock.

Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. In the last 5 minutes, add the bok choi.

Cook the noodles to packet instructions, drain, rinse and divide into noodle bowls. Ladle over the beef, broth and veggies. Serve with spring onion greens, coriander and bean sprouts.

What is doubanjiang?

Found at your local Asian grocer, doubanjiang is the quintessential ingredient in Taiwanese beef noodle soup. It’s a wickedly spicy paste made from fermented broad beans. Often called chilli bean paste or spicy bean sauce, it’s a staple in Sichuan and Taiwanese cooking and is famous for adding deep umami flavour and a punchy kick to dishes like Mapo tofu, hot pot, and stir-fries. It can be subbed for tomato paste if you can’t find it.

Easy swaps and tips to make the most of this soup

The sodium content is high so you can reduce this by using unsalted broth
You can never have too many vegetables, aim for a least 1 cup per person
Very untraditional, but we love to stretch the meat in this dish but adding in lentils or finely chopped mushrooms
If you don’t have noodles, feel free to turn this into a rice broth bowl – The rice soaks up the sauce and becomes like a stew-soup.