舊金山紀實十四 台灣牛肉麵 有圖有菜譜

杭州阿立

2020年12月19日

書接上集《母子撞衫父子醉酒婆媳相似 自烤牛肉爽》：

https://web.6parkbbs.com/index.php?app=forum&act=view&tid=1159471

家中烤牛肉小小阿立當仁不讓的大廚手藝。若說到真正廚藝認真，中西美食兼修的小廚娘，那還是小小阿立嫂了。

中式美食，紅燒肉她是跟阿立嫂學的，如今也是很拿手了。跟媽媽又學了不少台灣菜餚（也是中式美食）。

除了掌廚，她還寫博客，美食評論、菜譜介紹，不一而足。當然都是英文的，中文她能說一些，書寫還是不行（小小阿立也差不多）。

這天她在家裡做了台灣牛肉麵，也是蠻費功夫的。

小小阿立嫂的台灣牛肉麵（2020年12月4日）：

上面是阿立拍的照片。小小阿立嫂當時也拍了些照片。後來她在自己的英文博客介紹了台灣牛肉麵《Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵)》。

文章是英文的，除了個別中文詞。阿立大致翻譯成中文：

如果有一款菜能把我瞬間帶回台灣，那就是牛肉麵。初中時去台灣，在台中的一家毫不起眼的小餐館裡吃到最美味的牛肉麵，那記憶雖已模糊、卻又難忘。說來也怪，之後又去台灣多次，卻未必每次都吃牛肉麵（台灣美食實在太多了）。但那溫馨、熱乎乎的牛肉麵，加之無限量的青蔥、香菜、酸菜澆頭，總讓我充滿對鄉土的懷念。

幾年前，媽媽教我如何做滷肉（braised beef），用來做牛肉燒餅。自己做的滷肉比在餐館吃到的更嫩、更鮮美。從那以後，每當氣候轉涼，我都會用媽媽的方法做牛肉麵。

牛肉麵的準備手續雖然麻煩些，但可以提前準備各項食材。等該美味宴客時，一切都幾乎就緒。你可以輕鬆做好10幾份或更多，如果食客多多。或者自家分幾次享用。

對我來言，牛肉麵是終極溫心美食（comfort food），令我懷念新澤西的童年，和家庭旅遊去台灣。希望這款食譜也能帶給你家的味道（taste of home）。

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵)

小小阿立嫂

If there’s one dish that brings me back immediately to Taiwan, it’s beef noodle soup. I have a vague, yet distinct memory of eating the most savory, delicious beef noodle soup at a small, unimpressive-looking restaurant in Taichung (台中) when I was in middle school. Oddly enough, since then, I haven’t always had beef noodle soup on my trips back to Taiwan (there’s so much other good food), but the feeling of a comfortable, hot bowl of noodle soup with unlimited toppings of green onion, cilantro, and pickled mustard greens always fills me with longing for the motherland.

Several years ago, my mom taught me how she makes her braised beef (滷肉) (which always comes out more tender and flavorful than most I’ve had in restaurants) to make Chinese beef sandwiches (牛肉燒餅). Since then, I’ve used her recipe several times to make beef noodle soup, whenever it starts getting a bit colder outside. Though it takes awhile to make, there’s a lot you can prep beforehand so that when it’s dinner time, you have almost everything ready to go (plus: you can easily make 12 or more portions for a large party, or for several leftover meals). For me, beef noodle soup is the ultimate comfort food, reminding me of my childhood in New Jersey and family trips to Taiwan. I hope this recipe gives you that same taste of home.

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup (牛肉麵) Recipe

Prep Time: 35 minutes（準備需時35分）

Cook Time: 2 hours 45 minutes (2 hours inactive; 45 minutes active), as well as time overnight to let the meat sit, and several hours to allow the meat to become firm in the fridge (best done as a two-day process)

燒煮時間2小時45分（2小時無需看管）；燒好的肉要放置一晚，以及放冰箱幾小時（最好是兩天時間，急不得）。

Ingredients (for 12+ servings):食材（12份的量）

For the beef:

• 5 lb boneless beef shank (or beef round heel muscle; choose pieces that are cylindrical in shape) 5磅牛腱

• 1 bag stew spice (滷 包) (Can also be substituted with Chinese five spice powder, star anise, and Sichuan red peppercorns)

• 1 cup dark soy sauce

• 2-inch piece of ginger, cut into slices (optional, but recommended)

• 8 whole cloves of garlic, peeled (optional, but recommended)

• 1 tsp salt

For the noodle soup:

• 3 lb baby bok choy (or regular bok choy) 3磅小白菜

• 4 green onions 4 根青蔥

• 1/2 bunch cilantro 半把香菜

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

• 1 lb pickled mustard greens (酸菜)

• 5 dried red peppers (optional, but recommended)

• 2 tsp soy sauce

• 2 tsp sugar

• 12 servings (~4 lb) fresh Shanghai-style white noodles (or alternatively 2 lb dried noodles)

Recipe:

The Day Before: Braise the Beef（燉牛肉）

1. Blanch the beef. Boil 1 large pot of water, put all of the beef in, and bring the pot to a boil again. Turn off the heat. Pour the beef into a strainer, letting all of the boiled water pour down the sink. Use cold tap water to briefly rinse the meat.大鍋水煮開，放入所有的牛肉。待水煮開，關火。濾水，自來水沖洗牛肉。

2. Put the beef back into the large pot. Add the stew spice bag, dark soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and salt to the pot. Then, add enough water to cover the beef.牛肉再入鍋，放入鹵包，老抽醬油，生薑，大蒜，鹽。加足夠的水，淹沒牛肉。

3. Bring the pot to a boil. Then, turn the heat to medium low and allow the pot to simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, checking on the pot every 30 minutes, and adding more water to cover the meat if necessary. The meat is done when you are able to poke through the beef with a chopstick. Turn off the heat.煮開，然後爐溫調到‘中低’（medium low），燉一個半到2小時。每30分鐘看一下，需要的話加水（保證水淹沒牛肉）。當牛肉可以用筷子插入時，就燒好了。

4. Let the meat sit in the mixture in the pot overnight to let the juices fully marinate the meat. By the next morning, the meat will have much more flavor and a nice, darker color.讓牛肉繼續在鍋中的調料里過夜，徹底入味。

The Day Of: Prep Ingredients準備食材

These items can be done anytime during the day, hours before when you want to eat.這些白天任何時候都可做，在開飯前幾小時都可以。

1. The next day, take the beef out from the pot and put it into Ziploc bags. Place the bags in the fridge for a couple hours so that the beef becomes firm and easy to slice. Leave the broth in the pot for later. When the beef is firm enough to slice a few hours later, cut the beef into thin slices.早上將牛肉分裝入塑料袋（Ziploc bags），放到冰箱幾個小時。待牛肉足夠硬實，取出、切片。

2. Prep the toppings. Drain the pickled mustard greens and soak them in water for at least 10 minutes (you can do step 3 during this time). This helps reduce any sharp, acidic taste. Dice the pickled mustard greens after soaking.準備澆頭。酸菜濾去汁水，放入水中浸泡10分鐘（同時可以做第3步的準備工作）。之後將酸菜切成小塊。

3. Wash the cilantro and roughly chop. Wash the green onion, removing any wilted outer parts, and slice thinly. Thoroughly wash the bok choy and cut off the stems. If using regular size bok choy (not baby-sized), slice each leaf in half vertically.清洗香菜，粗粗的切一下。洗、清理青蔥，切細。清洗小白菜，去根部。如果沒有小白菜，普通白菜每片菜葉豎切成兩片。

4. Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a pan on medium high heat. Sauté the pickled mustard greens, around 10-15 minutes. Break the dried red peppers in half and add to the pan. Add the soy sauce and sugar, adding more to taste if necessary. Stir for a few minutes and take off the pan.用1湯匙菜油，爐溫中等，小炒酸菜大約10到15分鐘。干紅辣椒切半，放入炒鍋中。加醬油、糖，按口味可加量。炒幾分鐘，出鍋。

The Day Of: Cooking烹調

Start this process about 30-40 minutes before you want to eat! Only cook the amount that you want to eat today.開飯前大約30到40分鐘開始。只做今天要吃的分量。

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the bok choy and cook about 5 minutes until no longer bitter, but still crisp (don’t overcook or wait for the water to boil again). Strain the pot, taking the bok choy out.大鍋水煮開。加小白菜，大約5分鐘，直到無苦味但還脆（不要煮過頭，或者等水開）。濾水，取出小白菜。

2. Fill the large pot with water and bring to a boil again. Cook the noodles according to the package instructions (usually under 5 minutes for fresh noodles and about 10-15 minutes for dried noodles). Strain and run with cold water to keep the noodles from sticking together.大鍋裝水，再煮開。按麵條的包裝說明煮麵條（通常濕面煮5分鐘，乾麵條煮10到15分鐘）。濾水，用冷水沖面以防麵條粘連。

3. Pour some broth on the sliced beef and microwave it for 1 minute.切片的滷肉加些之前的湯料，微波爐一分鐘。

4. Plate! Portion out noodles into each bowl. Then, place the beef, bok choy, and pickled mustard greens on top. Pour the broth into the bowl, and top with cilantro and green onion. Enjoy!裝盤。麵條分碗裝。滷肉、小白菜、酸菜青蔥等澆頭加到麵條上。再澆些湯料。雅蜜！

Braising the Beef

Prepping the Ingredients

Serving