04 April 2012

Beef Noodle Soup




Another day ... another lunch! I am on a mission to use up all the little bits of things that I have in the fridge and this soup does the job admirably! A warm nod to a brisk afternoon, this soup has Asian overtones - earthy dried mushrooms,  garlic, ginger root, soy sauce, and dry wine added to a beef broth. Lean strips of beef are stir-fried in just a bit of peanut oil. Carrot and scallion strips are then stirfried with the garlic and minced ginger. The fortified broth is added and simmered to bring out the flavours and finish the dried mushrooms. Then spinach ribbons and Ramen noodles are added to finish the soup. Everything simmers until the beef is tender and the noodles have the perfect 'bite'. Yum ... it was a slurpy, savory affair!




Beef Noodle Soup
another winner from The Soup Bible

Ingredients:

10 g/ ¼ oz dried mushrooms - porcini
150 ml/ ⅔ c. boiling water
6 spring onions, sliced into 2-inch ribbons
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into 2-inch ribbons
350 g/ 12 oz. rump steak, completely trimmed of fat and sliced into thin ribbon strips
30 ml/ 2 tbsp. peanut oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2.5 cm/ 1-inch knob of ginger root, peeled and minced
1.2 liters/ 5 c. strong beef broth
45 ml/ 3 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
60 ml/ 4 tbsp. dry sherry
75 g/ 3 oz. thin Ramen noodles, broken up a bit
75 g/ 3 oz. fresh spinach leaves, washed and sliced into ribbons
salt and black pepper, to taste


Making the Soup:

1. Boil the water and measure it and the dried porcini into a bowl. Set aside for 30 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients and start the stir-frying.

2. Heat the soup pot over high heat. Add the peanut oil and swirl to coat the pan's bottom. Add the beef in batches, searing on all sides. Use a slotted spoon to remove the beef to a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

3. Add the carrots, scallions, minced ginger and smashed garlic to the hot pot and stir fry for three minutes.

4. Stand back and add the beef broth - carefully as the steam with explode. Stir to get any bits from the bottoms and sides of the pot. Add the soy sauce, dry sherry, and mushrooms with their soaking brine.

5. Stir everything together and let the soup come to a boil. Lower the heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for ten minutes.

6. Add the beef, spinach, a generous sprinkle of black pepper, and Ramen noodles. Cover and continue to simmer until the noodles are perfect and the spinach has wilted nicely - about 5 minutes.

7. Taste the broth and correct for saltiness. 

Serve piping hot in shallow bowls with a napkin for wiping the drips off your chin!







13 comments:

  1. This sure looks good! A little bit of this and that can create great dishes; great photo.
    Rita

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  2. I came home sick from work today with a roaring sore throat and headache. Oh how I wished I had a bowl of this soup sitting on the stove. I don't always have to have chicken soup when I'm sick. I had honey nut Cherrios. YUCK!!!

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  3. Susan - I love your blog, you have wonderful recipes and such lovely photos! This soup sounds delicious - what a great result from cleaning up the leftovers! Such a nice change from regular vegetable-beef soupl

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  4. Yum! This totally looks perfectly slurp-worthy! :)

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  5. It looks warming and delicious. Perfect for the cold April weather we have over here.

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  6. Nice Asian feel to your soup, Susan. And smart of you to incorporate all your "leftovers" in it; looks so good that I'd shop for the same ingredients! :)

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  7. New reader here! There's nothing I like better than a good slurpy soup! Thanks for sharing this. All the recipes I've seen so far look wonderful. So nice to meet you.

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    1. Thank you so much, Lyndsay! What you see is what I eat ... my blog is basically my food diary and my current whims as a foodie!

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  8. I'm living on brothy soups these days with a nasty head cold - love the spices and heartiness of it - and still get my "comfort fix" to the throat! Perfect timing. Have a beautiful holiday weekend!

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  9. What a lovely soup. It would be perfect for our weather which is neither winter or spring :-). We have had rain snow, sleet and sunshine today. You soup would be a perfect restorative for our cusp weather. Have a wonderful weekend. Blessings...Mary

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  10. This sounds like the perfect soup for a cool day. Love to use bits and pieces of leftover veggies in soup.

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  11. Hi Susan! That soup looks delicious, I'll bet your home smelled wonderful! While we haven't had the nice weather we did a few weeks ago, at least it's been sunny and chilly enough to have soup - which I LOVE BTW!!! Making soup is a good way to clean the fridge too!

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  12. I have leftover bottom round roast that would work perfectly with this. Thanks for the recipe!

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