Barley Beer Beef Soup Recipe from Tibet

I couple of days ago I went outside for my morning coffee wearing shorts and sandals but I had to immediately run back inside my apartment to put on warmer clothes and grab an umbrella. The weather has been pretty warm in NYC lately (the first day of summer is one week away!) but I took the opportunity of the rare chilly weather to cook one of my favorite soups for dinner: Barley Beer Beef Soup. It’s the perfect soup to eat on a drizzly day.

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nyc to hk to bj = 20.5 hours

I was at the laundromat at midnight the night before I left for China because I had to clean my clothes so I could pack them for my 9 AM flight. Honestly I barely got out the door in time. My flight from JFK to Hong Kong was 15.5 hours and could not fall asleep. I flew Cathay Pacific and they had 30+ free new movie choices so I ended up watching one movie after the other like a zombie. My 2 hour layover in Hong Kong before I boarded another 3 hour plane to Beijing was just enough time for me to eat this noodles at the "Taiwan Beef Noodle" restaurant. This beef noodle soup with dark tangy broth will one day catch on in the States when people find out about it.

When I arrived in Beijing, I hailed a cab and set off for the hotel I'd made a reservation with online (and received a confirmation email). After driving around for an hour and asking strangers and other cab drivers, my driver and I discovered that the hotel has since gone out of business! So, there I was, nearly midnight again, without any place to go. I asked the driver to just take me to a cheap hotel that he knew of. He was kind enough to call ahead and got a quote of 160 RMB per night. When I got there, the clerks did not speak English and told me that I could not stay for under 330 RMB a night. I said my friend called and said 160 and they told me that because I am a foreigner I have to pay more. I finally bargained them down to 215 which I was proud of considering they knew I had nowhere else to go!

The view outside my hotel window was pretty cool. As always, the Beijing sky is overcast, but you can still see the rooftops of a hutong neighborhood in the grey light.

-mk

super convenient noodles (fang bian mian)

I love cooking elaborate meals, and the smug sense of joy I feel at making too many dishes to fit on the table, but a lot of times I just want/need something tasty, quick, cheap, and healthy-- and that's when I reach for a package of 34¢ Top Ramen noodles. Wait-- I know what you're thinking. The last time you ate instant noodles was when you lived in a dorm and the noodles were most definitely not tasty or healthy. But I've got a secret. 

In China, just about everyone eats instant noodles. Most brands of instant noodles in China come in a plastic bowl and sometimes with a piece of cured meat wrapped in foil.They're eaten as quick meals for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. The name of these noodles in Chinese says it all 方便面 (fang bian mian) or convenient noodles. They're not going to wow a guest or make you proud of your culinary expertise, but you will most likely find them a great option for when you've only got 10 minutes to prep and eat. (That's how my lunch break goes most everyday, anyway.) 

So, on to my secret ingredients. Add greens, soy sauce, and sesame oil into the boiling water with the noodles and spice packet. Drop a fried egg on top and sprinkle chopped green onions and maybe a little hot sauce on top. And voila! 5 minutes and you've got a balanced meal: protein, vegetables, and carbs. 

Incidentally, the word "ramen" is Japanese. "Ramen" sounds like the Chinese word for hand-pulled noodles "lamian" so people say the noodles were invented in China. But I've also heard that pizza was invented in China and brought back by Marco Polo to Italy. Anyone tried Chinese pizza?

-Nate

Convenient Noodles

(makes 2 bowls)

1 package beef flavored Top Ramen noodles
2 Tbs light soy sauce
2 Tsp sesame oil
1/2 Tsp salt
6 leaves of swiss chard or Chinese spinach, stems removed
2 eggs
2 green onions, chopped
chinese hot sauce

Combine 3 cups of water, the Top Ramen spice packet, soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt in a small pot and bring to a boil. Add the noodles and swiss chard leaves and boil for 3 minutes, then remove from heat. In a hot skillet, fry the eggs sunny side up until the whites are cooked but the yokes are still a little runny. Divide the noodles and broth into two serving bowls and top each bowl with a fried egg. Sprinkle with chopped green onions and add hot sauce if desired.

chinese pumpkin and corn stew, halloween is here

You can hand carry pumpkins on planes. How do I know this wonderfully obscure fact? Nate slipped one into my carry-on on our way back from Ohio when I wasn't looking. I set my bag, suspiciously heavy for only containing my clothes, onto the airport x-ray conveyor belt and the security guard was waiting on the other side to escort me aside to undergo "additional screening." When he pulled the pumpkin out of my bag, I said, "I did not put that in my bag," which only made matters worse. 

Fortunately, my pumpkin cleared the x-ray machine again and the explosive detector and I was free to go on my way with my pumpkin in hand for others passengers and my obnoxious brother to see. This pumpkin is the pumpkin you see cut up below. We made a pumpkin and corn stew out of it and a picture doesn't do it justice. 

Pumpkins are obnoxious too, to peel and carve with all their gooey bits inside, a likely reason why people only cook with them when they're in season and why I think the smell and taste of pumpkin has come to mean for me that yet another October is here, another fall, another Halloween, another week just before the holiday season rush that will drain me of my savings and end with the need for me to make a slew of new resolutions.

This Chinese pumpkin and corn stew, 南瓜玉米湯 (nán guā yù mǐ tāng), is bright in color and simple in flavor-- don't be dismayed! Simple in this case is a good thing. Fresh pumpkin, hearty carrots, juicy corn and onions, stew together in a pot with pork and ginger to create the flavor of fall, if their is such a thing, and if not, at least the colors. The pork loin lends just the right amount of meatiness. I'm dining on this homey stew this drizzly late-October evening and I'm thankful that I have enough to last me the week. 

This soup is normally made with Chinese nangua squash instead of pumpkin. Nangua squash has a dark green skin and yellow flesh that tastes a little sweeter than pumpkin. You can find it here in the States hiding under its Japanese name "kabocha." I decided to use pumpkin in the stew instead because I picked one up at a pumpkin patch and the stew turned out delicious.

I've made this stew with and without ginger. I prefer with. In the picture above Nate is finely chopping the ginger but I think adding slices of ginger to the stew and then removing them before eating works better.

I also roasted the seeds of the pumpkin with salt and a sprinkling of oil like my mom does every year. I burned my hand on the hot pan while pulling them out of the oven. The roasted seeds went flying across my apartment floor and that was the end of that. I'm not carving another pumpkin.

-mary kate

Pumpkin and Corn Stew  

1 1/2 lb pork loin

5 cups 1-inch cubed peeled pumpkin or squash

2 large carrots

1 medium onion

2 ears of corn

1 quart chicken stock

1 quart water

1/2 cup shaoxing rice wine

5 slices ginger, smashed with the flat side of a knife

1 1/2 cups teaspoon salt

Cut the pork into 1-inch cubes. Slice the carrots into 1-inch segments. Chop the onion. Trim the ends of the corn and cut each ear into 3 segments. Bring the chicken stock, water, and shaoxing rice wine to a boil in a large pot. Add all the remaining ingredients and when it boils again, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Remove the ginger slices with a slotted spoon and serve.

crossing the bridge noodles (guoqiao mixian)

Several people asked me last week how Nate and I were able to talk our way back into restaurant kitchens in China. In fact, this is one of the most common questions we get asked right after how do you as siblings work together and not kill each other? (For this, all I can say is stay tuned, that may very well happen one day. There was a certain time this weekend when Nate erased the contents of my camera without asking that brought about a close call.)

I vividly remember the first place in China that we asked if we could venture back into the kitchen to take pictures and observe the chef. It was a hole-in-the-wall bake shop in the city of Nanjing where the cook was decorating Western-style cakes. We were so nervous. All I could imagine was what would happen if we walked into a NYC restaurant and asked to observe in the kitchen! With a camera! We would wait as Gordon Ramsay or some other formidable chef with furrowed brow would stomp out of the back and undoubtedly, personally throw us out the door.

Nate nervously told the bake shop's store clerk that we were there in Nanjing to collect recipes for Westerners and would she be so kind as to show us into the kitchen. Fortuitously, kindly, confusedly she did. We were so thrilled at the opportunity that we literally took 90 pictures in the 15 minutes we were there. The unfortunate part of this adventure was that the camera was set to the wrong shutter speed and every last picture was blurry (see the one picture that worked out here). But it didn't matter; we were hooked. We got very good at smiling and explaining our odd mission. Of course, more times than not, we didn't get our wish, but I will always be grateful to the many generous and mysterious cooks all across China who, wanting to share their delicious and under-appreciated cuisine with the world, offered lessons to this modest, aspiring cook and perpetually hungry traveler.

This brings me to my dinner last night, Crossing the Bridge Noodles, a dish from Yunnan Province and the local restaurant cook without whom I never would have thought to add cilantro. Yunnan residents are very proud of their food and Crossing the Bridge Noodles is famous all over China. The story behind these noodles goes: there once was a scholar who, studying for an important exam, isolated himself in a cottage away from distractions. Every night his wife crossed a long bamboo bridge to bring him noodles, but they were often cold by the time she reached his table. Being somewhat smarter than her scholar husband, she devised a plan. She poured a layer of chicken fat on top of the broth to insulate the noodles from the cold air and keep them hot until she arrived at her husband's cottage. And yes, the scholar passed his exam.

When we were in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, I couldn't get enough of this pleasantly salty, healthy, fresh and light noodle soup. The soup's ingredients are brought to the table raw-- fresh and overflowing: squid, shrimp, chicken, spinach, prosciutto ham, chinese black mushrooms. Add to your liking and they cook right in your bowl! It's delightful and always leaves me feeling like I've eaten all my omega 3 vitamins and vegetables for the day. Of course, the original recipe calls for a thick layer of chicken fat on top of the broth, but we've excluded that from our recipe. If you're not traveling far, it doesn't affect the flavor much and let's face it, who of us wouldn't do well to forego "chicken fat" in our meal when it's not totally necessary?

-mary kate

UPDATE: A reader made a comment asking if he can use frozen calamari rings instead of fresh squid bodies and we say yes! I found some beautiful fresh squid at the seafood market over the weekend but I have used frozen calamari rings before and they also work and take less prep time.

Crossing the Bridge Noodles

(Makes 4 bowls)

8 dried Chinese black mushrooms
8 oz round rice noodles

1/4 lb squid bodies
1/4 lb medium size shrimp, headless and shelled
1 small chicken breast
1 bunch spinach, leaves only
1/4 lb prosciutto ham, thinly sliced
6 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine
3 green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 handful fresh cilantro leaves, rinsed

Soak the mushrooms in warm water for 20 minutes, drain, and set aside. Prepare the rice noodles according to their package, drain, and set aside. Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil for blanching the ingredients. Clean and prepare the squid and slice into small ringlets. Blanch the squid in the boiling water for 1 minute then remove with a strainer. Slice the shrimp length-wise and blanch for 1 minute, then remove with a strainer. Slice the chicken paper-thin and blanch for 1 minute, then remove with a strainer.  Blanch the spinach for 1 minute, drain, and set aside. 

In a large covered pot, bring the chicken stock, vegetable oil, Shaoxing rice wine, green onions, ginger, and salt to a rolling boil for 1 minute. Submerge four large ceramic soup bowls in the sink under hot tap water until they are very warm. Place 1/4 of the noodles in each bowl. On top of the noodles, place 1/4 of the squid, shrimp, chicken, spinach, and prosciutto. Pour the boiling broth into the bowls and let them sit for 2 minutes. Top each bowl with a little cilantro and serve.