Braised Beef Noodle Soup

Cut 500 g brisket into 3–4 cm chunks. Slice 15 g ginger, crush 3 garlic cloves, separate the whites and greens of 2 spring onions, and halve 150 g bok choy lengthwise. Cover the beef with cold water, bring to a boil and cook for 2–3 minutes until foamy. Drain, discard the water and clean the pot.

Heat 10 ml oil over medium-low heat. Fry all the ginger, garlic, spring onion whites, 1 star anise, 1 cassia section about 3 cm long and 1 bay leaf for about 30 seconds. Add 20 g finely chopped doubanjiang and fry for about 1 minute, until the oil turns red and the paste smells fragrant. Keep it from scorching.

Add all the drained brisket and stir over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Add 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp dark soy sauce and 10 g rock sugar. Stir for about 1 minute until the beef is evenly coated in red-brown seasoning. Any remaining sugar will dissolve when the hot water is added.

Add 1200 ml hot water and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer gently for about 120–150 minutes, topping up with hot water to keep the beef mostly submerged. A chopstick should enter easily; keep simmering if it is still tough. Remove the whole spices, ginger, spring onion whites and garlic. Taste before adding salt and skim excess surface fat. Keep about 900–1000 ml broth, diluting with hot water if too concentrated, and keep hot.

Bring a separate pot of water to a boil. Add all 150 g bok choy and cook for about 1–2 minutes, until the leaves wilt and the stems are tender with a little bite. Lift out and drain, keeping the water for the noodles.

Top up the water from Step 5 and return it to a boil. Add 300 g fresh wheat noodles and gently loosen them. Follow the package directions, cooking until there is no hard raw center and the noodles have a springy bite. Drain thoroughly and immediately divide between two noodle bowls.

Assemble the bowls one at a time. For each bowl, add half the hot broth (about 450–500 ml), gently slide in half the drained noodles from a spider, then add half the hot brisket and cooked bok choy. Finish with half the reserved spring onion greens. Divide all ingredients evenly between the two bowls and serve hot.