Comforting beef noodle soup packed with umami flavor and incredibly tender beef pieces will conquer any freezing weather coming your way. Recipe for Instant Pot and stove-top included.
*Recipe is written for 6-quart Instant Pot. Cooking time should remain the same for 8-quart size but will take longer to pressurize. For mini duo (3-quart), I suggest to half the recipe and use the same amount of time to cook*
Preparing base stock and the noodle soup for both Instant pot and stove-top method:
For Instant Pot user, you can use the saute mode and brown the beef in the pot, but I prefer to brown the meat with cast iron skillet. Preheat dutch oven or any heavy-bottom pot. Separate the beef into three batches. Add in 1 Tbsp of oil and put in first batch of the beef and let it brown on all sides. Do not overcrowd the pot or the beef will not brown nicely. Repeat until you are done browning all the beef. Place the beef in a large platter and set aside for now
Place the onion (cut-side down) on the open fire on stove-top. If your stove is electric, you can char the onion in the oven. Add another 1 Tbsp of cooking oil into the pot you use to brown the beef earlier. Add in the charred onions, green onion stalks, ginger, star anise, fresh bay leaves and stir fry until you smell nice aromas, about 5 minutes. Add in the seasoning ingredients and stir fry for another 2 minutes
Continuing cooking on stove-top:
Add the browned beef into the pot and stir to mix everything. Pour in water, beef broth, and rice vinegar. Bring back to boil and once it boils, lower the heat, cover the pot and let it cook for the next 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until the short ribs are tender and you can easily pull it apart with fork. I actually need almost 3 hours to get to this point. So, observe yours
Once the beef is ready, carefully pick the beef out from the pot and place them back on the platter. Strain the soup base into another clean pot and discard the rest of the solid. Adjust taste by adding more salt if needed
Pressure cook with Instant Pot:
Transfer all the thing you have just sauteed into the pot followed by the browned beef pieces. Pour in water, beef broth, rice vinegar. Close the lid and press pressure cook, high pressure and set timer to 30 minutes (tender) or up to 40 minutes for really tender beef. Wait 10 minutes and then release pressure
Once the beef is ready, carefully pick the beef out from the pot and place them back on the platter. Strain the soup base into another clean pot and discard the rest of the solid. Adjust taste by adding more salt if needed
Serving:
When ready to serve, cook the noodles of your choice to al dente. Rinse the noodle with water, portion it out into serving bowl. Add pieces of beef, pickled mustard greens and ladle the broth over the noodles generously. Topped with some green onions and tuck in !
Notes
1. You may try to use brisket cut into large chunks instead of beef shank too. We prefer shank. 2. Both dou ban jiang and Taiwanese BBQ sauce can be easily found at most Asian grocery store.