This is really a great tasting soup. I first tasted a soup similar to this at China Town in LA. I fell in love with the rich complex flavor so with help, I was able to figure out the recipe and to put my own spin on it. It really shines when you make your own fresh noodles, cooked in a separate pot of water and add in right when serving.

Ingedients

• 1.5 quarts of beef stock
• 1.5 – 3 lbs sirloin steak sliced or chopped into 1/2 – 1″ cubes
• 3 tbsp of black bean and garlic sauce Lee Kum Kee Black bean garlic sauce – 8 oz
• 4 to 5 tbsp of dark soy sauce Amoy Dark Soy Sauce 150g
• 5 cloves garlic sliced
• 1 inch piece of ginger peeled and sliced thinly against the grain.
• Peel from 1 orange (Use a vegetable peeler and avoid getting white part of the peel only the zest)
• 6 pieces of star anise
• 5 – 7 dried hot red peppers (depending on how hot)
• 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 10 to 15 Chengdu peppers Ajika Dried Prickly Ash or Sichuan Pepper or Chinese Pepper, Japanese Sansho, 2-Ounce
• 1/8 cup sugar
• Noodles (Can be Chinese egg noodles or make your own fresh)
• Add ins: baby bok choy, spinach, green leaf lettuce, fried tofu
• Toppings: green onion, cilantro

Directions

Brown the sirloin steak on all sides. Now add all the other ingredients and bring almost to a boil then simmer on med low for 1 -3 hours (depending on how tender the meat is and if the flavors have melded). Remove the orange peal after 20 minutes if it starts to taste a little bitter (if bitter you will need to add some sugar to compensate). If you don’t have any of the white part of the orange peel this won’t happen. Remove from heat and strain broth. Add some of the meat, vegetables, some broth and cooked noodles (fresh are best) along with toppings to each bowl and serve.

Add ins: pieces of Bok Choy or Spinich. Top with chopped green onions and chopped cilantro.

Note: Bok Choy and Spinach need to cook in broth till soft.

Recipe from: gastronomy.ddns.net