This Thai beef noodle soup recipe is legit. Inspired by the traditional Thai shophouse style, this is ‘last meal’ kind of food for me. The umami, savoury, aromatic beef broth is such a winner, and the braised beef is meltingly tender. Pile it together with noodles and you have an all-time unforgettable soup. And the beef bits you see in the list? They’re optional. If some parts like the liver or tendon are not your thing, that’s totally OK. I promise you it will still be delicious.
WATCH THIS RECIPE
Thai Beef Noodle Soup
PREP TIME
20 minutes
COOK TIME
2.5 hours
SERVES
6
Ingredients
300g thin rice stick noodles (2-3mm thick)
150g thinly sliced rump steak
200g Asian beef balls*
100g thinly sliced beef liver (optional)
1 cup bean shoots
1 cup roughly chopped chinese celery*, to serve
fish sauce, chilli powder and sugar, to serve
500g beef brisket or other braising beef e.g. chuck steak or gravy beef
500g beef tendon* (optional)
3 coriander roots (root end of fresh coriander stalks)
4 garlic cloves
2 tbsp Chinese light soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
50g finely shaved or chopped palm sugar
2 tsp sea salt
2 cinnamon sticks
2 whole star anise
1 tsp cardamom
4 slices dried galangal
1 tbsp Chinese five spice powder, placed into a small muslin spice bag*
Steps
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To make the broth and braised beef, bring 3 litres of water to the boil in a large stock pot. Add the brisket and tendon and allow the water to start simmering again. Use a ladle to scoop up and discard any ‘scum’ that rises to the surface of the water. When the water is simmering, reduce the heat to medium and add the coriander roots, garlic, soy sauce, fish sauce, palm sugar and salt. Stir and use your ladle to once again scoop up any scum rising to the surface. Now add your cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamom, galangal and the spice bag containing your Chinese five spice.
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Partially cover the stock pot with a lid (to allow some steam to escape) and simmer for 90 minutes or until the beef brisket is fork tender.. A little tip to keep your broth as ‘clear’ as possible – as the beef simmers, use a ladle to keep skimming the surface of the broth.
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Use tongs to remove the beef brisket and tendon. Cut into bite-sized pieces and set aside for later.
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Strain the broth using a fine sieve. Place the strained broth into a clean pot and keep warm.
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When ready to serve, bring a large pot of boiling water to the boil. Add your rice noodles into the boiling water and cook until just tender (use the packet instructions as a guide. Use tongs or a spider to transfer the noodles out of the water and divide among serving bowls.
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Into the same boiling water you used to cook your noodles, add your beef slices, liver, and beef balls. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until the beef is just cooked. Add in the bean shoots and Chinese celery and cook for a further 20 seconds. Then use a spider and/or tongs to drain and transfer the mixture of ingredients into your serving bowls. Add pieces of the chopped braised beef and tendon.
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Ladle over your hot broth. Serve with fish sauce, chilli powder and sugar (to be added to taste).
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Notes:
- Asian beef balls are available from the frozen section of any Asian grocery store.
- Ask your local butcher to source beef tendon for you or find it at most specialty Asian butcher shops.
- Chinese celery is much thinner and lighter in flavour than regular celery. It’s available at Asian grocery stores. Alternatively, you could use regular celery leaves or roughly chopped coriander.
- Muslin spice bags are reusable and very handy to have if you love to make broths or stocks. They’re widely available online or from kitchen specialty stores.
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