The Beef on Beef Noodle Soup

According to legend, during the Hun invasions of the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD), it was the custom of the Tartars to raise their cattle in tents. Once, a tent caught fire and the cattle inside were roasted alive. For convenience the Tartars cut up the meat and carried it with them. The cooked meat didn't go bad, so when they wanted to eat it they simply had to add water and boil the meat to make soup. This was the forerunner of beef noodle soup.

In Taiwan, wherever noodles are sold, beef noodle soup is almost sure to be on the menu. From the 1960s to the 1980s, when beef noodle soup was at its most popular in Taiwan, it was prized by everyone from the highest of the high to the lowest of the low, and eateries advertising it as their main attraction were to be found everywhere.

As well as noodle houses operating in fixed locations, there was also no shortage of people doing business from stands parked at street corners. Even McDonald's, kings of the Western-style fast food trade, when they wanted to branch out into selling Chinese-style fast foods, tested the market with beef noodle soup. One could often meet people selling beef noodle soup because they had failed in business, or because they wanted to make a new start in life.

Most people today eat beef noodle soup simply to fill their bellies, not to revive old memories.

The Taiwanese rarely ate beef

But interestingly, it was not until after 1947 that beef noodle soup became a popular mass market food in Taiwan. Forty years ago most people in Taiwan did not eat beef, because they looked on oxen as friends of man who toiled all day to till his fields. Beef noodle soup was brought to Taiwan by mainland Chinese after the island returned from Japanese to Chinese rule.

Rita Wong, senior research fellow at the Foundation of Chinese Dietary Culture, explains that after the mainland fell to the Communists, most of the mainland soldiers who followed the ROC government to Taiwan had no livelihoods, and many set up stalls to sell beef noodle soup.

But in fact it had not been unknown for the Taiwanese to eat beef noodles before Retrocession. It's just that they were prepared somewhat differently.

Taiwanese farmers wouldn't generally slaughter young cattle, but once the beasts were too old to work in the fields they would be killed and eaten so as not to waste the meat. Eighty-three-year-old Mrs. Tsai Huang-mei recalls how in Lukang the meat from these old animals would be cut into large chunks and stewed for a very long time before being cut into slices and eaten with plain noodles. This differed from the custom, imported from the mainland, of serving the beef and noodles in soup.

It's said that under the Japanese occupation, beef noodle soup was on the menu of the high-class restaurant Peng Lai Ke. "It was made by a chef who had once cooked for Sun Yat-sen. Only rich folk like the Lin families of Panchiao and Wufeng or the Cheng family of Hsinchu could afford it," recounts Rita Wong, revealing her encyclopedic knowledge of the subject.

It is quite surprising that in the Taiwan of 40 years ago beef noodle soup, as a mainland-style dish, should have become popular throughout the island in a very short time. Even more interestingly, many people who now return to mainland China where the dish originated discover that it is very hard to find there: it seems that Taiwan has taken over as the home of "authentic" beef noodle soup.

Professor Lu Yao-tung of the history department at Taiwan University notes that the main types of beef noodle soup include the strong-flavored Sichuan style, and Shandong style with its clear beef broth. The best of the clear broth type noodles are those made by Moslems. He says: "When beef noodle soup first appeared in Taiwan, everyone ate it to remind them of home, but later as it became more and more popular, Taiwan became its home."

In response to changing consumption habits in big cities, beef noodle shops are gradually evolving from traditional family-run eateries to fast-food chains catering to diners out. （photo by Vincent Chang）

A completely naturalized dish

Lu Yao-tung, who has written on the subject of beef noodle soup, mentions that the first beef noodle soup stands in Taipei back in the 1950s were under the arcades of the old Paokung Cinema and of Nanyang Street, but they have long since disappeared. According to food columnist Hu Tien-lan, the oldest surviving establishments in Taipei are probably those in or near the Food Cirele on Chung-king North Road, and such places as Hsimenting's Snack World, the noodle houses of Taoyuan Street, and Lao Tung on Kunming Street.

Another eatery of which many old soldiers have fond memories is the Chungking Garden, which stood near the railway in Hsimenting. From the name one can see that this place sold genuine Sichuan-style beef noodle soup.

Then from the 1960s to the 1980s, many new establishments opened, such as Yungkang Beef Noodles at the East Gate, Yipin on Kunming Street, Moslem Halal Beef Noodles on Po-ai Road and Lao Chang Tan-Tan Noodles on Jen-ai Road, as well as the shops on Lungchuen Street in the university quarter, and on Chengchou Street to the north of Taipei Railway Station.

Outside Taipei, other famous noodle shops include Hsiao Er Ta and Tsai Ken Hsiang in Taichung, and Lao Tang Beef Noodles in Tainan.

However, back in those days, eating beef noodle soup was by no means such an everyday affair as it is today. A Miss Wang who attended National Normal University in the 1970s recalls with a laugh that when male and female students dated, if the boy suggested they eat beef noodle soup, it showed he thought the date was very important. Once when she went to a beef noodle shop with a male student, he asked whether she wanted a medium bowl or a large bowl. For fear of being too demanding on their first date, she asked for a medium-sized bowl. But to her surprise her date said to the waiter, "OK, bring her a medium bowl, and I'll have a small bowl." This shows just what a big thing eating beef noodle soup was in those days.

On going to a popular noodle shop, many people have had the experience of feeling the rough edge of the owner's or the waiter's tongue. The petite Rita Wong is a regular patron of Yipin noodle shop, where she has seen the price of the noodles rise from NT$15 years ago to NT$150 today. When she was a child, because she was so small she couldn't finish a whole bowl, and the owner would ask her fiercely: "Don't you like my noodles? Otherwise why don't you finish them?"

First savor the soup, next munch the meat, and only then nibble the noodles. This is the best way to enjoy beef noodle soup. （photo by Vincent Chang）

A hundred flowers

However, although the home of "authentic" beef noodle soup has moved to Taiwan, this doesn't mean it has stuck rigidly to the two types of Sichuan style, in which the meat is red-braised in soya sauce, and North Chinese style with its clear broth. Instead, as Taiwan has gradually adopted the dish as its own, all kinds of different flavors have been developed.

Hu Tien-lan believes the main motivation behind so many different flavors of beef noodle soup being developed in Taiwan was that "businessmen discovered that there was money to be made selling beef noodles, and so each thought up his own special tricks and put his own local flavor into the noodles." This explains the diversity of flavors.

The beef noodle soup on sale today can be broadly divided into four styles. As well as the Sichuanese and North Chinese styles there are also Cantonese style and Taiwanese style. Hu Tien-lan explains the differences between them in terms of geography. For instance, Sichuan produces Sichuan peppercorns, and so Sichuan food is sure to be salty, aromatic and spicy; the Cantonese have a sweet tooth and like to eat tonic foods, and so they will often add crystal sugar and medicinal herbs such as Amomum tsao-ko fruits or dried orange peel. Northerners, especially Moslems, are skilled in raising cattle and sheep, so the meat they select generally has a better flavor. Thus northern-style beef noodle soup tends to use a clear broth which brings out the natural flavor of the beef.

On the other hand, Taiwan style is a mixture, with each chef making improvements according to his own secret recipe, so the style is hard to categorize.

For lack of successors to take over the business, many old noodle houses have been forced to sell out. Though the name is the same, the shop may have changed owners many times.

Sichuan style--spicy flavor and big servings

Sichuan-style beef noodle soup became very popular in Taiwan for its rich flavor and thick soup. One cannot talk about Sichuan-style beef noodle soup without mentioning the Yungkang beef noodle stand and Lao Chang Tan-Tan Noodles by the triangular Yungkang Park, and the beef noodle houses of Taoyuan Street.

Yungkang beef noodle stand is now run by the original owner's son, and he is probably the vendor today who still sticks closest to the traditional salty, aromatic, rich and spicy Sichuan flavor. There is also another Yungkang Beef Noodles in a side street off Chinshan South Road; it is owned by a former apprentice of the first-generation boss, who set up on his own. He has modified the flavor so it is no longer so fiery.

Lao Chang Tan-Tan Noodles changed owners several times before reopening in a side street off Chinshan South Road in about 1989. It is run by Wang Sheng-chi's family, and the chef is Luo Ting-kuo, who worked for the original owner "Old Chang." The shop's name has changed to Sichuan-Style Old Chang Beef Noodles.

How does one cook a bowl of Sichuan-style red-braised beef noodle soup? Wang Sheng-chi says the soup and the meat must be cooked separately. He makes his stock by boiling large bones, while for the meat he uses marbled sirloin complete with tendon. He first removes any excess water, slices the meat up, then boils it with sliced beans, ginger, chilli peppers, garlic and tomatoes. Why tomatoes? Mr. Luo says that people today don't like eating chilli, and so to preserve the red color and strong flavor which comes from the chilli oil used in Sichuanese cooking, he uses tomato, which also gives the flavor a lift. Tomato is often used by Shanxi cooks, and it adds a slight acidity and sweetness which stimulates the appetite.

Lu Yao-tung remembers how when beef noodle soup was at the height of its popularity the whole of Taoyuan Street was lined with beef noodle houses from end to end. But now only Beef Noodle King and Hsinglung Beef Noodles survive.

An important factor in the decline of the noodle business on Taoyuan Street, apart from the reluctance of the younger generation to take over the businesses, is that there was once a serious fire there.

Hsinglung Beef Noodles once had two shops, one on each side of Taoyuan Street, but now only one remains, run by the youngest son of the Luo family. While he maintains the "root" of the business here, his brother and sister have gone to operate a beef noodle chain based in Ta-an Road, where they continue applying the skills passed on to them by their father. When speaking of Taoyuan Street, Mr. Luo sighs and says, "The place really has gone downhill." In this society which attaches such importance to a spick-and-span appearance, there are very few people now who are still prepared to roll up their sleeves and stand in a kitchen full of oil and steam, and so one noodle shop after another has closed its doors. Mr. Luo has a son of elementary school age, and when his father goes out for a moment he puts the noodles into the water just like dad; but when asked if he wants to sell noodles like his father when he's grown up, he replies, "Not likely!"

Large fast-food chains have mechanized the production of their beef noodle soup. Whichever branch patrons eat at, the flavor is always the same.

Blessed beef

Compared with the many eateries selling red-braised beef noodle soup, there seem to be far fewer selling beef noodles in clear broth. Hu Tienlan believes this is because clear broth noodles are harder to make than red-braised. To make redbraised beef noodle soup, generally the meat is fried with chilli and broad bean paste, then simmered with such spicy and aromatic ingredients as chopped garlic, coriander and ginger. The strong flavor naturally tends to mask any rankness in the beef, but it also covers the meat's own flavor. But a clear broth brings out the natural flavor of the beef, so the meat's selection and preparation require particular care.

All over north China, the beef prepared by Moslems has a fine reputation. Hu Tien-lan says the Moslems are skilled in rearing cattle and sheep and also in selecting meat, so the beef they choose is much less likely to taste rank, and has a rich, tender flavor. And according to Lu Yao-tung, the reason the beef noodles of Lanzhou on the mainland are so good is because it is the homeland of many Moslems.

Taipei once had two well-known Moslem restaurants. One was Lao Chin on Huaining Street, but this has now disappeared. The other was the Halal Beef Noodle Soup Restaurant which was originally on Po-ai Road, where it was run by six people, some of them Moslems. It has now separated into three independent shops, one run by Mr. Ai, another by Mr. Hsiao and a third by a former waiter.

The Halal Beef Noodle and Dumpling Restaurant on Yenping South Road behind Peimen Post Office is owned by Mr. Hsiao, but the actual chef was Mr. Chang, a native of Shandong Province, who started in the shop on Po-ai Road. He has now been succeeded by his son Chang Yu-shan.

Mr. Ai's noodle shop has moved several times and is now located in a side street off Yenchi Street. Mr. Ai has been in the beef noodle business for 30 years, and to preserve the original flavor he has always done the cooking himself, never entrusting the task to anyone else.

It is worth mentioning that the Taiwanese beef which both restaurants use is all supplied by two butchers: Halal China Beef Butchers and International Butchers. Both are halal butchers, and when slaughtering the oxen they recite silently from the Koran in order to purify the soul of animal. Only meat slaughtered in this way is allowed into a Moslem restaurant. This is why halal restaurants do not permit customers to bring in food from outside, and a notice reminding patrons of this is posted clearly on the wall.

Beef noodle soup can be eaten as a formal meal or a takeaway snack. This is a major reason for its popularity in Taiwan.

Simmering brings out the flavor

So how does one cook a good clear beef broth? Mr. Luo of Hsinglung Beef Noodles says the choice of meat is very important: on no account should one use imported frozen beef, for imported beef does not usually arrive in Taiwan until one or two months after it has been slaughtered, so that it is not as fresh as fresh-slaughtered local beef. Furthermore, imported beef has to be thawed before use, making it soft so that it cannot be boiled for long without breaking up. This makes it hard to get a good flavor.

Cheng You-kui, director of the Hengchun Station of the Taiwan Livestock Research Institute, says the reason local beef is more tender is that after being slaughtered it is "hung" for a while: the meat is stored at 0° to -1aC for 48 hours to let the enzymes in the meat go to work, and this makes it more tender. When cooking, the meat is first scalded in hot water and then immediately placed into cold water to cool it down, then slowly simmered over a low heat with a sachet of seasonings. Beef cooked in a clear broth in this way will be chewy and flavorsome, while the broth has a fresh meaty taste and there is no need at all to add MSG.

Experts also suggest that when eating beef noodle soup in a halal restaurant, one should not add pickled cabbage so as not to mask the natural flavor.

When it comes to Taiwan style beef noodle soup, there really is an enormous diversity. Some flavor it with curry powder, shacha sauce, hungtsao, tomato sauce or medicinal herbs such as Chinese caterpillar fungus; some stress that their beef comes from "free-range cattle," some add Tanshui fish balls, carrot or white radish.

Noodle houses such as Taiwan, located by the Southern Cross-Island Highway in Taitung County, The General and Kuanghua in Taichung, Harbor Garden Beef Noodles in Kaohsiung, the Witch's Kitchen in Luotung and Hsinmin in Chungli, all have high reputations in their respective localities. Taichung's Hsiao Er Ta, which was famous for a time, has recently reopened in Taipei on Chunghsiao East Road, Section 4. It is said that the old owner only passed on his secret recipe to the present head chef Chiang Chih-lun after Chiang had been taking care of him for many years. This shows just how much the chefs value the recipes they work so hard to create.

In good beef noodle soup the soup covers the noodles, the noodles are not sticky, and the beef is arranged at the center of the bowl with the cabbage or chopped spring onion around the edge. Only then is it really appetizing.

An international mixture

In Taipei there is also a Vietnamese noodle house called Cheng Chi which serves beef noodle soup in both curry and shacha flavors, and with a choice of noodles including yimien, broad rice noodles and rice vermicelli. But if beef noodle soup is a "trademark" of the Chinese, what is it doing here in a Vietnamese restaurant?

Restaurant manager Wu Chia-hui explains. In fact Vietnam has many overseas Chinese of Cantonese descent, and they took these dishes to Vietnam with them. But the recipe for the noodles we are eating now has been adapted by the owner Tu Han-chen from the original version as eaten in Vietnam.

According to the original recipe, the beef is first sliced and placed on top of the cooked noodles, then a superior stock made from chicken bones, medicinal herbs, shrimp sauce, fish sauce and so on is poured in; lastly various raw vegetables such as chiutsengta and purple perilla are added, along with local herbs and leaves. For curry or shacha flavor, the beef is put into a pan with these seasonings and scalded rather like the way we eat hot pot in winter.

But in the adapted recipe, which has been adjusted to suit Taiwanese tastes, the amount of raw vegetable is reduced. With less raw vegetable, if you want to get that Vietnamese taste then you can't do without fish sauce.

Just as overseas Chinese from Vietnam can sell beef noodle soup in Taiwan, people from Taiwan can naturally also go abroad to break new ground. Mr. Luo's eldest sister has opened a branch in Malacca, Malaysia, because there are many ethnic Chinese there. When abroad, people seem to have a particular attachment to the foods of their homeland, so business has been excellent.

A United Daily News reporter recounts how once when he was on an assignment in mainland China he had a great yearning to eat beef noodle soup. After searching high and low he finally found a California Beef Noodle Restaurant in Beijing, but when he tried the noodles they didn't seem as authentic as those made in Taiwan. He heard that the place was opened by an overseas Chinese returned from America.

In Singapore, where the majority of people are ethnic Chinese, one can also find beef noodle soup. Tai Chin-ting, assistant vice-president of San Shang Chiao Fu's fast food division, who was in charge of the development of Chiao Fu's beef noodle soup, mentions that to research the flavor of beef noodle soup, he had to sample noodles everywhere, even in Singapore. But his impression after eating them there was, "They weren't that appetizing, because they skimped rather on the preparation." He says that for soup noodles, they simply boil the noodles, cut the beef into thin slices, ladle some hot soup over them and serve; for noodles without soup, they just put a bit of soya sauce on and turn them over a few times--it doesn't seem like the work of a real chef.

From family businesses to chain stores

However, with changing social structures in Taiwan, the number of people eating out has increased, and this has led businessmen to change their way of operating. They want to banish the stereotyped image which family-run beef noodle houses have acquired as dark, dirty places, and copy the bright and hygienic style of the fast food chains with their standardized products and decor; and they have even taken beef noodle soup into international grade hotels. Of the chain restaurants, San Shang Chiao Fu has 101 branches and the greatest market share, while among the hotels the Taipei Lai Lai Sheraton is the most talked about.

To ensure consistent quality, all San Shang Chiao Fu's products are prepared at their central kitchens in the Tayuan industrial zone in Taoyuan County, and distributed to the various branches. All the branches have to do is to mix them in the prescribed proportions.

Tai Chin-ting says he hopes the flavor of the beef noodle soup they serve can appeal to young and old alike, though some may find it rather sweet as the ingredients include sugar cane and crystal sugar in addition to chicken bones and beef bones.

Another fast-food company which is pursuing the beef noodle market vigorously is the Chiang Family chain. In cooperation with the Yungho soya bean milk company they have established Taiwan's first 24-hour beef noodle soup outlets, and are doing quite a brisk trade.

At the Lai Lai Sheraton the beef noodle soup is not served in the hotel's Sichuan restaurant, but in the cafe. Chang Wen-ching, executive sous-chef in the hotel's food and beverage division, points out that in most foreign-invested hotels in Taiwan, the cafe menu includes some oriental dishes to cater to the diverse range of guests who eat there. Beef noodle soup was singled out for its broad appeal.

Beef noodle soup in international hotels

Hu Tien-lan exclaims with admiration: "The Lai Lai Sheraton has made beef noodle soup into a gourmet dish!" The hotel's beef noodle soup, carried to the table on a tray complete with white porcelain crockery and accompanied by finely chopped pickled cabbage and red chillies on specially-made small dishes, the whole placed on a very Chinese pink tablecloth, is a feast for the eyes as well as for the palate. When you take up your chopsticks and spoon to taste the soup, you can savor the complex mix of seasonings carefully devised by the chef. The beef is a mixture of rib and tendon from local cattle; the meat melts on the tongue and the tendon is soft and not greasy. It has the texture of marbled beef but does not have a fatty flavor. Hu Tien-lan says, "It looks like Sichuan style, but it tastes like Cantonese style."

How is such a bowl of noodles cooked? Chang Wen-ching says with a smile that the beef is first quickly sauteed with soya sauce, rice wine, crystal sugar and spring onion, and once the meat has shrunk a little, water and a sachet of seasoning are added and it is simmered to let the meat absorb the flavor of the liquid. The stock is made with beef bones, beef cartilage, sirloin and imported rump of beef. The cartilage adds body to the soup while the rump meat makes it sweeter. Spring onion, celery, coriander, soya sauce and other ingredients are also added. Taking some inspiration from the fashion for cooking foods with medicinal herbs, the hotel's chefs have now also added a few such herbs to modify the flavor.

But in the eyes of people who lived through the 1950s in Taiwan, all these changes are something of a decline. For while there's no denying that the modern eateries are more hygienic, they are just places to fill one's belly, for one will find no flavor of nostalgia there. Thus it is not surprising if some sigh, "Taiwan's beef noodle soup is not what it used to be!"

[Picture Caption]

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Forty years ago beef noodle soup made its first appearance in Taiwan on street stalls, but now it can also be found in international-class hotels. (photo by Vincent Chang)

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Most people today eat beef noodle soup simply to fill their bellies, not to revive old memories.

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In response to changing consumption habits in big cities, beef noodle shops are gradually evolving from traditional family-run eateries to fast-food chains catering to diners out. (photo by Vincent Chang)

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First savor the soup, next munch the meat, and only then nibble the noodles. This is the best way to enjoy beef noodle soup. (photo by Vincent Chang)

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For lack of successors to take over the business, many old noodle houses have been forced to sell out. Though the name is the same, the shop may have changed owners many times.

p.112

Large fast-food chains have mechanized the production of their beef noodle soup. Whichever branch patrons eat at, the flavor is always the same.

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Beef noodle soup can be eaten as a formal meal or a takeaway snack. This is a major reason for its popularity in Taiwan.

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In good beef noodle soup the soup covers the noodles, the noodles are not sticky, and the beef is arranged at the center of the bowl with the cabbage or chopped spring onion around the edge. Only then is it really appetizing.