hello! Hi everyone, Wesley here. Today we’re diving back into our series dedicated to foods from TV and film with a shot at the “Secret Ingredient Soup” or “Niu Rou Mian” from Kung Fu Panda. A few technicalities to address right off the bat before people lose their minds here. First, the soup that we’re making today is a Taiwanese beef noodle soup known as “niu rou mian.” I am well aware that Kung Fu Panda technically takes place in China (not Taiwan), but…it also features a talking goose and a panda doing kung fu, so, I’ll allow it. Second (and maybe more important), Mr. Ping’s secret ingredient soup features a very light colored broth, indicating to me that it’s probably a vegetable stock. I imagine this is because the alternative would be a soup made out of animal broth, which is…pretty horrifying. 

So! instead, today we’re making the closest thing that I can think of to a secret ingredient vegetable soup broth, which is gonna be a tomato-based soup broth known as niu rou mian. As you may have put together, a niu rou mian is a soup of Taiwanese origin that prominently features beef shank, slow simmered with a combination of Chinese aromatic spices, chili paste, and shaoxing wine to create a deeply rich and aromatic soup. to pair with this, a niu rou mian also iconically features the use of (secret ingredient time) tomato as the source of its acidity, to yield its uniquely rich and acidic qualities. Hope you try it. 

 

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

  • 4-6 oz baby bok choy

  • 1 lb lo mein noodles

  • 1/2 medium white onion

  • 28 oz can whole tomatoes

  • 1 lb beef shank

  • 1 cup beef broth

  • peanut oil

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

  • 4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)

  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

  • 2 tbsp brown sugar

  • 2 tbsp doubanjiang

  • 4 tbsp shaoxing wine

  • 2 tbsp chili crisp oil

INGREDIENTS (spices)

  • 5 star anise

  • 5 tian jin peppers

  • 1 tbsp Sichuan peppercorn

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • 1 tbsp coriander

PREP

  • CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside

  • FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside

  • SLICE the bok choy into halves, set aside

  • DICE the onion, set aside

  • COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside

ON THE STOVE

  • HEAT a wok over medium low heat, then add the whole spices and toast for 5 minutes until fragrant, then remove the spices to cheese cloth and tie closed

  • REHEAT the wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the garlic and ginger and saute until fragrant for 15 seconds

  • ADD the onions and saute for 1-2 minutes, then remove

  • REHEAT the wok as hot as possible, then add 2 tbsp peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the beef shank and saute for 1-2 minutes, then add the vegetables back to the wok, followed by the tomatoes and toss to  combine

  • ADD the sauce mixture, beef broth, spice bag, and 6 cups of water, then stir to combine

  • SIMMER for a minimum of 2 hours, or up to 24 hours

  • BOIL a pot of water once the soup is ready to be eaten, then add the noodles and boil for 2 minutes before removing

  • ADD the bok choy to the water and boil for 2 minutes before removing

  • SERVE with noodles, bok choy, and soup

 

tagged with kung fu panda, secret ingredient soup, soup recipe, kung fu panda recipe, kung fu panda soup, niu rou mian, niu rou mein, taiwanese beef noodle soup, taiwanese recipe, woo can cook