Li’s kitchen (15): A bowl of meat noodles

My family members often say I love meat and hot dishes and sweat a lot at meals, all indicators of a hard life.

However, I really don’t like the so-called nutritious meals for urban upstarts and those on diet. My stomach calls for hot and spicy dishes. To me, a bowl of noodles without meat is nothing. And only by chewing unscrupulously can we sense the sort of “heroic” air at dining tables.

A teenager no more, I’ll never have the chance to enjoy a delicacy offered by fair ladies. Now in my late 30s, I have trouble in appreciating songs by Aska Yang. Three meals per day and one bed at night are what I own, and with a rumbling stomach in the morning, I have to smile rosily for a new working day. 

As time goes by, I’ve grown to be a hefty fellow from a juvenile, and the Arale-like girl at my favorite noodle stall has past her prime. Also, she is rather mean now, and the beef toppings on my noodles are getting less and less. I really hate this.

It seems urgent for me to make some braised beef, so that I can have a sound bowl of noodles at breakfast. Although some ingredients are missing in today’s video, I do share with you the special rib beef with skin, which is absolutely organic food. I got it at the year’s beginning when passing Mt. Wuliang in west Yunnan.

Steps

▲Cut the beef into bits with the size of a mahjong and wash them.

▲Fry the ingredients of ginger, amomum tsao-ko, star anise, Sichuan pepper, cinnamon and myrcia in the heated rapeseed oil till slight smoke appears. Stir-fry the dried beef bits slowly until they turn brown. Pour the fried bits into an iron wok.

▲Fry the other ingredients of soy sauce, brown sugar, green onions and onion in the left oil till they look muddy.

▲Finally, cook together the beef bits, the muddy sauce, water, and soy sauce. 

Without substantial meat toppings, a bowl of noodles could never live up to the favor of foodies in the alluring times.

By Li Wenjun and Wang Shixue