Taiwanese Minced Beef Noodles

Ready in less than an hour, these Taiwanese minced beef noodles are exactly what you need for an easy weeknight dinner that doesn't skimp on flavor.

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Recipe

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5 from 1 vote

Taiwanese Minced Beef Noodles

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Taiwanese

Keyword: beef

Servings: 4

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 3 shallots minced
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 1 pound dry flour noodles
• ¼ cup chopped scallions

Instructions

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, breaking up the meat into small chunks.
• Add shallots and garlic and saute for 2 more minutes or until shallots are softened.
• Add chicken stock, soy sauce, sugar, Shaoxing wine, and white pepper, stirring to combine. Bring to a simmer, cover the pan and reduce heat to low. Continue to simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning with salt and white pepper.
• While the sauce is resting, cook the noodles. Portion noodles into bowls and top with minced beef sauce. Sprinkle scallions and serve immediately.

Notes

I recommend using 80/20 ground beef for the best results.

If you can't find Shaoxing wine, substitute it with dry sherry.

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Cook beef

One of my favorite activities when I was a research and development chef was recreating dishes and making them my own. As a food blogger, I am happy to say that this is now my everyday. Today was all about these noodles.

These Taiwanese noodles are normally made with pork, but I decided to switch it to ground beef to make it more appealing to a wider audience. I debated on whether or not I should go lean and choose ground turkey instead, but you do need the richness from red meat to achieve depth in the sauce.

If you're looking for Taiwanese noodles that feature white meat instead, I highly recommend my chicken gua bao noodles. On the other hand, if you want something more classic, this Taiwanese chow mein hits the spot.

Start by heating oil in a large deep saute pan. Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spatula into small chunks.

As tempting as it may be to stir, let the beef sit undisturbed. This way, it has a chance to properly brown.

Next, add the minced shallots and garlic. Give everything a good stir and let it cook for about 2 minutes or until the shallots soften.

Step 2: Add seasonings

Pour in the chicken stock, soy sauce, sugar, Shaoxing wine, and white pepper, then give everything a good stir to combine. If you can't find Shaoxing wine, you can substitute it with dry sherry.

Bring it to a simmer, then cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to low. This is going to simmer for 30 minutes, and that lid is crucial. Keeping it covered traps the steam and helps all those flavors meld together.

Step 3: Serve

After 30 minutes of simmering, take the pan off the heat and let it rest for 10 minutes with the lid still on. This resting time allows the beef to absorb all those delicious flavors even further.

Give it a taste and adjust with salt and white pepper if needed. Everyone's palate is different, so make it yours.

Meanwhile, cook flour noodles according to the package directions. I like using medium-thickness flour noodles because they hold up well to the hearty sauce, but you can use thicker noodles.

Divide the noodles into bowls and generously spoon that beautiful minced beef sauce over the top. Finish with a sprinkle of chopped scallions for a fresh bite, and you're done.

In less than an hour, you've got a bowl of Taiwanese minced beef noodles that's every bit as satisfying as the restaurant version. In fact, the sauce is so flavorful that it would be great served on rice, in an Asian-style burrito, or even on seared tofu.

Make-ahead and storage tips

• Make-ahead: Cook the sauce ahead of time and reheat it before serving.
• Store: Keep sauce and noodles in separate containers, if possible, and store in the refridgerator for up to 3 days.

More Taiwanese recipes

Looking for more Taiwanese dishes? Try these: