I actually took this recipe from tasty and made a mild change in it to fit mom's taste buds. Their recipe was pretty good but mom and I suggested adding a few ingredients to make the flavor pop a little more. This recipe does take some time to make but only to render a soft and flavorful meal at the end. The steps are easy but a bit time consuming. Don't worry, you don't have to stay by the oven when your food cooks. This is one of those recipes when you feel like you're not cooking a lot and then get a great meal at the end.
Nothing beats a fresh gazpacho for the summer. Make a cucumber tomato mint and basil gazpacho (cold Spanish soup) then top it with some pesto and feta cheese. Feel free to serve it with some crackers if you have any on hand.
🍋TOOLS:
2 large pots (one for the pasta and one for the beef)
1 pair of tongs
1 colander
Knife and cutting board
Measuring cups
🍋ingredients:
Beef Shank: 1 kilogram (whole)
Green onions: 8 stalks (whole)
Star Anise: 6 pieces (whole)
Fresh Ginger: 2-3 medium pieces (whole)
Garlic cloves: 10 pieces (whole)
Vegetable Oil: 1/2 cup
Brown Sugar: 1/4 cup
Red Chile: 2 small pieces (whole)
Green Chile: 2 small pieces (whole)
White button mushrooms: 200 grams
Onion: 2 large pieces
Chili garlic sauce: 1/4 cup
Dark Soy Sauce: 1/2 cup
Rice Wine Vinegar: 1/2 cup
Light Soy Sauce: 1/2 cup
Tomatoes: 4 medium sized pieces
Red chili flakes: 2 tablespoons (more or less as you like)
Bay Leaf: 5 pieces
Cinnamon Stick: 2 short sticks
Swiss Chard: 1 bundle
Egg Noodles: 4 nests of noodles
Cilantro: 1/4 cup (chopped)
Lemon: 1 half
Salt and pepper to taste
🍋METHOD:
Start with peeling your ginger and cutting each piece into 4 slices. Cut each chili in half length wise and deseed them. Also quarter the tomatoes and the mushrooms then set aside.
In one of the large pots, place your beef, 4 stalks of green onion, and 3 pieces of star anise. Cover the pot with water till it covers the beef. Let it cook for about 30 minutes. The purpose here is not to cook the beef but rather get it started and flavored a bit. It will change in color a bit once it's done. Set the beef on a cutting board and discard the water that was in the pot. Slice the beef into thick pieces and set aside.
Use the same pot and heat the 1/2 cup of oil in it. Once it starts to heat, add the rest of the green onions, the ginger, as well as the garlic and chilies. Add a pinch of salt an cook for a minute or two. Add the spicy garlic sauce and the sugar and stir well. Add the mushrooms and let them cook for a couple of minutes. I have to say, it smells pretty awesome at this point.
Add your sliced beef back with the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, rice vinegar, and the chili flakes. Stir for a couple of minutes then add your quartered tomatoes. Let the ingredients cook together for 5-7 minutes to soak in all the flavor. After that, add water just to cover the beef as well as the bay leaves. Cover and simmer for a couple of hours. If you have a pressure cooker, use it instead and save time. It took me about 30-45 minutes to get the meat super tender in it.
Check your beef halfway through. If the beef is tender enough, remove from heat. Taste the sauce then add some salt and pepper as desired.
Use the other pot to boil water and cook the egg noodles according to the instructions on the package. Once done, drop your spinach in the noodle water a bit just to let it wilt then set aside.
To serve, get a bowl and scoop the desired amount of noodles. Add some beef slices with the sauce till it fills the bowl. Garnish with cilantro, squeeze some lemon, and serve. If you would like more garnish, I suggest some boiled quail eggs.