Beef Noodle Soup: from Sichuan, to Taiwan, and back

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Hey guys, a few notes: 1. Before anything, we want to make it clear that this video has been in the works for months in advance, even since before our recent trip to Sichuan in January. It was never conceptualized as and shouldn’t be taken as a commentary on current events. That said, we decided to go ahead with this video now anyway, partially *because* the ongoing tragedy brought to us a sort of... human connection? to historical footage that's often so easy to siphon away in the whole "this is just history" section of your brain. 2. The movie at 0:52 was “A Brighter Summer Day” (牯嶺街少年殺人事件). Set in a military dependents village, it’s a beautiful film that’s… gut wrenchingly sad. Heavily recommended, but be warned that it’s definitely something that you need to be in the mood for. 3. Man, noodle soups are so hard to film. Noodles love to drink up soup. After 5-10 minutes of sitting around (common when you’re running around filming stuff), your bowl ends up *way* dryer than when you started. 4. There definitely are *some* Taiwan restaurants in the mainland - there’s a place that I quite like in Shenzhen (can’t seem to find on Dianping right now, I can poke around for the curious) - but often these are opened up by mainlanders that simply have some familiarity with Taiwan food. We’ve gotten in trouble in the past using northeastern restaurants in Shenzhen as a guide for certain dishes, so generally we have to have a really high degree of confidence in a restaurant before using it as the basis for a recipe. 5. Forgot to say in the video - the red braised beef also freezes really well. So if you’re not sure you can down it all in a week’s time, no worries. You might want to portion it out before freezing, though. 6. Beef shin is also another really classic cut of beef for this. 7. Often at the noodle shops in Sichuan, you’ll have a choice of ‘red soup’ - which has a chili oil base, like we did today - and a ‘white soup’, which is just pork bone stock plus toppings. 8. I don’t have too much experience cooking split peas personally (apologies), so if you have any ideas on timing and such to get the split peas to roughly the consistency that we have here, definitely leave a line. From a quick google it appears to be ~20 minutes, no need to soak. Will edit this when I have better information. 9. Obviously, feel free to mix and match these versions. Want to do the instant noodle version, only with stock, Lao Gan Ma, and the seasoning mix from the noodle shop version? Go for it. Will probably edit this with a few more notes in a bit. And thank you for the patience of watching a 17 minute recipe video lol... hope you enjoyed it, we definitely threw all we had at this one :)

[@hoddtoward]

10. Chinese supermarkets sell a "spice bag for braising" that's excellent for lazy people. Usually doesn't have sichuan peppercorn though so that still needs to be added.

[@dastardlyexpressions]

So for years your guidance has been to just skip when one can't find white or black cardamom, but I always have Indian green and black/brown cardamom and have went ahead and used the brown cardamom in meat braises, because good sub or not, it tastes good (brown cardamom + braised meat is actually quintessential in North India). Do you have any general comments on comparing the flavors the each set of cardamom?

[@rhijulbec1]

OMG that looks absolutely fabulous!! I'm drooling, 😁!

[@ishfaaqimtiyas8063]

Guys this is up there with your best work. Just wanted to say what a bloody pleasure it has been following your channel. Well done!

[@dimsum81]

When you say beef brisket, do you mean the US definition of it or the UK definition (beef plate)? I've braised using the US definition of brisket and it's much drier than plate.

[@hiroanz]

Growing up in Taiwan there are a few of key differences in the common Taiwanese version 1) Beef Shank is the most common followed by Beef Rib Finger meat. Brisket would be very unusual. 2) General public preference is for the use of beef bone instead of pork bone stock to create an all beef dish (although some restaurants may be using pork bone but not admit it). 3) Smushed peas in beef noodle is incredibly foreign to me. I've never seen it before and do wonder what it tastes like. 4) Stir-fried pickled mustard greens 酸菜 are almost a required condiment for some reason. Your red braise technique is quite similar. Aside from star anis, I would say white cardamoms is key! Anyhow, I love your videos because you don't just explain the recipe, but also describe the background, rationale behind a particular technique, options and alternatives. Thank you!

[@Maplecook]

That is super fascinating! Thanks for this lesson!

[@daikon6377]

do you recommend a recipe for the an authentic taiwanese beef noodle soup?

[@Maplecook]

@@daikon6377 One of my best friends is from Taiwan, and his family used to run a Taiwan Beef Noodle shop. He has promised to coach me, but I'm still waiting. lol

[@hiroanz]

@@daikon6377 This video kzbin.info/www/bejne/q32qnIyIrZyJbc0 is closest to my own recipe, but this one kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3yUnmuoo8-eaNk is legit too featuring the stir-fired pickled mustard greens, which you can buy already pickled in asian markets so you don't have to pickle them yourself. The key difference maker for me is to make the beef shank braise before bed time, simmer for one hour (for sliced 1/4" beef chunks, 90 min for whole beef shank/tendon), turn off the heat, don't open the lid and go to bed. You will be tempted to open the lid and taste, but don't. The residual heat will make the tenderness of the beef just right. The beef will gently absorb the flavours of the braise overnight and the beef will make the soup so much better. This is similar to how curry tastes better on day two. In the morning, I'd separate the beef from the soup, then reassemble the dish with freshly cooked noodles.

[@maynardlim7812]

brisket is definitely a lot more popular in Cantonese cooking.

[@10verNothin]

Hi, Taiwanese here. The secrets for Taiwanese style anything is soy sauce, brown sugar and rice wine. If I remember how my mom did it, you add ginger, spring onion and garlic, plus some anise and orange peel for the nose. Tomato, carrot, radish, and raw spicy chili are then added. You add some broad bean sauce and dark soy sauce if you want it to be tastier.

[@jeffersonderrickson5371]

This dish, in the midwestern winter, is seriously one of the most comforting dishes. It warms and leaves you feeling like a good hug.

[@davidhalldurham]

This video was epic. It belongs in some sort of KZbin Chinese Cooking Hall of Fame. It's clear you put a LOT of work into it. It was beautifully done. Thank you so much.

[@Tom-yc8jv]

Since he’s talking about Taiwanese food, this is not Chinese food originally. This food was invented in Taiwan and then went to another country, China and they copied it like they copy everything else in the world.

[@IAmTheUltimateRuler]

@@Tom-yc8jv the video literally explains how the dish originated in Sichuan

[@BestSomebodyNA]

@@IAmTheUltimateRuler Ignore him, he's probably a bot designed to sow xenophobia and start an argument in the comments section. If he is human, however, then a friendly reminder that in terms of copying, many Western nations choose on their own volition to outsource their manufacturing for decades past and present to China and they clearly got good at it. Have you bought your Made in China goods from the great American company, Amazon, Mr. American Patriot?

[@frankng1212]

​@@IAmTheUltimateRuler he clicked straight to the comments to spew garbage

[@Ryan_gogaku]

I would love to see this channel do a breakdown of the so-called "8 Great Cuisines" of China, the 八大菜系. To me, unless it's Sichuanese like here, I couldn't tell you one from the other at all, and your explanations are always easier to understand than those made by and for people within the country.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Ha! We might do something on the topic one day, because it's definitely something we feel passionately about. So like... we strongly believe that "The eight great cuisines" significantly *undercounts* the number of cuisines in this country. Some incredibly obvious omissions: Northeastern food, Northwestern food, Guangxi food, Guizhou food, Hubei food, Henan food, Yunnan food. Further, we strongly believe that many of the cuisines can and should be subdivided into multiple cuisines - for example, if you look at Fujian food (Min), we strongly believe that you can likely separate north Fujian (Min bei) and south Fujian (Min nan) into their own distinct cuisines. And in Guangdong, we're probably looking at at least three distinct cuisines: Cantonese (Yue), Hakka, and Teochew. And even more if you decided to split Cantonese cuisine up into micro-regions! You can do this exercise the country over. There's a mind-numbing amount of diversity here. We could do this channel weekly for the rest of our lives and die only have scratched the surface.

[@-laodoushunancuisine4641]

If u like fresh chili u will be like hunan cuisine

[@frankmosca3707]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified Don't you dare die. :) 1. There's a whole lot of cooking I'm still interested in. 2. And more importantly. You two are not only among the best on KZbin (or anywhere for that matter), but you seriously feel like someone I'd love to have stop by for coffee and chat. Frankly, you seem to be friends who've just not had time to stop over because you're busy (well, that and the 18 hr. flight from China to Los Angeles.) Seriously, thanks for everything you both do and the amount of work you put in.

[@PhilLuo]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified I'm from Hubei and I still don't know what's truly unique/signature to that province. To me it's a mashup of Hunan and Sichuan.

[@brokenglassshimmerlikestar3407]

@@PhilLuo One side of my family is from Hubei. Yeah its culinary identity is really vague. What I remember most is lots of meatballs, fish balls, fish cakes and meat loaf for the New Year, lots of fish and lotus roots (because of the lakes), and Wuhan breakfast items like re gan mian and dou pi, oh and lots of deepfrying...

[@g1nk0]

I love how you used a kindle to cover the instant noodles.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Using kindle to cover your instant noodle box is kinda a meme on Chinese internet, lol

[@sicheng_wang]

The only use of my kindle

[@haojiu_bujian9084]

I just finished making this for my dad and I. The first version but with pre made pork broth, chilli crisps and dry noodles. WOW. I must admit I haven’t had the real thing in China but WOW. Best soup I have ever had. Worth the effort. Thank you so much for sharing.

[@DaddyBear1971]

Every video is a cooking class for me. The ingredients are alien to me so I appreciate all the work to show how each one is made. Thank you.

[@uranusjr]

The noodle-making part reminds me of my favourite noodle-making channel おうち麺TV. If you’re into making alkaline noodles at home, Japanese have a thing called 小野式製麺機 (Ono Style Noodle Maker) that is much beefier and powerful than regular pasta machines for this kind of doughs. Even if you can’t get one (odds are not high), it’s weirdly comforting to just watch one at work, even on video.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yes, we... need this. A normal pasta maker's a touch annoying but ok enough to use, but it's an absolute nightmare to film.

[@sandrin0]

You guys synthesize and present information super well so I was hoping that there'd be a beef noodle soup video at some point, it's the one of the dishes that I always make sure to order if I can when I'm trying a chinese restaurant out that I've never been to before. Super excited to give these recipes a try!

[@Fatmanstan606]

Whoa whoa whoaaaaaaaa dude *THIS* is how you guys need to be doing videos, with the historical tapestry of dishes and the culture, maybe not every single video but every third or fifth or something, so goooooood

[@GarrySkipPerkins]

I lived in Taiwan, and the beef noodle was the best. My favorite was the one where they cut the noodles off of one big hunk of dough.

[@quintonhoffert6526]

This is very interesting. I actually work at a Sichuan style Hot Pot restaurant and my boss makes 红烧牛肉 every week for our 牛肉面. I've always wondered about how to make it myself but I'm a waiter so I generally don't have the time to go stay in the back for an extended amount of time to watch how it's made. Thank you for making this video and especially for the history lesson. Very interesting and informative! Incidentally, I'm much more of a fan of the thicker slabs of beef. That's how my boss makes it, that's how I used to get 牛肉面 when I lived in Beijing, and it's always how I envision the dish when I think about it.

[@drwgisblaidd2650]

I love that Schnauzer, you can see he loves red braised beef!! Hope y'all are safe. Thanks for the explanation!!

[@michaelhuang2477]

Thanks for the video. Interesting how recipes spread throughout the Asian community. My mom taught we a recipe like this and I've always thought it was a cantonese recipe.

[@michaelhuang2477]

She used Cauguo as well. Never did like it myself

[@keeperofthegood]

Peas are pretty commonly available here in Canada and I believe in the US as well. Yellow or green whole or split can be found at all large retailers like Walmart, Giant Tiger, Metro Inc.stores and Loblaw Companies Limited to name a few. This week I have used both 5 out of 7 days for meals (as well as a variety of lentil, bean and grain with or without meat). The only way to know how to cook them is to cook them; learn by do. Yellow and Green and each of the others all behave differently, and skin on or off impacts outcome too. Today, 45 mins of 100 grams each Ham Spec and Split Green in my rice cooker gave me a very nice pea soup with the peas only about 2/3rds cooked down, had I added another 150ml of water and reset the cooker it would have completely disolved the peas but I don't like green pea soup like that, yellow for sure love it fully creamy but not green.

[@mackdog3270]

I find using an instant pot makes a great pork stock as a byproduct of cooking for work. Just cook your bone in pork for ten to fifteen minutes and let cool. I like to use about a half cup of vinegar in addition to a half cup of water and salt. You can use any liquid you want, but don't use too much or the stock will be diluted. It also makes a good chicken stock, but that takes work. It doesn't seem to work very well with beef, but I may not have the hang of it yet.

[@colindamo]

Awesome video! Suggestion: for the hard to source spices you can buy a Vietnamese “pho” spice pack that usually has cardamom, cloves, star anise, etc. if you don’t use all the spices for the beef noods you can use it to make pho or even roast some of the spices and grind them to make a garam masala if you choose to make an Indian dish! Take care and keep up the great work!

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Our cat is a rescue and not overly social. He appears now and then in videos haha, he mostly likes to sleep

[@brokenglassshimmerlikestar3407]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified wait... colin didn't ask about the cat... not that I'm complaining, I love hearing about the cat

[@colindamo]

@@brokenglassshimmerlikestar3407 I like hearing about the cat as well 👍

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

@@brokenglassshimmerlikestar3407 Yup, apparently that went under the wrong comment lol. My bad

[@andreasfett6415]

I second the recommendation of the Phở spice pack. It's very basic but you just can't go wrong with it!

[@ronanthebadbrain]

Excellent video as usual. Really love the historical background to these recipes as well. Thanks for for your hard work!

[@1lcp1]

This looks SO GOOD. I try to stay mostly vegetarian, but nothing substitutes for braised beef and a really rich broth.

[@pinkmonkeybird2644]

Yes! There are some animal products that have been hard for me to give up completely; I’m sure everyone has a list of their personal favorites. I don’t think there’s a decent substitute for beef here, so if I do make this recipe, I’ll source my beef and bones from a local farm that is both kind to the land and as humane as possible. I’m sure I’ll get some hate for saying that, but I understand your perspective and agree with it.

[@xanderpeloquinbardier4284]

Chili Oil With Black Bean is amazing! Have always a jar at home! I,m not good with spicy stuff! But this one is so rich and creamy... I put it over cucumber during summer...or in tomato pasta sauce with cheese over.... It give a lot of complex tastes to many dish!

[@itspugsley8203]

2:02 yeah i tried this noodle and it was actually pretty tasty, savory and herbal braised beef with like a nice garlicky kind of paste. definitely would recommend 👍👍

[@godzillalivesinwyoming4742]

What is the name of it??

[@itspugsley8203]

@@godzillalivesinwyoming4742 it was the kangshifu or sometimes called master kang braised beef noodle soup but the bowl version. you could probably get it at most asian markets/grocery stores

[@josephmarrow5598]

Would love to see a cookbook from y'all. I have loved these videos

[@guochaoping]

High-quality content about authentic Chinese food as always.

[@RovingPunster]

Here on Long Isle (New York) braised beef noodle soup, along with authentic chinese regional cuisine, has become increasingly popular in recent years, and I actually have 2 noodle shops within delivered takeout distance of my house. Both use brown beef broth as their base, rather than pork. As for the braised beef, the most common cut used in my area seems to be most commonly thick cut chuck, and occasionally boneless short rib, brisket, or plate. Chuck is most common in my area, because a lot of jewish restaurants in our area buy up brisket for corned beef, and plate for pastrami, and BBQ restaurants like those cuts too.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yeah huge Taiwanese influence in the USA, I'd gather that they're doing the Taiwan style

[@RovingPunster]

@@ChineseCookingDemystifiedSpeaking of Taiwan, I have some family history nearby. Dunno if I mentioned it before, but my paternal great great great grandfather was a missionary priest and linguist who served 40 years at a Mission in Amoy, from 1840-1880. Anyway, whenever I have braised beef noodle soup, it reminds me of my GGGF sailing to the far side of the world (a 4+ month journey). Taiwan and Amoy are geographically close together. 😄

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

@@RovingPunster Oh, that's super cool! Amoy (nowadays Xiamen) has some of the oldest ethnography records in China and some of those were compiled by missionaries~

[@RovingPunster]

@Geo me cards Very true, but that's 45-60 mins west of me, and not a tree in sight. I grew up with trees everywhere, so urban settings devoid of greenery seem morbidly depressing to me.

[@erlruthtvmixvlog5923]

Thanks in sharing your very impressive and knowledgeable Chinese cooking.

[@user-el5jg3wo9b]

I love food history, this is a good episode

[@frosta3832]

Covering the instant noodle with the Kindle is so Chinese I love the little touch

[@jasondeutschbein8102]

This food is beautiful.. that crispy egg looked delightful.

[@CorneliusThroatworthy]

loved the "...everything" annotation at 13:47 when you're telling folks to pour their soup over everything :'D made me chuckle, that did!

[@mobo5544]

Omg we ate so much of this ramen variety, during our stay in China. we loved it. Hong shao niu rou mian LMAO still know it by heart and I can’t get my hands on it here in Germany. Anyway thanks for your great content as always. Cheers!

[@wanghajowang]

I don't know how restaurant in Taiwan cook the beef soup noodles as i am more familiar with home cook version, but for me this looks really foreign to me. I am super intrigued how it tastes like..... Taiwanese beef soup noodles are not spicy at all, though they almost always have spicy beef oils as condiments on the table for those who wants some heat. The beef is more a slow cook style and no fried after cooking. Having said that, as a person who loves spicy food, this looks so nice tho.

[@JovanKo314]

Thank you for going over the history of it as well as the recipe. I knew Red-Braised Beef Noodle Soup was from Sichuan, but never knew the process of how it migrated to Taiwan. It's a shame that it's difficult for you guys to travel to Taiwan to try the real Taiwanese version, but watching you guys reverse engineer an instant noodle was a lot of fun, and something I might want to try at some point. For a good Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup recipe, I would like to recommend to the Chinese speaking folks (or people who want to follow along just watching) to a recording of a TV cooking show by ZhanMuShi (詹姆士, or James), called 《詹姆士的厨房》20180325：台湾牛肉面 (/watch?v=iCdVcESF_8w). Essentially, the differences between that and the Sichuan version in this video are the use of beef stock instead of pork, using beef shank for the red-braise, and stir-frying suancai (酸菜) pickled mustard greens to add as a topping. When I made it, it literally took me back to my childhood in Taiwan eating Beef Noodle Soup in the mall. He also has a youtube channel that has a simplified Beef Noodle Soup Recipe as well, called 【姆士流】簡易牛肉麵 (/watch?v=iCdVcESF_8w). (Either search the titles on youtube or copy/paste the link).

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Getting a working link for folks :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3THh5Z7iKuSbtk

[@schlammie446]

the instant version of this is super achievable. it would have been cool to see both of you take a shot at that packet of "red braise" paste. Sounds like something I could have in the freezer on hand for whenever

[@Mageling55]

Take the braising liquid, boil it down till a spoon leaves streaks through the pan, freeze in an ice cube tray. It won't quite be a paste, but it will get the effect you want.

[@cancel1913]

Love your attention to detail and admonitions!

[@TheNamesDitto]

thank you for this! now I know why this soup was so nostalgic for me and my father

[@jeffward1106]

I appreciate the hard work you do and I love your videos.

[@jlin7724]

I laughed when you mentioned how surprised you were with 康師傅 comparing Top Ramen. When you get a chance to visit Taiwan, 7-11 has to be a must-visit. Speaking of 康師傅 I remember them opening a beef noodle chain (at least in Shenzhen) I’m aware of. Someone also mentioned California beef noodle king, by a Taiwan immigrant to the US then opening in Beijing that I’m aware of.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Ha, I (Chris) went to Taipei once - those night markets are straight up fire. I can tell it always sort of bothers Steph when me and my buddy Adam (who goes to Taiwan quite often) rave about it. There's actually a proper Taiwan restaurant in Shenzhen that I quite like, opened by someone that spent a good bit of time in Taipei. That said, we've gotten in a bit of trouble in the past for using Shenzhen restaurants as a 'guide' of sorts for dishes (well, not 'trouble', but... recipes that aren't quite up to our personal standard).

[@glasslicker2829]

I just made this exact recipe shop-style and it is delicious Thank You!

[@katadareTube]

Instant noodle bowl + kindle is probably one of the more underrated combos of all time! 😁

[@qbertq1]

I wanted to travel the same road as you did, so I ordered the original instant version from Coco Island Mart. It was pretty affordable and as you said, a step beyond the instant noodles available at most US grocery stores. Next up is your reverse engineered version.

[@AldoSchmedack]

Your voice is so similar that if you started to talk like Alton Brown I'd have a hard time tell you two apart! Love the video!

[@meowcula]

lol I bought that same brand of sichuan chili bean paste the other day. glad I got the right one. It is SUPER flavourful. So savoury.

[@Lee-in-oz]

Love the Wallace & Gromit reference.

[@hoddtoward]

Hope it works for me, I've been trying to make this dish but it never tastes like a restaurant, always too salty and the flavor is very thin. In restaurants, the broth is darker and has more depth. I suspect they're using real stock and adding chicken powder but I'm not sure if that's what I'm doing wrong.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Note that if you're aiming for the Taiwanese version, it will likely be quite different than what we presented in this video. Do check out the recipes that we linked in the description if that's what you're after :) If you want the Sichuan version though, I strongly believe that you won't be disappointed with the no-holds-barred recipe we articulated here. It's got... a ton of complexity.

[@bangastar8921]

Thanks for the most detailed video. Everything well explained. Keep it up.

[@brfoley76]

🥰 you have BlueBoy, Remember Me at the top of your playlist... that's almost as great as the beef noodle soup

[@yukuhana]

After this video, my trips to Flushing NY for beef noodle shops are ever more worth it. No way can I make this my self!!

[@IAmTheUltimateRuler]

the final boss of #teamcrispyegg

[@mikkymaulenreyes6877]

omg that cup ramen is the same they sell here in chile ! finally i got something from your videos ahhaha. IT'S DELICIOUS I AGREE!

[@haruzanfuucha]

Yes! Finally the original Sichuanese beef noodle soup and not the Taiwanese one.

[@Ramen7810]

This is so good it tastes just like the soup I get in Chinatown ❤

[@BaronBirchum]

A Brighter Summer Day 😍

[@vampireadjacent]

that super crispy egg tho!! definitely need to learn how to make that

[@louisphilips6169]

I've been looking for this recipe for ages... thanks for sharing..

[@madisonmalena]

The cherry on top for this vid was the cohost dying to try some too at 16:27

[@mobo5544]

That chili bean paste ‚pixian douban‘. Is this douban jiang? I often read about doubanjiang in recipes and could never figure out what exactlY it is..

[@thierry-manirithson7012]

Been looking for a doable recipe for this for like forever

[@Morghena]

I love how I have no issue finding Tsaoko here in Serbia (local Chinese mall/market), but I have yet to see the sichuan pepper xD Will go check again next week probably

[@elauraholydayyy447]

My auntie Heidi is Tiwannese and when i was young, around 11+12, i would go to Travis afb when they were stationed there. and she would cook for my uncle David and me and my friend who road the bus there with me and to this day i can say it was !one of a kind! !amaizing! my uncle has gone on to become an aficionado in many things Asian food and cooking, when he and his wife come to Nor Cal here, they come with a " list " and for 7 or 10 days its Chinese and Asian food every day, its fun!! i love dim sum best ♡ this year ive discovered Chinese broccoli, with the thick stems, its a staple now for me, i go to Lions Asian Foods Mkt to obtain and i never skip the mushroom section. Your show here is nothing short of wonderful , TY 1000 ♡♡♡

[@sixbeesix]

I see beef noodle soup I click.

[@theluffy99]

I shouldn't be watching this while I am on a diet lol! I miss eating braised beef noodles!

[@artquest101]

Brighter Summer Day hell yeah!!!

[@archiekleung]

wonderful piece of research.

[@jiaweiluo8349]

I am surprised you did not mention the Mr. Lee chain restaurants in China. Opened by a Taiwanese immigrant from the US, they are originally named American California Noodle King. They are the go-to place for Taiwanese beef noodles in mainland China. Many people, including me, connect them with railway station memories since young.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

California beef noodle soup is like another whole video, lol.

[@maynardlim7812]

wow! this channel has really grown in subscriber count over the past half a year!

[@meantares]

Your dog is so cute! Great video as always! Love it.

[@jamesreynold6711]

I’m not sure if you’ll see this comment, but is there any single book that does a good job of breaking down the history and associations of Chinese food culture, much in the way you did in the introductory section on Taiwan and the military dependent villages? I’d love to get a really good insight into as much of Chinese food as possible! (I understand it’s a huge huge country with so much variation but you never know!)

[@spookyghostwriter3110]

Seeing that package of KangSifu makes me really sad- all of the local Chinese supermarkets in my area mysteriously dropped the basic (red braised beef, pork rib etc) KSF instant noodles seemingly overnight and have replaced them with… something called 白象? Would not mind a bowl of hot soup to take my mind off the world regardless.

[@李莲-n4r]

KSF (and other brands) used disgusting fermented cabbage for one of its products. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXjGg3iLnsmjZqs

[@Carloshache]

Dried yellow peas do not have to be in the fridge when they soak. They do very well in room temperature / the pea soup Master

[@Astrobrewster]

I love this one. Thank you so much

[@grizzzlyspawn]

lmao love that you have the blue boy mix in your reccomends. Remember me is one of my favorite songs.

[@alonshalit5778]

Gorgeous work.

[@msjuier]

both noodles look so damn good... but the DOGGG omg it's so cute T^T

[@IOweMillions326]

I would love for you guys to cover something from Fujian or Xiamen specifically. I love your videos and want to impress my girlfriend’s family

[@manoqueenz]

Translating your last name to Chinese will surely impress them, Kyle

[@cpa314]

After eating "Sichuan style" beef noodles in Taiwan, I was really excited to try it in Sichuan. I ended up being slightly disappointed though as the actual Sichuan version is quite different. Overall, I found the Sichuan version of beef noodles quite a bit oilier, less big chunks of and lower quality beef, and less depth of flavor in the broth compared to versions I had in Taiwan.

[@UniquelyUnseen]

Hey Chris (or anyone knowledgeable), I recently bought 3 packages of red braise base from Lee Kum Kee. I figured it could be used as a sauce replacement until the recipe on the back said to slow cook pork for 4 hours. Can something like this be used in making a variant on your instant version? The thing I'm slightly worried about is it somehow not being ready to eat once heated out of the bag or less perishable than the week long version you and Steph made. Cheers!

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

You can also freeze the red braise beef we made. I'd separate out each portion (3 tbsp beef, 2 tbsp liquid), tie it up in a bag. Dump into some boiling water (or stock if going that route) to heat it up LKK's red braise is a Cantonese style one, so the taste would be quite different. Feel free to play around with stuff though

[@UniquelyUnseen]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified I figured it would be a Cantonese style.. Will endeavor to make it myself. Thanks so much for getting back to me, I really appreciate it!

[@PantherAssaultCannon]

Great vid. Always love noodle dishes.

[@inquisitive1]

wow i'd bet that the home cooked red braised beef broth liquid only bowls of this dish is way better than the stock one

[@AXJNSL]

Nice 👍......Borneo Sabah version beef noodle nice too..

[@lymh4850]

South China Normal University used to have one Taiwanese restaurant near its west gate, not sure if it's still there.

[@smooth1boy]

Great video as always. Thanks

[@AN_Productions14]

Great video! Your soup videos are my favorite thing on your channel. excellent stuff! Wondering would you ever do a video on the Shaanxi Province flatbread in Lamb soup (Yang Rou Pao Mo)?

[@larrysheetmetal]

don't know about those beans but just made chi chi beans with cumin a little tomato paste oyster sauce and the lo ga mai brand (one with woman on face and lid ) of fermented black beans in chili oil and same brand spicy bean paste , talk about good!!!!

[@Name-ot3xw]

Can confirm that a Sichuan food is the best. Some of their chefs go a tad overboard with the spice level, but that’s ok too.

[@cowdoc123]

Would love to watch you cook and share a meal with you

[@AnugerahFirdauzi]

Damn, I think you guys are ready to open your own noodle shop

[@kaisenji]

If you have an big Indian market nearby, they often have some of the spices mention. :D

[@Aezandris]

I don't know if it's been asked before or if you have recipes/ressources for this, but would it be possible to learn more about claypot rice? Like the one from the 'goldthread' video? Looks delicious! Thanks for your work

[@AXJNSL]

1 Chinese dish originally from Malaysia Bak Kut Teh is a Super Suop

[@upt746]

Can you please do a pipa duck (guitar duck) recipe please 🥺 I've been looking all over for a video explain it but I only trust you guys

[@loonathefoxgirl6375]

What are the instant noodles called? I want to try this whole recipe but also get some of those noodles

[@funfnir3646]

Thank you for doing this video! As a Chinese national growing up in north China, I actually thought the noodle soup came from Taiwan XD

[@shengma8472]

When I was a kid this box cost 5kuai but my daily allowance was 1mao 😅 so it was a luxury if you have a box

[@cookingwithmimmo]

非常好的視頻，我非常喜歡

[@GirlsLovebyFlo]

Here in Malaysia we have a noodle called Hakka Noodles with Meat Sauce. The noodles are thicker than wonton noodles and eggy in flavour. Do you have a recipe for this? I've always wondered what it taste like in China

[@junkname9983]

I've never had an egg in my beef noodle soup in taiwan. I don't know where that came from but I don't think that's very typical at all.

[@curtjohnson1635]

What is the brand name of that instant noodle bowl? I would like to try it, I tried Google Translating a screenshot but it only translated the “braised beef noodles” part. Thanks!

[@martianhighminder4539]

From what I can tell, it's Master Kong/Kang or Kang Shi Fu brand.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yup, it's Master Kong's Red Braised Beef. Doesn't seem to be overly available online from a quick google, but it might be available at your local Asian supermarket

[@rhijulbec1]

Hello my Friends! 🎉🎊HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎉🎊 Steph and Chris! (I know it's late but ~ "better late than never", right?) I've not been around online much~I had a wicked reaction to my third covid shot and haven't had a lot of energy. I can only say if what I had was a reaction and not the "real" thing, I'd go to the ends of the earth to avoid it! It. Was. Awful! 😢😢 (But I'd take more if I have to in order to keep my loved ones safe) I hope both of you had a great xmas and New Year with friends and family! It's really quite a treat to watch these "anthology" videos, where you show how to make the various components of the dish. Very informative! One question please. Is this in any way like pho? I can't remember if pho is in the Chinese or Taiwanese menu. Or is that specific to Vietnam and Cambodia? Time for praise! ☺ You're STILL the best channel out there for both the traditional Chinese dishes, with a history lesson and how to substitute ingredients and make them yourself! You've managed to make a real go of it here on YT and I cannot tell you how proud I am of both of you. You have something special here. And I'm glad to have been along for the ride! Jenn 🇨🇦 👋 👋 Hello from Canada!!! 😉

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

It's been a while! How've you been?

[@rhijulbec1]

We're doing okay! Considering we're hopefully coming out of the pandemic soon~we're excited to go on to our "new normal" ~which includes probable yearly immunisation like the flu. Worried about the state of affairs right now~but so is everyone. When the word NUCLEAR is thrown around willy nilly, one does take pause for thought. Winter has been nuts here! In one week we had above 0C to -21C! Wind, rain, hail, freezing rain and a blizzard, 😁! It's crazy! We have a lot of snow about and unfortunately the rain on the frozen ice made walking in some places treacherous! But, as a born and raised Canuck, we take it on the chin and throw another log on the fire, lol. Gas has gone up to almost $8CAD a gallon! That's around $1.50 per litre here! Ridiculous. I can't imagine how people with kids cope today! Groceries have gone up an average of anywhere from 8 to 20%. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm bitching, but we've been through the ringer for coming up 3 years now, haven't we. I'm glad to see you're travelling again. Good to hear from you! Be well. And keep doing what you're doing. You've found the secret to success! Again, super proud of you! 💖 Jenn