BEEF NOODLES ACROSS TWO BORDERS
This is a wonderfully comforting dish inspired by both a delicious food stall in my home town and one in Thailand.
Makes 2 exquisite bowls
For the beef broth
1.5kg beef bones
5cm of cinnamon stick
30g fresh root ginger, cut into thick slices, unpeeled
2 star anise
8 cloves
1.7 litres water
1½ tbsp chicken stock powder
200g mooli or daikon (here ), peeled and cut into small chunks (optional)
50g calves liver, trimmed, very thinly sliced and covered with cold water until required
100g prime beef fillet, very thinly sliced, at room temperature
few pinches of sea salt
2 x 100g balls of wonton noodles
vegetable oil, for dressing
1 spring onion, finely chopped
4–5 celery leaves (from the top of celery heads)
Bird’s-eye Chilli and Soy Dip (here ) or dried red chilli flakes, to serve
Preheat the oven to 200°C /180°C fan/400°F /Gas 6. Place the beef bones in a roasting tin and roast for 20 minutes.
Put the roasted beef bones, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, water and chicken stock powder in a large saucepan and bring them to the boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 1½ hours. After 15 minutes of simmering, remove the cinnamon.
Add the mooli, if using, to the pan after the broth has been simmering for 1½ hours, and simmer for a further 20–30 minutes, until softened. If you are not using the radishes, ignore this step and just simmer the broth for 1¾ hours.
Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a separate pan and set aside, discarding everything left in the sieve except the mooli, if using, – place these in the broth.
Drain the calves liver and pat it dry. Season the beef fillet and calves liver with a pinch of salt and set aside.
Bring the broth to the boil and season with salt to taste.
Bring a separate pan of water to the boil, add a pinch of salt and cook the noodles for a couple of minutes until tender but still slightly al dente. Drain in a colander. If the noodles are a little slimy, keep them in the colander and pour over some boiling water to get rid of the excess starch. Dress the noodles with a little vegetable oil to keep them from sticking and divide them between 2 bowls.
Arrange slices of beef fillet on top of the noodles.
Place all the slithers of calves liver in a large slotted spoon, then lower them into the broth and cook for 10–15 seconds. Lift them out and arrange them on top of noodles.
Fish the mooli, if using, out of the broth and place them around the meat in the bowls. Make sure the broth is still boiling and ladle it generously over the beef and liver and garnish generously with spring onion and celery leaves.
Serve immediately with Chilli and Soy Dip or a large pinch of dried red chilli flakes.
TIP: You can get beef bones from your local butcher. Ask them to chop the bones into smaller pieces so you can fit them in your pan.
