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Beef noodle soup is one of my favorite dishes and I've tried several recipes. The one I'm sharing below is what I've come to prefer - not too spicy yet very flavorful. I especially enjoy the subtle tomato taste and use several fresh tomatoes in this recipe. Making beef noodle soup in the Instant Pot is also a lot faster than cooking over the stove. I save about 2 hours using the Instant Pot. The only noticeable difference is that the tomatoes are still fully intact when cooked in an Instant Pot. When cooking on a slow simmer on the stove, the tomatoes tend to disintegrate. Either way, I don't mind the various ingredients still floating in the broth after the soup is done cooking. They have all absorbed the yummy flavors from all the ingredients.
Beef Recommendation
I've also tried different types of beef. Both the beef stew packaged meat from Costco and beef round come out tasting the same. They are soft and fall apart, but are also lean and don't seem to absorb the flavors from the broth. I've also tried beef brisket, which is a lot tastier but way fattier. A lot of the recipes use beef shank and it's worth using that cut of meat instead of substituting. I also recommend flash boiling the meat to remove excess scum in the broth.
Spice Level
While I enjoy spicy food, I can't handle too much spice. This recipe is mildly spicy; you can feel some heat but it is not overpowering. If you enjoy a spicier soup, consider adding 2 tbsp of chili bean paste, 4 dried red chilis, cut into small pieces, and 1 tbsp of Sichuan peppercorn. You may even want to toast the dried red chilis and Sichuan peppercorns in a sauce pan over low heat to enhance the flavors. If using Sichuan peppercorns, I recommend putting them in a small pouch so that they aren't floating around in the broth. It gets annoying having to dodge them or scoop them out while eating.
This recipe yields around 6 servings.
Ingredient
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1 tbsp chili bean paste
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5 pieces star anise
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6 sliced pieces of fresh ginger
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1.5 pounds beef shank, cut into small cubes
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1 yellow onion, cut into wedges
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6 garlic cloves, smashed
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¼ cup dark soy sauce
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6-7 small tomatoes, cut into wedges
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2 pieces cut up dried chilis
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½ cup soy sauce
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8 cups water
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1/3 cup rice wine
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1 tbsp white sugar
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2 stalks of green onions, cut into 2” pieces
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2 pieces cut up dried red chilis
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1/2 cup dark soy sauce
Instructions
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Cut up beef pieces and flash boil. Then remove and rinse in cold water. Set aside in a strainer to remove excess water
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On Saute setting, add oil to coat bottom of pot, then add garlic and ginger. Cook until fragrant. Add onion wedges and green onion until wedges turn translucent.
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Add tomatoes and beef, mix. Then add chili bean paste, sugar, soy sauces, rice wine and mix well.
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Add water, star anise, cinnamon stick and dried chilis
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Switch Instant Pot mode to “Meat/Stew” option and pressure cook for 1 hr 40 mins
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When timer is at 15 mins, start cooking your noodles. If using bok choy, add to the cooking noodles when the noodles are ~ 1min away from finish
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When Instant Pot timer goes off, do quick release to depressurize
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Put noodles and bok choy in bowl, then add beef noodle soup from Instant Pot and serve!