Growing up there was one place in Flushing that my family always went to for Taiwanese beef noodle soup. It had a really deep broth that full of flavor from the melt in your mouth meat, spices and preserved vegetables. That place is long gone since Flushing has changed so much over the years. Good restaurants have shuttered making way for new places run by China people. Ever since then with every bowl of beef noodles we bought my dad would say "I'm not eating that soy sauce water.", in Taiwanese of course. I would give him the eye roll and eat my noodles, but the thought was in my head. It certainly wasn't as good as the place before, in fact, it does taste just like someone dumped soy sauce in a pot of water, added a few vegetables a few slices of meat and noodles. Crap I got ripped off! So my mom started making her own. Her version can be hit or miss depending on the cut of meat she decides to use for it. It can be like drinking a bowl of artery clogging lipid soup and
chewing on re-hydrated beef jerky. Avoid using short rib. Brisket can also turn out stringy and chewy. Most restaurants use a cheap cut of meat. At home I use a combo of beef tendons and a special cut of meat from the thigh that is tough and marbled with tendons but once stewed
becomes tender and juicy. The tendons contain a crucial amount of natural gelatin that thickens the soup and gives it a rich mouth feel without the fat coating your mouth and internal organs (and making its home permanently in the tire around your belly).
If you have a crock pot or a pressure cooker
the process is even easier. Its definitely worth making for yourself just to avoid the over powering urge to drink 10 glasses of water after all that sodium and MSG. (Sorry too lazy to write a recipe. If you really want to know how to make it email me)
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