Fragrant Beef Noodle Soup

Whilst my presentation and photography leave little to be desired, this was actually a really flavourful dish. I amped up the veg from the original recipe adding baby corn and mushrooms and it was a really satisfying dinner.

Fragrant Beef Noodle Soup (from Waitrose Recipe Card)
(Serves 2)

100g rice noodles
2 beef stock cubes
1 small onion, finely chopped
3cm piece root ginger, peeled and thickly sliced
1 red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
230g frying steak, trimmed of any visible fat
8 baby corn, halved
150g beansprouts
2 pak choi, thickly sliced
handful enoki or shimiji mushrooms
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve

Place the noodles in a large bowl, cover with a kettleful of boiling water and leave to soak for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice to make sure the noodles don’t stick together.

While the noodles are soaking, place the stock cubes, onion, ginger, chilli, cinnamon, star anise and 750ml boiling water in a large pan and bring back to the boil. Simmer for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, cook the steak in a non-stick frying or griddle pan for 2–3 mins on each side, until nicely browned but still a little pink in the centre. Transfer to a plate, let it rest for 5 mins, then slice thinly.

Stir the baby corn into the broth  and cook for 2 mins, then add the beansprouts, pak choi and mushrooms and cook for 2 mins or so more until the vegetables are tender.

Drain the noodles and divide between 2 bowls. Ladle over the broth and vegetables then top with the sliced beef and coriander. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.