Easy Asian Beef & Noodle Soup

One more recipe before I unleash the first of the Regency ball pictures–and it’s a good one. Drawing from my usual resource, this recipe is a fantastic little find. Inspired by Vietnamese Pho, this brothy soup is chock full of tasty tidbits, and the little bit of sriracha stirred in at the end is absolutely essential in taking it from a basic broth flavor to something satisfyingly complex and interesting. Picking out the pieces of steak, bok choy and mushrooms with a pair of chopsticks is (dare I say) really fun, and I will definitely be coming back to this soup. Thanks Mary Helen for creating such a great recipe!

It makes 4 generous servings, but could be stretched to 5, especially with extra noodles.

Let’s get down with our inner Asian side.

Ingredients

(Serves 4)

14 oz thin rice noodles

6 cups beef stock

3 TBS dark soy sauce

1 tsp grated ginger

3 TBS peanut oil

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

4 cloves garlic

1 large white onion, minced

3 baby bok choy, chopped

1 lb NY strip steak, sliced thinly

1 bunch scallions

1 TBS sesame oil

1/3 cup shredded basil

2-4 tsp sriracha, to taste

1 tsp chicken bouillon, to taste

1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste

Any thin noodle would work, but I used these. They had been hanging out in my fridge for a few months and it was time to put them to good use.

Cook the noodles according to the package directions. My fresh noodles just needed a couple minutes in hot water.

Drain them and set them aside.

Here are the rest of ingredients that will be appearing on scene today:

Give the ginger a rough grate–a microplane zester works wonders in a situation like this.

In a large pot, combine the beef stock, ginger, and soy sauce . . .

. . . and bring it to a simmer.

In the meantime, give the onion a nice mince.

Heat the peanut oil in a large skillet and brown half of the onion, the garlic, and the mushrooms. Give the mushrooms a nice go-’round with some salt and pepper.

Within a few minutes, they will become brown and beautiful.

Add them to the soup–but only after sneaking a taste!

While the mushrooms were sizzlin’, I gave the bok choy a rough chop.

Bok choy is such a beautiful vegetable–the slices look like flowers, don’t you think?

Brown the rest of the onion and the bok choy with a little more oil if necessary . . .

. . . and then add them to the soup as well.

Slice the steak thinly and on the diagonal.

I was a little concerned with the amount of fat in the steak, but it turned the pieces into melt-in-your-mouth morsels of glory.

Add the strips to the soup.

Thank you, New York Strip. Thank you, cow. Thank you, marbling.

The meat should cook within a couple minutes; stir in the sriracha to taste.

Don’t fear the sriracha! It will add a lovely depth, so please don’t skip it–you can adjust to your spiciness level, but the flavor it adds is not to be missed.

Plus, if you skip the sriracha I might start hyperventilating, and no one wants that.

Now this is very important: taste!!

Add the chicken bouillon if you need a little more flavor (I did), and sriracha if you want a little more oomph.

Give the scallions a quick chop.

And do a quick mince on the basil.

Stir in the scallions and sesame oil . . .

. . . add the basil, and salt and pepper to taste.

Lovely! Give it another taste just to double check the seasoning. If you underseason the soup it will be very ‘meh.’ If it’s tasting thin, that can easily be changed with more sriracha and/or chicken or beef bouillon. Yes, I know I’m beating a dead horse–but seasoning things correctly (correctly = to your taste) is a powerful thing. It has transformational magic.

Divide the noodles into bowls and pour the hot soup over them.

Serve with both chopsticks and a soup spoon.

Enjoy!

It may splatter some as you scoop the noodles out of the liquid, so diners beware!

Am I allowed to just fish for the pieces of New York strip and eat them? All? One by one?

No? Next time I might add 8 lbs of steak instead of just 1 lb. Everybody to the limit.

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35 thoughts on “Easy Asian Beef & Noodle Soup”

  3. TheKitchenWitch

    Pho is my favorite comfort food! One thing I do for an extra layer of flavor is to add a star anise to the broth, simmer for 10 minutes, and then remove it. It adds a special something! Yours looks delish!

  5. Julie M.

    Ok, Jenna. My turn to want to come and have dinner at your house. This looks sooooo good. We’re definitely talking my type of comfort food here. Beautiful recipe!

  8. Veronica

    Oh, this is so slurp-worthy! I’m droooooling and not even hungry. I go gaga for Asian soup bowl, especially when adorned with those nifty little Asian soup spoons. I really need me one of those.

  10. Mary Helen (@MaryMakesDinner)

    I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Jenna! I love your step-by-step photos, and your tips on tasting for seasoning. I agree, it totally makes or breaks a soup! I’m looking forward to exploring your blog. Congrats on mommyhood!

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  14. Shannon

    I made this for dinner and it was wonderful! My husband asked if I could make a second batch later this week. This recipe is definitely a keeper! Thanks so much!

  15. Beverly Jensen

    Your recipe looks amazing and loved the step-by-step photos!!! Can’t wait to try this, my husband loves Vietnamese Pho soup as well. Thanks for sharing!!!

  16. Pingback: pho for you - rice noodles, beef stock, soy sauce, grated ginger, mushrooms, garlic, white onion, baby bok choy, thinkly sliced strip steak, scallions, sesame oil, shredded basil - Zuzi Cooks

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  20. Donna DeWitt

    I can’t find the thin noodles, so I use a wider noodle. Portabella mushrooms are a great substitution. I also use red pepper flakes. This soup is so good!

  21. NolaPup

    Just saw this on Pinterest the other day and I made it tonight. It was delicious! I used everything except the bouillon cube because I didn’t want to buy a lot and never used them, but it was still very flavorful. Thanks for this easy and yummy recipe!

  22. Michelle

    I made this recipe about 3-4 months ago and it was amazing!! I forgot to pin it and just spent the last half hour looking for it – so happy I found it and definitely saving it this time. Thanks for the great recipe!! 🙂

    1. Jenna Post author

      Yay! I’m so glad you found it again, and loved it enough to search for it so long! Thanks Michelle. =)

  23. Sandy

    I too made this awhile back. Loved it. Wrote it down. Lost it. Sadly I could not find the pin. Searched and searched every scrap of paper in the house and searched on Pinterest for several months. Couldn’t find it. So I searched under Pho with bok choy just now and Eureka! Found it! I was not giving up. This recipe is that good.

  24. Torrey

    Made this for dinner tonight…I crave soups the minute fall hits but my husband doesn’t consider soup a meal ha…I thought this would be a different enough that it would interest him…we both LOVED it! I left out the mushrooms cuz neither of us likes them but it was great without them.

  25. Stephanie

    Hello!

    This look so delicious and comforting! I can’t wait to make this tomorrow.

    I have every ingredient except peanut oil, would that be ok?

    Thanks!

    1. Jenna Post author

      Hi Stephanie,
      Yes, any oil you have around should work just fine (canola, vegetable, olive). I hope you enjoy it!

      1. Stephanie

        Made this last night, put extra extra Sriracha!
        Didn’t put the chicken bouillon but I felt it probably would’ve been better. Next time I will, did you use the cube or powder? I only have the powder.

        None the less, it was so delicious! Thank you for the recipe, will definitely be in my dinner rotation!

        By the way, just finished having leftovers for lunch at work! So delicious! 😉

      2. Jenna Post author

        I use both cubes and powder and my regular cooking–either should be fine. Glad you liked it, the night of as well as the leftovers! =)

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