Red-Cooked Beef Noodles

This is one of my favorite dishes, one that I ate often when I lived in Taiwan. My husband and children also love it.

Red-Cooked Beef Noodles

from: Chinese Snacks, Wei-Chuan cooking book

1 1/2 pounds rump roast of beef

Mixture 1:
2 stalks of green onion
2 slices ginger root
3 cloves garlic

Mixture 2:
1 tsp. "hot bean paste" (la do ban jiang)
1 Tbl. Black bean paste (he do ban jiang)
1/2 C soy sauce

Mixture 3:
6 C water
1/2 tsp MSG (optional)
3 sections star anise

1 1/2 lb precooked noodles
1/2 lb green cabbage (I like to use Swiss Chard, and I cut it in manageable size pieces.)

Mixture 4:
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbl. soy sauce
1 Tbl chopped green onion
6 C hot stock

1. Cut beef rump into bite-size pieces; smash ingredients in mixture 1.
2. Heat pan and 3 T. oil. Stir-fry mixtures 1 and 2 until fragrant. Add mixture 3 and beef pieces. Place this mixture in a pressure cooker and cook 30 minutes over medium heat. This is what is known as "Red-cooked beef" (I don't own a pressure cooker, so I cook it in a crock pot until the meat is tender. You could also cook it on the stove top, simmering for one hour.)
3. Prepare mixture 4 and portion into serving bowls. Add hot stock, noodles and green cabbage. Portion red-cooked beef and some of its broth on top. Serve.