Quickie Beef Noodles Recipe

There are many versions of beef noodle recipes. I combined the local style and Vietnamese style to come out with this quickie beef noodle for my kids to eat for supper. The soup for Vietnamese style beef noodles uses nampla (fish sauce) and has milder spices aroma than our local ones. I use wantan noodles instead of normal yellow noodles because of the former springy texture. There is one very old hawker selling beef noodles at night in Jalan Alor, near to the Corona Inn and he uses wantan noodles for this dish.

Ingredients (for one serving)
Wanton noodles, 1 serving, blanched in hot water

Soup
Beef slices, 8 pcs
Star Anise, 2 pcs
Ginger, 1 pc, crushed
Onions, 1 pc, cut into four
Celery, 1 stalk, cut into slices
Nampla (fish sauce), 1 teaspoon (optional)
Salt to taste
Light soya sauce, 2 table spoons
Dark soya sauce, a few drops
Pepper, a dash or more if you want it to be spicier
Sugar, ½ teaspoon
Water, 3 rice bowls (it would be better if you use beef stock soup)

Garnish
Cilantro, a few sprigs
Basil, 5 leaves (note, I did not use basil and cilantro to garnish my dish in the picture)
Taugeh (bean sprout), ½ cup blanched with hot water

Bring soup to a boil. Add in star anise and ginger. Boil for at least 20 minutes, and then add in the beef slices, onions and celery. Put in the nampla, light soya sauce, dark soya sauce, sugar and salt to taste. Pour the soup over the wanton noodles and garnish with all the garnishing ingredients. Taste great with chilli padi (bird eye chilli) or spicy sour chilli sauce!