In a large pot, place beef ribs and cover with water. Bring to a boil, drain and rinse beef ribs. Discard water
Peel and cut white radish to your desired size I always peel white radish twice to remove the fibrous outer layer
Add 3.5 L of water, broth or combination of the two into a stock pot. Add beef ribs and white radish. Bring to a boil If you have time and would like the beef to be even more flavourful, put the ribs in the oven at 200˚C or 400˚F for 30 minutes first (before doing step 2)
When the broth starts to boil, add the whole beef shank(s). Reduce heat to low
Optional: add 2 tsp Marmite I find that Marmite enhances the beef flavour
Remove the beef shank after 1 hour. The shank can be sliced and eaten on a separate occasion Make a dipping sauce with minced garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, chopped chilis, chopped green onions for thinly sliced beef shank and serve as an appetizer. Slice the beef shank after refrigeration for easier slicing
In a wok or fry pan, add 2 tbsp oil. Add ginger, fry until golden
Add shallots, garlic, 2 star anise and 4 bay leaves. Fry until aromatic
Add 2 tbsp chili bean sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Mix well You may add less or none if you don’t want it spicy but you may need to add more salt or soy sauce to make up the saltiness
Pour the aromatics into the broth and let it simmer on low heat for 4 hours
After 4 hours, skim the fat, taste the broth and make adjustments to taste and colour by using salt, light soy sauce or dark soy sauce. I added 1 tsp dark soy sauce and 1 tsp salt.
Cook noodles as per package instructions
Blanche some vegetables if desired. Set aside
Use a strainer to extract the broth in another pot. We only want the broth to be poured onto the beef noodles
Place cooked noodles on the bottom of a bowl, place bok choy and/or the white radish on the side and place your thin sliced beef on top of the noodles you can also place the beef into a rose shape as long as the broth can cover it thin sliced beef should be at room temperature or else the beef may only be 50% cooked
Bring the beef broth to a boil and pour it onto the beef noodles. Alternatively, you can pour the beef broth into an insulated pitcher/jug and pour it at the dinner table
The beef should be around 70% cooked, or at medium doneness
Serve with pickled mustard greens and ready to eat