Taiwanese Beef Stew Noodle Soup

Beef: you may use the cheapest steak, such as seven-bone. Little fat portions are good for stew.
Stew vegetables: you may use the "stew mix" frozen vegetable bags or fresh vegetables. Usually, they are carrots, onions, and potato. Vegetables are to absorb the excessive grease in the stew. Depending on your taste, the amount of vegetables is roughly the same as that of the beef.
Ginger slices.

On a side dish, prepare:
Star anise, a few.
Soy sauce, 1/3 bowl of soy sauce per pound of beef.
1 tbsp sugar
Hot pepper, a few.
Noodles (any type)

Cut the beef to bite size. Boil the beef for a few minutes with a few ginger slices to remove the odor.

Use a fresh pot, put side dish ingredient in with water. The water should be enough to cover everything. Note, since most of the water will be boiled out in the end, the total amount of soy sauce will determine the saltiness, not the initial ratio. You may experiment it to your taste. Heat to boil.

Keep it boil for a few minutes until the level noticeably drops. Put the beef in. Cover the pot. When it boils again, turn down the heat. Just enough heat to keep it boiling.

Keep it simmer for an hour. Put in the vegetables.

Keep it simmer for another 20 minutes, then turn off the heat. Or boil until beef is tender.

Cook noodles in a separate pot.

In a bowl, combine noodles with beef stew and beef stew soup. Together with minced scallions sprinkle on top or a few cooked bok choy leaves -- a perfection for that long winter season.

tnn.foods.recipes/Jim/2002