Name: Five-Spice Beef and Noodle Soup
Total time: 30 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Asian, Asia
Ingredients: 8 cups low-sodium chicken broth; 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger; 2 garlic cloves, minced; 2 tablespoons fish sauce; 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder; 4 (3-ounce) packages ramen noodles, broken into large pieces, seasoning packets discarded; 1 small flank steak (about 1 pound), cut lengthwise into thirds and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices; 1/2 head medium Napa cabbage, sliced thin crosswise (about 4 cups); 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Why This Recipe Works

To craft our own beef noodle soup recipe, we kept the noodles from a store-bought instant ramen package, discarding the seasoning packet, which tasters found was far too salty. Instead, we turned to five-spice powder to flavor our broth. For the beef, tasters preferred flavorful flank steak to other cuts of meat.

Before You Begin

Five-spice powder is a fragrant spice mix that is used in many Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. It usually consists of cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fennel seeds, and Sichuan peppercorns.

Instructions

Bring broth, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, and five-spice powder to boil in Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until flavors meld, about 10 minutes.

Add noodles to simmering broth and cook, stirring occasionally, until nearly tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in beef and cabbage and simmer until cabbage is wilted and beef is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add cilantro. Serve.