Beef and coriander rice noodle soup
Tender beef flash-cooked in clear broth over silky flat rice noodles, piled with fresh coriander and spring onion — fragrant, uplifting and appetising on a muggy morning.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Boil
- Easy
Why it suits you: Close, stuffy Grain Buds weather leaves a Qi-stagnant constitution irritable, tight-chested and off its food. Coriander is pungent and fragrant, moving qi and whetting the appetite, tangerine peel regulates qi and beef nourishes the spleen and stomach without heating; the aroma of a clear noodle soup alone helps you unwind.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min- 1Marinate the beef with half the soy sauce, the cornflour and 1 tbsp water for 10 minutes.
- 2Bring the stock to the boil with the ginger and tangerine peel and simmer for 5 minutes.
- 3Blanch the noodles in boiling water for 30 seconds, drain and divide between bowls.
- 4Bring the stock back to the boil, add the beef and turn off the heat as soon as it changes colour. Pour over the noodles, add the coriander and spring onion and season with the rest of the soy sauce and salt.
Cautions
- Cook the beef until it changes colour rather than eating it rare; go easy on beef stock during a gout flare.
Chef's tips
- Slice the beef thinly across the grain and add a little water to the marinade for silkier slices. Wash the coriander roots well and simmer them in the stock for extra fragrance.
The TCM view
Coriander is pungent and warm, moving qi with its fragrance and aiding digestion. Beef is sweet and neutral, nourishing the spleen and stomach and boosting qi and blood. Tangerine peel regulates qi and strengthens the spleen, ginger and spring onion unblock yang and settle the stomach, and rice noodles are gentle on the stomach. Fragrant and freeing, nourishing without clogging — suited to Qi stagnation.
