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hype dish, bao, beef noodles, noodle soup
Photograph: Andy Parsons

Hype dish: Bao Noodle Shop’s beefy, brothy, healing noods

As the brains behind Bao open a new noodle joint, the founder talks us through its new signature dish

Chiara Wilkinson
Written by
Chiara Wilkinson
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When Erchen Chang launched a chaotic Bao pop-up at Hackney’s Pacific Social Club in 2013, she set a standard for authentic Taiwanese food in the city. Joints in Soho, Borough and Fitzrovia followed, all serving up these now-iconic steamed buns. But Bao has something different up its sleeve. Its Noodle Shop opened this month, bringing with it a new must-eat. ‘Beef noodle is a national dish of Taiwan,’ says Chang. ‘The key is the balance of beef and chilli heat.’ She gives us the lowdown on what goes into it.

The beef

‘Both the beef shortrib and the beef cheek are cooked in the same way: marinated in a soy mixture and steamed overnight so that they’re tender.’

The broth

‘We make a stock using aged beef bone, roast veg and spices. We also add a fermented broad-bean paste called doubanjiang. It reinforces the spicy flavour.’

The veg

‘We ferment our own Chinese mustard greens for more than a month to provide an acidity that balances the fatty beefiness. It makes the flavours work in harmony.’

The butter

‘This is inspired by a noodle place in Taipei called Lin Dong Fang. It’s made by rendering beef fat and infusing it with chilli and spices. It makes a neon mix that we melt in.’

The noodles

‘Our noodles are long and thick. We make them in our Bao bakery with wheat flour imported from Taiwan. They are pressed seven times and then rested before cutting.’

1 Redchurch St. £12.50.

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