Beef Noodle, Stewed Beef, and More (牛肉麵, and 滷牛肉, 滷蛋, 滷菜)

Part A- Stewed Beef (滷牛肉)

1. Get a hunk of Beef Shank Boneless (牛腱子, ~2 lbs) from any Chinese market (Try to get beef shank without beef tandon, 牛筋. In the picture to the left, beef tandon is the white trunk-like feature at the left end of the shank). Rinse the beef and cut it into 2-3 large pieces that could fit nicely into a larger stew pot (12 inch in diameter or bigger); 
2. Blanch the Beef Shank pieces for 2-3 minutes (drain the water, and rinse the meat and the pot thoroughly), then immerse the pieces in clean water in the stew pot (i.e., add water to cover the beef shank); 
3. Add the following into the stew pot: 1 cinnamon roll (cut into 4 segments), 6-8 cloves of garlic (with skin taken off, crushed slightly with the flat side of a chef's knife, no need to cut), 2 stalks of green onion (cut into segments of 2"), 3-4 slices of ginger, Star Anise (2-3 pieces, 八角), Chinese Pepper (25-30 pieces, 花椒), Five-Spices (五香粉, 1/2 tsp, don't overdo this item!), Sugar (2 tsp), Rice Wine (2 Tbsp), Soy Sauce (8 Tbsp, ~= Half Cup, half with the kind of soy sauce in darker color, i.e., 老抽) Note- Soy Sauce provides the color and salt, no need to add salt at this point, season to taste, with salt, at the end (add 1/4 tsp a time).  Note- Get all the spices from a Chinese market. Also, I resisted the temptation to add more modern ingredients, such as Onion, Tomatoes, and Carrots (to preserve the more traditional taste of Chinese Beef Noodle). For those of us who enjoy spicy food, dry hot peppers can be added too. 
4. Bring the pot to boil, and let simmer for at least 2.5 hours (add 1 hour for the beef tandon part). The beef is considered ready if a chopstick can easily poke through the beef chunk. Cook for another 0.5 hour and try poking again, if the beef does not pass the easily-poke-through test. Monitor the water level hourly, add water to pot after 2 hours, to keep the meat at least halfway immersed. Note- Stewed beef can be chilled, sliced, and served independently as a cold dish.  Have some bean curds and fried tofu stewed (along withe the eggs, as in Part B), chilled, and sliced, to go into the cold dish.  Garnish the cold dish （滷菜） with chopped green onion or cilantro.
5. Filter out all the spices from the stock soup with a strainer, and discard.

Part B- Stewed Eggs (滷蛋)

1. Boil a dozen of eggs- Immerse a dozen of eggs in a separate pot with cold water, add 1/2 tsp salt to water (make the eggs easier to peel), bring the pot to boil and let simmer for 3 minutes, turn off heat, and let the eggs sit for 10 more minutes; add cold water to the pot, or just wait till the water cools down. Note- The moment I learned this method online was when I realized that I didn't even know how to boil an egg, literally :-). 
2. Peel and place the eggs in the stew pot for at least an hour. Note- Stewed eggs can be prepared with the spices added to water as described in Part A Step 3, even without the beef shank. Simply stew for an hour, and let sit for an hour or two, to soak in the flavor. 

Part C- Prepare the Noodle and some Vegetable with green leaves

1. Use any dry or fresh noodle of your preference, cook the noodle in a separate pot according to the noodle's cooking instructions, or till the core of the noodle is still slightly chewy (fully cooked, but not over cooked); 
2. Steam or blanch some vegetable with green leaves (your choice); 

Part D- Beef Noodle (put all ingredients together)

1. Take a piece of cooked beef shank out and cut into either thicker slices or bite size chunks; 
2. (Beef Soup) Take a portion of the thickened stock soup from the stew pot, and add 1-2 cups of water (season to taste with salt, add 1/4 tsp salt a time, at this point), bring the pot to boil; 
3. Place cooked noodle in a bowl, add steamed vegetables, beef slices (or chunks), and a stewed egg on top of the noodle; 
4. Pour beef soup into the bowl, add 1 Tbsp of Stir-Fried Pickled Mustard Green (炒酸菜, see Part B in the Sep. 9 post). Here is a picture of the end product.