Westlake beef soup - 2 recipes to whet your appetite

Westlake beef soup is quite a famous soup, at least to me.

Outside of China, it is not as popular and well known as the perennial favorite: hot and sour soup.

Both are classic thickened soups.

The soup thickener most commonly used is cornstarch but it can be substituted with arrowroot powder. I found 2 fairly simple recipes, not a lot of chopping or cutting required.

Westlake beef soup Version 1

This version is a simplified version with only 2 key ingredients: beef and egg white. If you are trying to experiment with thickening and egg dropping, this is a good recipe to try.

Ingredients
225g beef fillet
2 egg whites
950ml soup stock
1 tablespoon chopped spring onions
2 tablespoon of cornstarch mixture
White pepper to taste

Seasoning for beef
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cooking wine (optional)
1 tablespoon soy sauce

It is also good to remove the pot from the heat before adding the egg white to prevent overcooking.

Directions

1. Clean the beef and cut into really thin strips (against the grain)
2. Marinate the beef with the seasoning for beef and let it stand for about 15 minutes. Longer if you have more time
3. Beat the egg white to break up any lumps. Avoid beating too vigorously. We do not want to incorporate too much air, just to break the whites up a little.
4. Bring soup stock to a boil, add beef. Stir to separate the beef strips
5. Bring to a boil again and stir in the cornstarch mixture
6. Remove from heat and drizzle the egg white into soup, stirring the soup gently
7. Use a pair of chopsticks or fork to guide the beaten egg white into the soup if you are new at this.
8. Add the pepper and sprinkle chopped spring onions just before serving

Westlake beef soup version 2

This recipe calls for fried dough fritter (you tiao), if it is hard to find in your locale, substitute with white bread cubes or wonton wrappers. Both have to be fried to obtain crispiness.

Ingredients
200g tender beef fillet
3 leaves lettuce
1 fried dough fritter
2 stalks coriander
6 cups soup stock
4 tbsp cornstarch solution
Salt, pepper and sesame seed oil to taste

Marinate
1 tbsp cooking wine
1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Directions

1. Slice the beef fillet thinly and mix well with marinate
2. Julienne the lettuce leaves and place into serving bowl
3. Cut the fried dough fritter into small pieces, fry them till they are crispy
4. Dice the coriander
5. Bring the soup stock to a boil, add the beef slices and salt to taste
6. Drizzle the cornstarch solution into the soup to thicken the soup
7. Once the soup thickens, pour into the serving bowl and over the julienned lettuce

Sprinkle pepper and sesame seed oil and top with fried dough fritter pieces

Want to use this recipe on your blog or online journal? Go ahead but do include the text below. Highlight, copy and paste.
Recipe source: <a href="http://www.homemade-chinese-soups.com/westlake-beef-soup.html">Westlake beef soup</a>

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