4 Chinese Ground Beef Soups

1. Thickened ground beef soup

Ingredients

• 100g ground beef
• 3 dried Chinese mushrooms
• 1 tbsp ground fresh ginger
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp cooking wine
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 cups soup stock
• 2 tbsp cornstarch solution
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley or coriander

Directions

1. Soak the dried Chinese mushrooms in water (room temperature) for about 30 minutes or until the mushrooms are rehydrated
2. Dice them finely
3. Place the ground beef in a mixing bowl
4. Add the salt, ground ginger and cooking wine and mix to marinate the ground beef well
5. Separate the egg yolk from the egg white
6. Add the yolk to the beef mixture and mix in
7. Let the beef stand to marinate for about 10 minutes
8. Heat up the cooking oil in a saucepan
9. Add the diced mushrooms and fry gently for a while
10. Add the ground beef and fry till the beef has turned brown and release some of the fat
11. If you are concerned about the fat, remove some of the excess fat before adding the soup stock
12. Bring the soup stock to a boil
13. Add some salt to season. Taste the soup to make sure you have added enough
14. Pour the cornstarch solution and stir to thicken the soup
15. Once the beef soup has thickened, stream in the egg to create light ribbons of egg flowers
16. Remove from the heat and garnish with the chopped parsley or coriander leaves and pepper
17. Serve hot

2. Beef vegetable soup using leftover roast beef

This beef vegetable soup contains a Chinese vegetable known as Chinese kale or Chinese broccoli 芥兰 (gai lan). The leaves can be quite tough and bitter but the stems are wonderfully crunchy and juicy.

If you can't find Chinese kale or Chinese broccoli, substitute with broccoli stems or kale stems. Peel off the tough outer skin.

Ingredients

• 100g leftover roast beef
• 50g Chinese kale or Chinese broccoli stems
• 2 dried Chinese mushrooms
• 1/2 stalk spring onion
• 1500ml soup stock
• 5 tbsp cornstarch mixture (for thickening)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch (for marinating the beef)
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp cooking wine
• Dash of pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Directions

1. Chop the beef into mince by hand or using a food processor
2. Marinate the beef with 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp cooking wine, dash of pepper and 1 tbsp cornstarch. Mix well.
3. Cut the stems of the Chinese kale into tiny cubes
4. Soak the dried mushrooms to re-hydrate and then cut into tiny cubes
5. Chop the spring onion finely
6. Place soup stock in a big soup pot, add the beef, diced cabbage mustard and mushrooms
7. Bring to a boil quickly
8. Add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp cooking wine, dash of pepper
9. Bring everything to a boil again
10. Thicken the soup with the cornstarch mixture. Do not pour the entire mixture in. Add by the spoonful and stir constantly to mix well
11. When the soup has thickened to a consistency you like, stop adding the cornstarch
12. Beat the egg white
13. Remove the soup from the stove
14. Drizzle the beaten egg white into the soup, give it a good swirl and serve

3. Westlake beef soup with egg white flowers

This version is a simplified one 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 or ground beef
• 2 egg whites
• 950ml soup stock
• 1 tablespoon chopped spring onions
• 2 tablespoon of cornstarch mixture
• White pepper to taste

Marinate for ground beef

• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon cooking wine (optional)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

Directions

1. Rinse the beef and chop or grind into mince
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

4. Westlake beef soup with lettuce and friend dough fritters

This recipe calls for fried dough fritter 油条 (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. Finely chop 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
8. Sprinkle pepper, sesame seed oil and top with fried dough fritter pieces
9. Garnish with chopped coriander