Are Beef Shank or Oxtail Noodles Better? The Results.
The braised oxtail noodles were favored by the family over the beef shank noodles primarily due to the softer meat on the oxtail. This was certainly a wonderful alternative to the soup recipe that I previously tried.
Below are some links to more details, including photos:
My Story
I bought some oxtail, but wanted to make something other than oxtail soup. The new recipe that I found was for oxtail or beef shank. As luck would have it, a nearby supermarket was going to have bone-in beef shank for sale according to their weekly ad, so I was super excited to be making both cuts of meat, which I did on separate occasions to simplify the measurement conversions and use up the older meat first.
Inspiring Recipe
The recipe that I found, Braised Oxtail Noodles, was from the blog, The Woks of Life. Not only were there mouth-watering Chinese recipes with photos on the website, there was also a wealth of information about the related ingredients, tools, and cooking methods. In addition, the family of four wrote interesting posts about their culture, life, and travels.
First Try
When I went to buy the beef shank on the weekend, I was disappointed to see that the market was out! Fortunately, when I checked back a couple days later on the last day of the sale, the shelves were restocked and I grabbed a couple of packages.
Ingredients to Use
With about 3 1/3 pounds of bone-in beef shank, I updated the recipe for the remaining ingredients as follows:
- 1 tablespoon + 1/3 teaspoon of oil
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup of Shaoxing wine
- 3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons + 2/3 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 1/8 teaspoons of sugar
- 3 1/3 cups of water
- 1 1/4 pounds of fresh noodles
Within the list, I made two substitutions.
Instead of mirin, I used Shaoxing (Shaohsing) wine, since that’s what I had.
As for the ramen noodles at the market, they had too many extra ingredients, e.g., artificial color, so I chose rice noodle (chow fun) from Dynasty instead. In addition, I used up the entire package, which ended up to be a higher proportion than the other ingredients. What’s another 2 ounces?
Lastly, I skipped the scallion since I didn’t want to buy a bunch of six only to use one.
Steps to Prepare
I followed most of the instructions on the recipe.
During step 1, the browning process put out a wonderful aroma from the beef shank and I was delighted to hear the following:
Are you cooking steak?
– Older son
Once I got to step 2, I stopped after simmering everything for 3 hours even though the sauce didn’t thicken much, which I was okay with.
As for step 3, I didn’t garnish each serving for the reason noted above.
Time to Eat
After the dish was assembled, the braised beef shank noodles were finally ready for a late dinner:
Recipe Rating
Below were the results of the recipe after the first try:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣0️⃣* | 🤏 | 💰💰 | 🙂 |
The braised beef shank noodles were good, but the meat was a bit salty. Too bad we ran out of noodles!
Second Try
For the second time, I focused on decreasing the salty flavor.
Ingredients to Use
For this attempt, I had 4.71 pounds of oxtail, so I increased the amount of the remaining ingredients to the following:
- 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 1/3 cup of Shaoxing wine
- 4 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons of soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons + 1/3 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
- 5 bay leaves
- 1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar
- 4 3/4 cups of water
- 2 1/8 pounds of fresh noodles
For the noodles, I tried another kind that didn’t have any of the artificial ingredients. In addition, I cooked the entire package, so there was more than enough for everyone.
Steps to Prepare
For the process, I repeated what I did during the first try.
Time to Eat
After patiently browning the many pieces of oxtail and enduring the amazing savory smell from the simmering contents in the pot, I was ready to taste the braised oxtail noodles:
Recipe Rating
Below are the results of the recipe from the second attempt:
| Number of Ingredients | Effort (Low🤏, Medium🤏🤏, High🤏🤏🤏) | Cost per Serving (<$2💰, $2-5💰💰, >$5💰💰💰) | Taste (Not for me🤔, Trying Again🙂, Eating Regularly😋) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣0️⃣* | 🤏 | 💰💰 | 🙂 |
Though the above results didn’t change, the oxtail was nicely salted and smoother than the shank. Also, the kids enjoyed it more due to softness of the meat.
As for the sauce, it had good flavor, but it didn’t stick enough to the noodles.
To better capture the flavors from the sauce next time, I’ll try the following:
Continuous Improvement
- Serve the braised oxtail with rice.
Remembering my shopping experience for the beef shank reminds me of a good lesson for my younger, current, and future self:
Lesson for Dumber Self
- Keep trying!
What will you do now?
Next Step for You
- Try the Braised Oxtail Noodles recipe from the blog, The Woks of Life?
- Share your favorite source of fresh ramen noodles made of natural ingredients?
- Read another post on this site? (Go to the menu at the top of the page.)