Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
I’m pretty sure that eating spicy soups is how I keep from getting sick at SHOT Show. I can barely stand it, and it must be too much for the germs, too. Plus, it clears the casino air out of my sinuses, which is a big bonus.
The GunsAmerica team had a dish like these Szechuan-style noodles at SHOT: It was delicious. The soup broth is full of flavor from several spices, and the braised meat is tender and tasty. We had it with beef, which was mostly fat, and the whole time I was dreaming of eating it with bear meat. Since coming home, I’ve made it with both bear and elk, and it’s excellent. What’s more, it’s a great way to use shank meat.
Table of contents
You could leave the meat on the shanks, you could slice the shanks into osso bucco-like sections, or you could remove the meat from the bone. I did it by removing the meat from the bones. Slice the meat thicker than you normally would for stew. 1.5″ chunks are pretty good for Chinese-style soups.
This is good with noodles. You can find Chinese wheat noodles, or you can even use spaghetti with a small change. Cook the spaghetti with a Tablespoon of baking soda for every four cups of water. This will make the spaghetti taste more like Chinese noodles. Rinse it with cool water after it’s cooked.
You can use your pressure cooker for everything or use a skillet and a crock pot. I used my Nesco pressure canner, which has a saute function.
It seems like a lot of ingredients, but the key things are anise, cinnamon, and some kind of chili.
What You Need
- 2 lbs bear meat or other red meat; shank meat from the lower limbs is great
- 1 inch of fresh ginger, or about 1 Tablespoon of ground ginger
- 5 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 onion cut into large chunks
- 2 Tablespoons cinnamon or 6″-worth of cinnamon sticks
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tablespoons Anise seed
- 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons rice wine (Shaoxing wine)
- 3 Tablespoons Light soy sauce or liquid aminos
- 1 teaspoon regular soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 2 quarts (8 cups) stock
- red pepper flakes or chili oil to taste
- Minced scallions or green onions for garnish
What You Do
Start by browning the meat on your pressure cooker’s “Brown” setting, or in a medium-hot pan with oil. Remember, it’ll brown easier if it is dry. Brown on two sides and remove the meat from the pan.
Deglaze the pan with a little rice wine and pour that back onto the meat. Use oil to saute the onions, then add the garlic, ginger, and anise seed and saute for a couple of minutes. Add everything (except the stock and the minced onions and chili) and mix with enough stock to nearly cover the meat.
Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. If you don’t use a pressure cooker, use a crock pot on low for 4 to 8 hours until the meat is tender. If you’re using a better cut of meat, you won’t have to cook it so long.
Serve Your Szechuan-Style Noodles
Remove the meat and sauce from the pot. Add the rest of the stock and bring to a boil; use the stock to clean up the sauce from the sides of the pot.
Prepare noodles. Add noodles to a bowl, then add the stock, and spoon the meat and sauce into each bowl. Add a boiled egg for traditional style, and add chili oil or pepper to taste. Garnish the Szechuan-style noodles with scallions and green onions.
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