Ode to broth

There are few foods more heart-warming and soul-satisfying than a large bowl of simmering beef broth, with or without noodles. As a respite from the cold, harsh winter, or as a hangover cure, it is one of the more nourishing and nurturing meals one can have. It is curious how this dish exists in multiple incarnations in different countries and cuisines – French consommé, Vietnamese pho, and the Chinese beef noodles, or 牛肉汤面. Slight differences in each, but the theory behind them is the same: beef plus water plus starch equals goodness.

Clearly the most important component of this dish – whatever you call it – is the broth. The basic concept is to take beef bones, or various cuts of beef, and stew them in water with a complex mix of various spices and ingredients. For the Chinese beef noodles these include but are not limited to ginger, garlic, scallions, star anise, and others. One of the secrets in Chinese cooking is the use of dried scallops (conpoy) in sauces, stews or broth. This is not so much the entire scallop but rather the adductor muscle that has been removed and dried. Adding this to soups adds a sweetness but also an increased depth of flavour to them.

Once you have the broth, the rest is self-explanatory. The noodles are cooked in the broth and then doused in cold water to stop them from cooking. A generous helping of broth is ladled over the noodles, and the dish is topped with mung bean sprouts and cilantro. Thinly-sliced pieces of beef – typically a better cut – are dipped into the simmering broth to brown them but not cook them through, and then added to the dish. Other beef-based ingredients – beef meatballs, organ meats such as beef tripe, cheek and the like – are also cooked in the broth and can be added depending on the preference of the person eating.

Hunter and I used to frequent Pho 75 in Rosslyn (coincidentally, in the same strip mall as Ray’s the Steaks, mentioned in the previous post). It was a cafeteria style eatery serving Vietnamese pho, and it was probably the best version of it in DC and one of the cheapest meals possible around town. I always thought it was funny how the menu had 17 different dishes, which were all basically the same pho dish but with different combinations of beef cuts. But in the end when the pho came nobody could really tell which cut of beef was which, so in effect it really didn’t matter what you ordered.

The other day I went to try the Empress Place Beef Noodles in Siglap, located in an unassuming eating-house right next to an even more unassuming supermarket. Clearly, the concept of marketing has not hit the folks at these two establishments, for they were both barely noticeable from the street. You had to feel for the beef noodle place, because even their signboard is obscured by the awning and completely out of sight from anywhere but inside the eating-house. For an establishment that is just one among many eating places proliferating the Siglap stretch, this amounted to professional suicide, perhaps. But I suppose if the quality of your offering shone through enough, you don’t really need the marketing.


The Empress Place beef noodles was, sadly, markedly mediocre. It had neither the heft that you expected of beef stock, nor the acidic piquancy and spice that one comes to expect from Southeast Asian dishes. It wasn't bad, but it was nowhere near spectacular - and I can't afford to waste calories on food that is not spectacular if I want to maintain my girlish figure. I very much preferred the version at Laguna Food Centre at East Coast Park. The one bright spark was that they used a really good cut of meat for the beef slices, which were tender to the touch and an absolute pleasure to chew on. Of course, this also meant that it was a tad more expensive than you might otherwise expect.


So the search continues then – for the best beef noodles in Singapore. I have written about this in the past, but I am still searching for a good version of the dry beef noodles – the gummy, starchy kind. What they do is they reduce the beef broth and thicken it with cornstarch to form a thick, gooey sauce, and then coat the noodles with this sauce instead of serving it in broth. I like this dry version better than the version with the broth, but sadly it is becoming harder and harder to find (except at chain food courts). Onward, then! There is no rest for the weary.



Empress Place Beef Noodles
936 East Coast Road (LTN Eating House)
11am to 11pm daily