Taiwan's beef noodle soup台灣的牛肉麵

Beef noodle soup is a Chinese noodle soup made of stewed beef, beef broth, vegetables and Chinese noodles. It exists in various forms throughout East Asia and Southeast Asia. It was created by the Hui people (a Chinese Muslim ethnic group) during the Tang Dynasty of China.

In the West, this food may be served in a small portion as a soup. In China, a large bowl of it is often taken as a whole meal with or without any side dish. In Taiwan, vendors that sell beef noodle may also have optional, often cold side dishes, such as braised dried tofu, seaweed, or pork intestine. Beef noodles is often served with suan cai (Chinese sauerkraut) on top, green onion, and sometimes other vegetables in the soup as well.
In Chinese, "牛肉麵" literally means "beef noodles". If one orders "牛肉湯麵" or "beef soup noodles" in a restaurant in Taiwan, Mainland China, or Hong Kong, they might be given a very inexpensive bowl of noodles in only beef broth but no beef. If one orders a "牛肉湯" or "beef-soup", they could be given a more expensive bowl of beef broth with chunks of beef in it but without noodles.
Beef noodle is often served as fast food in China, with Mr. Lee being the largest chain. In Taiwan it has become a symbol of Taiwan's food and every year the city of Taipei holds an annual Beef Noodle Festival, where various chefs and restaurants compete to see who is the best beef noodle in Taiwan.
Variations
The Chinese Muslim version uses halal (清真) meat and contains no soy sauce. Salt, red chilis, star anise, white pepper, and green onions are used to add flavoring to the soup. The Chinese name for the Muslim version of beef noodles is clear-broth stewed beef noodles (清燉牛肉麵). In Taiwanese halal restaurants, only quality local beef from the Taiwanese zebu (黃牛, lit. "yellow cattle") prepared by the local halal butcher is used for the beef noodles.
When soy sauce is added, the soup is called red roasted or braised beef noodles (紅燒牛肉麵). This version is more popular with being used as a flavor for instant noodle. In this version, the stew meat is sometimes stir fried with hot sauce, such as Chinese hot bean paste 辣豆瓣醬, before being simmered as soup. Chefs also let the stock simmer for long periods of time with bone marrow; some vendors can cook the beef stock for as long as 24 hours. This type of beef noodle tends to be more spicy than the Muslim version. There are several variations with the broth, such as spicy, tomato, garlic, and herbal medicine.

牛肉麵是泛指各種以燉煮過的牛肉為主要配料的湯麵食，其根源難以追溯，但與近代牛肉麵調理方式較為接近的麵食，清燉類的牛肉麵部分認為起源於蘭州的牛肉拉麵，原本是回族所創的，而紅燒風味的牛肉麵最普遍的說詞來自台灣高雄縣岡山鎮空軍眷村的四川藉老兵，以成都菜「小碗紅湯牛肉」改良而成^[。現今牛肉麵已是華人的普遍食物，各地方的牛肉麵都有其特色。現在有不少速食麵都是以添加牛肉或牛肉口味而成牛肉麵，尤其是在台灣非常普遍。

種類:

在台灣，牛肉麵發展成一種特色的食品，一般區分為「清燉牛肉麵」和「紅燒牛肉麵」。

• 紅燒牛肉麵：注重濃厚的口味，以豆瓣醬，醬油為基底的口味，在市場上略居主流，又衍生出紅燒番茄牛肉麵、紅燒牛肉湯麵、紅燒牛肉乾麵等許多種類。
• 清燉牛肉麵：以花椒、胡椒和高湯為基底的口味，又名「清真牛肉麵」，以清爽口感與紅燒口味抗衡。特色是所使用的牛肉都是當天現場宰殺的。台灣牛肉麵大部分使用的牛肉是牛腱肉，也有部份會讓顧客選擇改以牛筋肉或牛肚肉代替。

牛肉麵在台灣除了紅燒和清燉（清真）口味之外，還衍生出了許多獨特的種類：

• 清湯牛肉麵：類似清燉牛肉麵，但作法不同，以牛骨和胡蘿蔔和玉米為高湯底，上桌前在麵上鋪上嫩牛肉片和薑絲，然後倒入高湯燙熟，味道甘美清甜，盛行在台南一帶。
• 牛肉湯麵：「牛肉湯麵」沒有牛肉塊，僅有牛肉湯、麵條、以及一些極為小塊的牛肉末。也就是沒有牛肉塊的牛肉麵。
• 番茄牛肉麵：主要是在紅燒口味的湯底中，加入番茄一起燉煮。
• 蔥燒牛肉麵：在紅燒的湯底中加入事先爆香的蔥。
• 麻辣牛肉麵：加入花椒的辣味湯底。
• 川味牛肉麵：台灣的川味牛肉麵，其實是在台灣本地所發展出的牛肉麵種類。一般認為起源是由四川省來台的退役士兵，將來自家鄉成都的「牛肉紅湯」做法，加上臺灣當地的辣豆瓣醬後，搭配新鮮麵條後而成，為紅燒牛肉麵的前身。發源於高雄岡山眷村，流傳至台灣各地後，在台北興盛。
• 沙茶牛肉麵：做法與紅燒和清燉的口味完全不同，是利用牛骨熬煮湯頭，再加上沙茶醬。食用時會放上豆芽菜或豆苗。
• 牛排牛肉麵：加入高級牛排（例如：沙朗牛排）的牛肉麵，價格通常較貴。
• 咖哩牛肉麵：使用咖哩為湯底。
• 速食牛肉麵:台灣地區有不少速食麵，以添加牛肉或牛肉口味，而叫做牛肉麵。
• 湯麵餛飩或餛飩牛湯麵: 牛肉湯麵中加餛飩 (一說餛飩麵但以牛肉湯為底), 流行於台灣販賣溫州大餛飩部分飯館.
• 牛肉細粉: 同紅燒或清燉牛肉麵, 但使用細粉(或稱冬粉或粉絲)代替其中的麵條.通常加入油豆腐吸收湯汁, 並增加口感.

加州牛肉麵

其實就是台灣的紅燒牛肉麵，流傳到美國之後的名字。目前在中國大陸各地相當受到歡迎。

越南牛肉河粉

越南也有一種類似牛肉麵的美食，名叫「Phở bò」，碗中放入河粉和牛肉、拌以各式香葉及蔬菜，然後在放入滾熱高湯沖燙，搭配魚露佐味，味道清爽甘甜。