French Onion Beef Noodle Soup – a Perfect Valentine’s Day Meal

Season the beef short ribs with kosher salt and set aside while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Heat vegetable oil in a Dutch oven until shimmery, then brown the short ribs on all sides, working in batches if you have to. 

Transfer the browned short ribs to a platter and set aside. Pour off about half of the accumulated fat in the Dutch oven, leaving just enough to cover the bottom of the pot. 

Return the pot to medium heat, add the scallions, garlic cloves and ginger to the fat and sauté untilt the scallions and garlic begin to brown and the ginger is fragrant, about 4 minutes. Then add the star anise, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and coriander seeds to the pot and stir, sautéing for about 1 minute, until the spices are fragrant. 

Then, pour in the white wine and scrape up any brown bits on the bottom of pot. Let the wine simmer until it is nearly completely evaporated. Then add the browned short ribs back to the pot with the aromatics.

Pour in the soy sauce and the 12 cups of water. 

Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and partially cover the pot with a lid. Let the soup simmer for about 1 ½  hours, until the meat is nearly falling off the bone.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a separate pot over medium-high heat, when the foam subsides, add the onions and season with kosher salt. (If you can’t fit all of the onions at first, fit in as much as you can and cover the pot, steaming the onions until the wilt a bit and you fit in the remaining onion slices.) Stir often until the onions soften and begin to take on a darker color. Then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the onions for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are golden. 

After the soup has simmered for 1 ½  hours, use tongs to transfer the short ribs to a platter and set aside until they are cool enough to handle. Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve, discard the spent aromatics. Transfer the strained broth back to the Dutch oven and add the cooked onions to the broth. 

When the short ribs are cool enough to handle, tear the meat into bite-size pieces, discarding any excess fat and bone.

Now, add the torn meat to the pot with the broth and onions. Bring the soup up to a boil and then reduce the heat to let simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes. Then cut the heat and add 2 tablespoons of unseasoned rice vinegar. Taste the soup and add more soy sauce and vinegar as needed to taste. 

Cook the ramen noodles according to package directions. Portion the noodles into bowls then ladle the soup over the noodles, making sure each serving gets some meat and onions with the broth. Top with sliced scallion greens.