Battle Chef Brigade: Bull Soup

Hmm… I need my dish to really shine with watery elements. I bet adding tentacles to the base will bring that water through each bite. But why would the judges want dragon to be the themed ingredient for this battle? I have to add some dragon meat, maybe with some plantbug nectar, but I need to make sure the fire from the dragon doesn’t ruin the watery flavor. Looks like things are heating up nicely… and with two minutes left. That should be enough time to grab my knives and gather together a few more ingredients. I’ve got the squid and plantbug, but just one minute left! Gotta add everything to the dish before –

MINA! MIIIIIIINA! Get up. You need to help your mother in the kitchen.

Ugh…. just another dream. One day I’ll make it to the Battle Chef Brigade. I better hurry before mom gets in here and yells at me again.

It has always been Mina’s dream to become a member of the Battle Chef Brigade. Not only must she hone her knife skills in the kitchen but out in the world too. She has trained with the help of her family. At her family’s restaurant, the customers love when they can see Mina in the kitchen. They are always very excited to eat up the recipes she creates.

A few weeks ago, the first backer’s demo for Battle Chef Brigade was released. I was finally able to play the demo. The combat to collect ingredients and the cooking is extremely enjoyable and I cannot wait for the full game to come out. I guess I’ll just have to do these daily challenges while I wait for the game to be released.

I have been keeping an eye on the game and the food art in it is so beautiful. The dishes are drawn with so much detail that I find myself jealous of the judges as they get to chow down. With the demo out, I figured it was time to take a stab at some of Mina’s creations. One of the first recipes Mina makes is a bull noodle soup. I have tinkered in the kitchen and found a dish that I am proud of. I present my version of Mina’s dish, a slow cooked beef udon soup. The work required to make this soup isn’t too bad since the oven does a lot of the work. The recipe is however a bit time consuming because the beef needs at least two hours to cook. Enough talk, Vive la Brigade!

Ingredients:
3 lbs boneless beef chuck roast, cut into 1 ½ – 2 inch cubes
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp ginger powder
10 cloves garlic
3 inch ginger
2 lemongrass
1 cinnamon stick
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup rice wine
4 cups beef broth
2 bay leaves

Beef Broth
1 piece kombu, dried kelp (can be found at most asian markets)
1 piece lemongrass
2 inch ginger
5 cloves garlic
5 cups of beef broth

udon noodles, cooked
spinach, sauteed

Preheat an oven to 325°F. In a ziplock bag, mix together the flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and ginger powder. Toss the beef cubes in the ziplock bag and cover each piece in flour. Set aside.

Place a dutch oven (or other large oven safe pot) with olive oil on the stove over medium-high heat. Add the the beef cubes and cook until each side is browned. You will probably have to do this in several batches. Put the browned beef on a plate while you work on the rest of the beef.

After all the meat is cooked, add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and cinnamon stick to the pan. Cook for 3 minutes or until the garlic has slightly browned. Add the brown sugar and mix together.

Pour the soy sauce, rice wine, and beef broth into the dutch oven. Bring to a slight boil. Add the browned beef.

Add the bay leaves, cover and then place in the oven to cook for 2-4 hours. The longer you it cooks, the more tender the beef will be.

To make the broth for the soup, combine the kombu, lemongrass, ginger, garlic cloves, and beef broth in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Remove the kombu, lemongrass, ginger and garlic before serving.

Add the udon, the cooked beef, and spinach to a serving bowl. Pour the broth and serve.