Name: West Lake Beef Soup (Xi Hu Niu Rou Geng)
Yield: Serves 4 as part of a multicourse meal
Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons water; 2½ tablespoons cornstarch; ½ tablespoon Chinese rice wine or sherry; 1½ cups (375 ml) water; 3 dashes white pepper; ½ teaspoon sesame oil; ⅓ cup (10 g) coarsely chopped coriander leaves (cilantro); ½ teaspoon salt or to taste; 2 large eggs, lightly beaten; 6 oz (175 g) ground beef; 1¾ cups (425 ml) homemade Chicken Stock or 1 can (14 oz/400 g) store-bought chicken broth

Preparation info

Serves
4
as part of a multicourse meal

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Easy Chinese Recipes

By Bee Yinn Low

Published 2011

About

West Lake Beef Soup, or xi hu niu rou geng, is a traditional soup dish from Hangzhou, China. Legend has it that the appearance of the eggy soup resembles the surface of the picturesque West Lake in Hangzhou, and hence the name West Lake Beef Soup. The distinctive taste of this soup comes from the chopped coriander leaves (cilantro), which is added towards the end of the cooking process. The heat diminishes their flavor quickly and the soup is infused with the subtle, citrusy t