Champion Beef Noodles Goes Mysterious – A Hidden Menu Known Only to Gourmets!

Reporter Zhu t? Man (Taipei Report)

Beef noodles can be found everywhere in Taiwan, and it’s a must-try dish even for international visitors. Chef Hong Jinlong, known as the “King of Chefs” at the Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival and a four-time consecutive champion, has opened countless branches both domestically and abroad. This time, he’s launched the first flagship beef noodle store in Neihu, featuring all his award-winning creations from previous years — “Red Braised Tomato Noodles,” “Beef Trio Noodles,” “Standout Noodles,” and “Stewed Pork-Belly Beef Brisket Noodles” — plus a hidden menu known only to gourmets!

% Taken in front of the sincere and honest store in Neihu (Photo / Reporter Zhu t? Rong, Landscape Picture)

The Taipei City Commerce Department has hosted the Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival for eight years, and Chef Hong Jinlong has dominated the championship for four of them. In addition to branches in Taiwan, he also has three in Canada, one in the U.S., one in Shanghai, two in Beijing, and one in Kinmen. On the 12th, he opened a new Beef Noodle Fashion Gallery in Neihu. Chef Hong said: “The Fashion Gallery opens as a flagship store, with the main goal of promoting tourism through beef noodles, attracting international visitors to come to Taiwan specifically to taste authentic Taiwanese beef noodles.”

In addition to the regular menu items found in most beef noodle shops, “Chef Hong’s Beef Noodles” offers four or more championship beef noodle varieties. Chef Hong Jinlong also stated that the aim is to faithfully present the competition-winning beef noodles to customers. “We use different types of beef for different beef noodle dishes, but we guarantee that the flavor is consistent across all our stores.” These include the 2006 Red Braised Champion “Beef Trio Noodles,” the 2007 Red Braised Champion “Standout Noodles,” the Stewed Champion “Stewed Pork-Belly Beef Brisket,” the 2008 Creative Champion “Red Braised Tomato Noodles,” and the 2010 Red Braised Champion “Supreme Sovereign.”

The Beef Trio Noodles features beef tendons, beef tripe, and beef slices, offering rich collagen with the Q-textured and tender honeycomb tripe offering a bouncy bite. The shank meat, which gets the most exercise, is tender yet not dry. Priced at NT$260 per bowl; the Standout Noodles includes beef short ribs — the part of the cow with the most exercise and the most even distribution of muscle and fat. The addition of short ribs instantly elevates the ordinary red braised beef noodles, priced at NT$200 per bowl; the Stewed Pork-Belly Beef Brisket uses fresh beef brisket, carefully selecting sections 3 to 6, and is slow-cooked with ingredients like onions, carrots, white radish, sugarcane, scallion whites, and papaya. It’s topped with premium prime-grade short ribs that have been seared at high temperature to achieve a pink rose color at medium rare, boasting marbled fat and tender texture, priced more than 2 to 3 times that of barbecue shop Angus beef, at NT$260 per bowl!

▲ Beef Trio Noodles (left) is full of Q-textured beef tendons, while Supreme Sovereign (right) impresses with its generous beef shin.

The all-red, guaranteed super healthy Red Braised Tomato Noodles uses naturally fermented and healthy red fermented tofu as a topping, along with tomatoes, papaya, and onions to increase the dietary fiber of the beef noodles. This 2008 Creative Champion beef noodle is just NT$260; finally, there’s also a hidden menu that only gourmets know how to order: “Great Four Happiness Beef Noodles” and “Supreme Sovereign.”

Supreme Sovereign uses the top part of the beef shank, which is low in fat and calories. The beef tripe rim is the most Q-textured part of the honeycomb-edged tripe, along with collagen-rich beef tendons. The top-grade selection also includes premium Prime snowflake-grilled boneless short rib slices. Moreover, the most luxurious part is a collection of the essence from past winning dishes, further enhanced with beef shins — a part that can only be made from one cow for two servings — which are delicate and tender in texture, offering an amazing and worthwhile flavor. Priced at NT$888 per bowl and requiring advance reservation, a slight delay could mean waiting up to a month.

Another hidden menu item — the Great Four Happiness Beef Noodles — uses beef from the shank, tendon, and tripe of Kinmen cattle, as well as top-grade American beef short ribs. The highlight is that the broth requires two days of slow simmering, and each of the four meats has its own unique cooking time. While the beef short ribs only need 3 seconds, the beef tendons require as long as 3.5 hours. Reservations are also required, priced at NT$380 per bowl.

% He demonstrated the making of the “Great Four Happiness Beef Noodles” on-site. With swift movements, he quickly served the flavorful and aromatic “Great Four Happiness Beef Noodles,” earning applause from the audience. Chef Hong Jinlong stated that the Taipei City Commerce Department has been mentoring the Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival for eight consecutive years, helping the beef noodle industry thrive. When he first started his business, he had only four employees, but now there are about 60 staff members across Taiwan. The launch of the flagship Fashion Gallery is aimed at shedding the “traditional” image of beef noodles and using them to create something fashionable for customers!

A grand opening with great fortune — Hong Jinlong even demonstrated on-site how to make the “Big Four Happiness Beef Noodles.” With swift movements, he quickly served up the flavorful, aromatic, and visually appealing “Big Four Happiness Beef Noodles,” earning applause and cheers from all the guests present. Hong Jinlong noted that the Taipei City Department of Commerce has been supporting the Taipei International Beef Noodles Festival for eight consecutive years, helping the beef noodles industry thrive. When he first started his business, he had only four employees, but now there are around 60 staff members across Taiwan. The launch of the flagship Fashion Pavilion store aims to break away from the “traditional” image often associated with beef noodles, using them to bring a touch of fashion to customers’ dining experience.