This Chinese tomato beef soup features a sweet and tart tomato broth with tender thin sliced beef and mushrooms. Serve it over rice or noodles, it is the perfect one-pot meal to keep you warm during the colder months. {Gluten-Free Adaptable}
Chinese tomato beef soup, or Fan Qie Fei Niu Tang (番茄肥牛汤), is a hearty dish that I don’t see often, outside of China. It is typically served as a main dish, because it is loaded with goodies and is filling like a stew. But compared to stews, this one takes much less time to put together.
Chinese tomato beef soup ingredients
Thinly sliced beef
Many American-style soups and stews use thick chunks of beef. This Chinese tomato soup is a little different. The beef in this recipe is very thinly sliced so it practically melts in your mouth when you take a bite. It is simply heavenly!
You can find these skinny cuts of beef in most Asian markets and they are usually labeled as beef for Chinese hot pot. Hot pot beef is very well marbled with lots of delicious fat and cut with meat slicer into paper-thin pieces, so that it cooks quickly. This is exactly what you want for this soup recipe.
You can also find similar thin cuts at Japanese markets, labeled as shabu shabu meat or sukiyaki meat.
NOTE: it’s very unlikely that you can slice the meat thin enough at home using a knife. Because the meat is usually sliced with a professional meat slicer while frozen, to create the paper-thin slices. If you use hand sliced meat instead, you should marinate the beef first and cook it for a shorter time, to keep it from overcooking.
Enoki Mushrooms
Enoki mushrooms, or Jin Zhen Gu (金针菇), are a very skinny, long type of mushroom that has a shape similar to that to noodles. They typically come in bunches and can be quickly rinsed and then tossed right into the broth. They cook quickly and add a mild earthy flavor to the soup.
I like that the enoki mushrooms add a nice texture to the soup and soak up the delicious flavor of the beef. You can use regular sliced white or brown mushrooms as well, if you cannot find enoki mushrooms. In this case, you need to add the mushrooms earlier, because they will take longer to cook.
Mise en place
Take a look at the ingredients you will need to make Chinese tomato beef soup:
- Diced tomato
- Ingredients for the soup base (oyster sauce, light soy sauce, tomato paste, sugar and white pepper)
- Chicken broth
- Thinly sliced fatty beef
- Enoki mushrooms
- Aromatics (minced ginger, minced garlic, sliced green onion)
How to Make Chinese Tomato Beef Soup
- Saute the ginger and garlic in oil.
- Cook the tomatoes until softened.
- Add the chicken broth and all the seasonings.
- Add the sliced beef.
- Skim any foam off the surface of the soup and discard.
- Cook the mushrooms. Then finish up with green onion and white pepper.
A different approach
Most Chinese tomato beef soup recipes blanch the beef quickly in a separate pot and add it back to the soup at the end, to prevent overcooking.
I’ve tried that method but found that the added step takes a lot of effort. Plus, the soup ended up less flavorful.
I prefer to cook the beef right in the tomato soup. Not only does it add so much flavor to the soup, but it saves a lot of time as well.
If you use proper hot pot style fatty beef, most of the fat will melt away (and you can remove the fat by skimming), and the beef will remain tender. I wouldn’t worry about overcooking the beef.
How to serve Chinese tomato beef soup
I love serving this Chinese tomato beef soup with steamed rice to make a complete meal. The other great way is to boil some noodles and add them to the soup, to make it a one-pot dinner. It is also great as a complimentary dish, as part of a larger meal. I like to pair tomato beef soup with a vegetable bowl, like Chinese eggplant with garlic sauce or vegetable fried rice. No matter how you serve this delicious Chinese soup, you will adore every single, flavorful bite.
My authentic Chinese tomato and beef soup is the best you will ever try. The fresh tomatoes and thin pieces of beef both add so much intense flavor to the broth that you won’t find in other recipes. Plus, my beef soup recipe is very easy to make, coming together in just minutes. Keep this recipe on hand as it is a perfect fall and winter dish that you can make again and again. Enjoy!
Other delicious soup recipes
- Chinese Corn Soup with Chicken (鸡蛋玉米羹)
- Wonton Char Siu Noodle Soup (叉烧云吞面)
- Suan La Fen (Hot and Sour Noodle Soup, 酸辣粉)
- Beef Shank Noodle Soup
- Napa Cabbage Tofu Soup (白菜豆腐汤)
Chinese tomato beef soup (番茄肥牛汤)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon peanut oil (or vegetable oil)
- 1 tablespoon ginger , minced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
- 3 medium or 4 small (1 lb / 450 g) tomatoes , diced
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or soy sauce)
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon sugar (or to taste)
- 12 oz (340 g) fatty beef , thinly sliced (*Footnote 1)
- 1 pack (7 oz / 200 g) enoki mushrooms , tough ends removed and separated into small batches (*Footnote 2)
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
- 2 green onions , sliced
Instructions
- Add oil to a 4 quart pot and heat over medium heat until hot. Add the ginger and garlic. Stir and cook for 30 seconds to release fragrance.
- Add the tomatoes. Cook and stir until the tomatoes soften, 3 minutes or so.
- Pour in the chicken, oyster sauce, and light soy sauce. Add the tomato paste and sugar. Cook until brought to a boil.
- Add the beef slices. Let cook, while skimming off the foam and discarding it, until the soup is clear, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the enoki mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are softened, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Turn off the heat. Add the white pepper and green onions, and if needed, a pinch of salt to adjust the seasoning. Serve hot as a main dish, or a side dish for a multi-course meal.
Notes
- The beef is usually labeled as beef for hot pot, sukiyaki, or shabu shabu. If you decide to slice the beef yourself, you should marinate the beef with 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing wine, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon cornstarch before cooking. (see more explanation on this in the blog post above) And only cook the beef for 2 minutes or so, to prevent it from overcooking.
- You can use regular white button mushrooms (thinly sliced). If using regular mushrooms, add them during step 3, after adding the chicken broth. Cook until turning tender before adding the beef.
This turned out so delicious!! I added clear vermicelli noodles which went really well with the soup. It was just two of us eating and we finished the whole thing, will definitely be making this again soon 🙂
So happy to hear you enjoyed the dish! It’s one of my favorites 🙂 I love to add vermicelli noodles too!