Spicy Beef Soup With Cello Noodles

A most unusual Hunan style Chinese soup, not for the faint hearted. It's from Henry Chung's Hunan cookbook. Mr Chung is the founder of my favorite restaurant, Hunan, located at 934 Sansome St. San Francisco

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 2  ounces  flank steaks, shredded
• 2  tablespoons  vegetable oil
• 1  tablespoon  chinese fermented black beans, rinsed and chopped
• 1  teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1  quart  chicken stock
• 1 (2 ounce) package cellophane noodles, soaked 20 minutes in hot water, then drained and cut in 3 " pieces (Available in Chinse markets. They're made from mung bean flour and look a lot like rice stick noodle)
• 1  teaspoon cayenne (to taste) or 1  teaspoon  chili oil (to taste)
• 2  tablespoons dark soy sauce
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  sesame oil
• 1  scallion, cut 1 inch pieces

• Coating

• 1⁄2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1  dash pepper
• 1  teaspoon dark soy sauce

Directions

1. Heat a wok (or pot) to smoking.
2. Stir the black beans and garlic, mashing them into a paste.
3. Stir in the stock and soaked noodles.
4. Bring to a boil, then stir in the flank steak, cayenne and soy sauce.
5. Stir in the scallions and adjust the salt.
6. To serve, put a few drops of sesame oil in each serving bowl and ladle the soup on top.