A tested yakamein: browned chuck-eye braised in beef broth with the Creole trinity, soy and a little MSG, the vegetables strained out, poured over fully tender spaghetti with egg and scallions.
Untested: not yet made in this kitchen. It is here for the Yakamein pages and is adapted from the source named in the Notes.
Ingredients
- 1 boneless beef chuck-eye roast (2 pounds; 900 g), trimmed
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon Ac’cent (MSG), optional
- 8 cups (1.9 L) beef broth
- ¼ cup soy sauce, plus extra for serving
- 12 ounces (340 g) spaghetti
- 3 hard-cooked large eggs, halved
- 6 scallions, sliced ¼ inch thick
- 2 tablespoons Crystal hot sauce, about, for serving
Directions
Key ingredients
- Season the beef with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven and brown the beef on all sides, 8 to 12 minutes, then set it aside.
- Add the onion, bell pepper and celery and cook until softened, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic, Creole seasoning, sugar, onion powder and Ac’cent and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the broth and soy sauce, scraping up the browned bits. Return the beef, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low until tender, 1½ to 2 hours.
- Lift out the beef and let it rest at least 20 minutes. Skim the broth, strain it, pressing on the vegetables, and keep it warm.
- Cook the spaghetti in 3 quarts of boiling water until fully tender, not al dente, and drain.
- Chop the beef into ¾-inch pieces. Divide the spaghetti and beef among 6 bowls, add half an egg and scallions to each, and ladle about 1½ cups of broth over each. Pass hot sauce and soy sauce at the table.
Notes
Source Adapted from Matthew Fairman, “Beef Yakamein (New Orleans Spicy Beef Noodle Soup),” America’s Test Kitchen (2021). The recipe credits Linda Green with the dish’s New Orleans popularity. It is the only published version found that cooks the onion, celery and bell pepper into the broth and then strains them out, and the only one to name MSG outright. The hot sauce amount is this collection’s estimate; the source says only to pass it.
Noodles Fully tender spaghetti, rather than al dente, matches the soft street-food bowl.
The dish The Yakamein section (/yakamein/) covers the dish’s history, its name and how the recipes differ.
The photo The photograph shows a red bowl of yakamein with spaghetti, beef, egg and green onion, not this exact recipe.