Taiwanese Spicy Beef Noodle Soup + Some (more) News!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 pounds beef chuck tri-tip roast, or flank steak, sliced against the grain into 1-inch chunks
• salt
• pepper
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon molasses optional; you can also replace the granulated sugar with brown sugar
• 2 cups diced onion about 1 large onion
• 1/2 cup garlic cloves peeled and smashed, about 1 head of garlic
• 1/2 cup scallions sliced, about 3-4 scallions, plus more for serving
• 4 tablespoons bean paste spicy chili broad, doubanjiang, the same as used in zhajiangmian; look for pixian doubanjiang for the highest…
• 2 teaspoons ginger grated
• 2 quarts water
• 1/2 cup Shaoxing wine or sake
• 1/2 cup diced tomato about 1 small tomato
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns
• 3 pieces star anise
• 1/2 teaspoon five spice powder
• 6 heads baby bok choy ends trimmed but intact, about 4 cups
• 1 pound noodles your choice, enough for 4-6 servings
• 1/2 cup scallions sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro coarsely