The best bowl in Vienna: Beef broth with pancake strips

Serves 6 · 2 hr · Easy

Equal weights of onion and beef, and paprika added off the heat so it doesn't burn and turn bitter.

You need

• 2 lb (900 g) beef chuck, in 3/4-inch (2 cm) cubes
• 3 tbsp lard or oil
• 2 lb (900 g) onions, sliced
• 3 tbsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp hot paprika
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed with 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp dried marjoram, zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 quarts (1.9 l) beef stock
• 2 red bell peppers, diced
• 1 lb (450 g) potatoes, diced
• Salt, a splash of red wine vinegar

How to make it

1. Heat the lard in a heavy pot and cook the onions over medium heat 20 minutes, until golden.
2. Add the beef and cook 10 minutes, stirring, until it loses its color. Take the pot off the heat and stir in both paprikas and the tomato paste.
3. Return to the heat with the garlic-caraway, marjoram, lemon zest and stock. Simmer, covered, 1 hour.
4. Add the peppers and potatoes and simmer 30 minutes, until the beef is tender.
5. Season with salt and a little vinegar and serve with bread.

Chef's tips

• Like every stew, it's better the next day.

Our recipe, the same one we give for goulash soup in Berlin. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 1 hr, plus broth · Medium

A test dumpling first: if it breaks, add a spoonful of breadcrumbs to the mix.

You need

• 8 oz (225 g) beef or calf's liver, trimmed
• 1 small onion, finely chopped, 1 tbsp butter
• 2 day-old bread rolls (about 4 oz / 115 g), soaked in milk and squeezed
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup (60 g) dry breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp marjoram, zest of 1/4 lemon, 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tsp salt, black pepper
• 1 1/2 quarts (1.4 l) clear beef broth (Rindsuppe)
• Chives, to serve

How to make it

1. Soften the onion in the butter 5 minutes; cool.
2. Grind or finely chop the liver and mix with the onion, squeezed rolls, egg, breadcrumbs, marjoram, lemon, parsley, salt and pepper. Rest 20 minutes.
3. Bring a pot of salted water to a simmer. With wet hands, shape 4 large dumplings and poach 15 minutes (they float when nearly done).
4. Heat the broth, add a dumpling to each bowl, pour over the broth and finish with chives.

Chef's tips

• Poach in water, not the broth, so the broth stays clear.

Contains: egg, milk, wheat.

Chef Amazing's own recipe, written for a home kitchen. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 1 hr · Easy

Rest the batter, and cook the dumplings covered so they puff to twice their size.

You need

• 4 tbsp (60 g) soft butter
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup (85 g) fine semolina
• 1/4 tsp salt, a grating of nutmeg
• 1 1/2 quarts (1.4 l) clear beef broth
• Chives, to serve

How to make it

1. Beat the butter until creamy, beat in the egg, then stir in the semolina, salt and nutmeg. Rest in the fridge 30 minutes.
2. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. With two wet teaspoons, shape small ovals and drop them in.
3. Lower the heat, cover and simmer 3 minutes, then turn off the heat and let them stand, covered, 15 minutes. They should double in size.
4. Lift into bowls of hot broth and finish with chives.

Chef's tips

• Don't lift the lid while they rest.

Contains: milk, egg, wheat.

Chef Amazing's own recipe, written for a home kitchen. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 12 hr (mostly simmering) · Weekend project

Tonkotsu is pork bones boiled hard, not simmered, until the fat and collagen emulsify and the broth goes white. It takes a day, but it's mostly waiting.

You need

• 4 lb (1.8 kg) pork trotters and neck bones, cut by the butcher
• 1 lb (450 g) chicken backs
• 1 onion, halved, 1 head garlic, halved, 2-inch (5 cm) ginger, sliced
• 4 scallions, white parts
• For the tare: 1/2 cup (120 ml) soy sauce, 1/4 cup (60 ml) mirin, 2 tbsp sake, 1 tsp salt
• 1 lb (450 g) pork belly, rolled and tied
• 4 eggs
• 4 portions (about 1 lb / 450 g) thin fresh ramen noodles
• To serve: sliced scallions, nori, bean sprouts, pickled ginger, sesame seeds

How to make it

1. Cover the bones with cold water, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes, drain and scrub off the grey scum. Clean the pot.
2. Return the bones with fresh water to cover by 2 inches (5 cm). Boil hard, lid off, 10 to 12 hours, topping up with boiling water to keep the bones covered. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and scallions for the last hour. Strain: you want about 2 quarts (1.9 l) of white broth.
3. Meanwhile, braise the pork belly in the tare plus 1 cup (240 ml) water, covered, at a low simmer for 2 hours, turning now and then. Cool, slice thin, and keep the braising liquid.
4. Boil the eggs 6 1/2 minutes, chill in ice water, peel and soak in 1/2 cup of the braising liquid for at least 4 hours.
5. Put 2 tbsp braising liquid in each warm bowl. Cook the noodles 1 minute less than the packet says, drain well and add. Ladle 2 cups of boiling broth over each, then top with pork, a halved egg, scallions and nori.

Chef's tips

• A pressure cooker gets the broth white in about 2 hours on high.
• Taste the broth with the tare in it before adding salt; the tare is the seasoning.

Contains: wheat, soy, egg, sesame.

Our recipe, the same one we give for tonkotsu ramen in Amsterdam. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.