意外好喝的小薏仁牛肉湯/Unexpectedly Delicious Beef Barley Soup

第一次做這湯是去年冬天馬克和我兩人都感冒的時候。當時喉嚨痛不是很有胃口，煮雞湯馬克可能不習慣，又沒有需要的調料食材，常煮的美式雞麵湯也膩了。上網搜尋一下，在我最愛的一個食譜部落格上看到這到料理，感覺還蠻健康的，當下決定就是它了。

對於Barley的印象就是喝日本麥茶時會在包裝上看到，知道是大麥的意思。在煮這湯時還一直很好奇到底大麥嘗起來是怎樣的味道與口感。等到湯煮好迫不及待一口吃下去，咦，這不是我最愛的小薏仁嗎？不管廠商是拿大麥仁來混充小薏仁，或是小薏仁是大麥仁的俗稱，總之是一道簡單又好喝的小薏仁牛肉湯！

材料（約三人份）：
油－適量
牛腩或其它適合燉煮的牛肉部位－約350克，切塊

紅蘿蔔－1/2杯，切小塊

洋蔥－1/2杯，切小塊

西洋芹－1/4杯，切小塊

蒜頭－一瓣，切碎

水－3杯

鹽－適量

月桂葉－一片

小薏仁－1/3 杯

黑胡椒－適量

做法：
1. 加熱荷蘭鍋或湯鍋，放入適量的油，再入牛肉於油鍋中，並加些許的鹽巴微微調味。
2. 待牛肉煎至表面變色後，加入紅蘿蔔、洋蔥、芹菜與蒜末拌炒。
3. 加入水、鹽巴與月桂葉，大火煮滾後，蓋上鍋蓋，再轉至小火悶煮約一個半小時，或至牛肉嫩軟。
4. 加入小薏仁與黑胡椒，若有需要可以再加入鹽巴調味，繼續小火悶煮約30分鐘。
5. 取出月桂葉即可享用。

食譜來源：skinnytaste.com

加了月桂葉的湯別有一番特殊的香味，我很喜歡。希望大家也喜歡這道湯品！

It was last winter when Mark and I were both sick that I made this soup.  I didn't feel like eating due to my sore throat.  I thought about making Taiwanese chicken soup, but I didn't have the ingredients on hand, and Mark may not be used to it.  We had had chicken noodle soup so many times that I was not interested in making it.  Searching online, I found the beef barley soup recipe from one of my favorite recipe blogs.  The soup seemed to be quite healthy, hence I decided to give it a try.

I always like barleys.  In Taiwan we usually cook barleys with mung beans to make sweet soup as dessert.  Beef and barley is an interesting combination to me.  But the final product is awesome!  It has been my top three soups ever since.

The original recipe makes 7 1/2 cups.  The recipe shown below is half of the original one, which is good for 3 meals for me.

Ingredients
1/2 tsp oil 
3/4 lbs round stew meat
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 garlic glove, chopped 
3 cups water
Kosher salt, to taste
1 bay leaf
1/3 cup dry barley
Fresh ground black pepper

Directions
1. Heat a heavy pot or dutch oven on medium heat. Add oil and beef, season with a little salt and brown meat a few minutes.
2. When meat is browned, stir in carrots, onions, celery and garlic to the pot. 
3. Add water, salt and bay leaves and bring to a boil. When boiling, reduce heat to low and cover.  Simmer covered over low heat until the meat is soft, about 1 1/2 hours. 
4. Add the barley, adjust the salt if needed and add fresh ground pepper. Simmer an additional 30 minutes. 

5. Remove bay leaves and serve.

Adapted from skinnytaste.com.

Highly recommend this soup for the cold weather!