Cold Korean Beef Soup

Rinse the beef and pat dry. Bring a pot of water (about 2 liters or approximately 8 cups) to boil. Add the star anise, Sichuan pepper, cinnamon, fennel and the beef. Make sure the beef is covered with water throughout cooking. Simmer for about 2 hours over low heat. Take the soft, cooked beef from the marinade, let cool and cut into fine strips. Pour the soup through a sieve and leave to cool.

Rinse the pear, quarter, remove the cores and slice into thin sticks. Mix the sugar and lime juice in a bowl of cold water and add the pears. Peel the daikon and cut into thin sticks. Rinse the cucumber, cut in half, scrape out the seeds and also cut into thin sticks. Peel the eggs and cut into quarters.

Boil the buckwheat noodles in plenty of unsalted water for 3-5 minutes, then drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.

Stir the vinegar and mustard into the the cold beef broth. Pour the broth with the noodles into bowls. Add the beef and serve with the drained pears, cucumber, daikon and egg on top.