Recipes>Beef Recipes

Vietnamese Bo Pho

by Lindsey Bareham from One Pot Wonders

Serves 4-6

Total 5hr 15min

Prep 45min

Cook 4hr 30min

This Vietnamese bo pho recipe showcases a medley of chicken and beef in a spicy noodle soup. The dish comes to life with fresh ginger, star anise and cinnamon.

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One Pot Wonders

Lindsey Bareham

One Pot Wonders

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Introduction

There is no point in attempting pho, the famous noodle soup of Vietnam, if you don’t take trouble with the stock. It is best to make it 24 hours ahead so that the flavours mature and the fat can be thoroughly skimmed off.

The crystal-clear stock is poured over ready-prepared rice noodles, pieces of beef from the stockpot or wafer-thin slivers of fresh steak (or both) that cook in moments in the soup. A bounty of add-ons, all separately presented for diners to help themselves, include sprigs of coriander, mint and Thai basil, sliced chillies, spring onions and beansprouts. Some people include scraps of peeled tomato and finely sliced fennel or celery. Pho is fresh and aromatic, light and healthy and endlessly variable. My recipe is based on one served at Naga ( www.nagarestaurants.co.uk ) in London’s Kensington.

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Ingredients

For the stock:
2large onions
1whole bulb of garlic
2kgmarrow, knuckle and/or beef shin bones
A fewchicken wings, optional
500gpiece shin, chuck or other stewing steak, optional
75gfresh ginger
2large carrots
2star anise
30grock sugar (from Chinese/ Asian stores)
1cinnamon stick
½ tspsalt
12black peppercorns
4 tbspThai fish sauce
For the soup:
200gdried tagliatelle-style rice noodles (rice sticks)
250grump, sirloin or fillet beefsteak
300gbeansprouts
125gbunch of spring onions
5limes
2long red chillies
To garnish:
sprigs of coriander
sprigs of Thai basil
sprigs of mint

Method

Heat the oven to 220 C/gas mark 7. Place the unpeeled onion and garlic in a small oven dish and roast for about 25 minutes until the skin is black. Meanwhile, cover the bones with water and bring to the boil. Discard the scummy water, rinse the bones and return to the pan.

Flake away the blackened onion skin, trim the ends, break apart the garlic and place in the pan with the bones, chicken wings and stewing steak, if using, plus sliced ginger and carrots, star anise, sugar, cinnamon, salt and peppercorns. Add 4 — 5 litres of water to cover generously. Simmer, skimming regularly, for 4 hours. Add 3 tablespoons of the fish sauce, then more salt and fish sauce to taste. Strain. Set aside the stewing steak, if using, let it cool and wrap it in clingfilm. Cool and chill the stock overnight.

Skim off the fat. Reheat the stock. Soak the noodles in boiling water for 20 minutes, then drain. Slice the steak very thinly into bite-size sheets — 30 minutes in the freezer makes this task much easier. Rinse the beansprouts and shake them dry. Slice the spring onions. Halve the limes. Trim and slice the chillies into thin rounds. Place all of these items and the shredded stewing steak, if using, in bowls for people to help themselves.

To eat pho, place a mound of noodles in a deep bowl. Pour on some boiling stock, then add slivers of steak, scraps of stewing steak, if using, beansprouts, spring onions, chilli and herbs. Squeeze a half-lime over the top.

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Ingredients
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