Most of my mum's side of the family don't eat beef... so Vietnamese special beef rice noodle soup was one of my favourite things to have when I followed my mum to go shopping. When I was small, I used to ask them not to put the "sprinkles" in (spring onions and coriander), but as I've aged, I've grown to love those flavours.
INGREDIENTS
For the Pho Stock:
0.3kg beef tendon
1 can of chicken consomme (optional)
1kg ox tail
6 eshallots (charred)
4 cm section of ginger, sliced (charred)
1 package toasted Viet Pho Spices (or as many of these spices as you have: 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 teaspoons whole coriander, 1 teaspooon fennel, 3 whole star anise, 3 whole cloves, 1 cardamon pod)
1.5L water
3 tablespoons fish sauce or to taste
1 teaspoon sugar (rock sugar)
For the Pho Bowls
1 pkt Fresh rice noodles
1 pkt Beef tendon balls
150g Tripe (small)
300g Sliced beef
1 Small spanish onion thinly sliced/blanched
For the table
1-2 calamansi limes (or lime/lemon cheeks)
Fresh herbs: saw tooth coriander, spring onion, vietnamese mint
Fresh cut chilli
Bean sprouts
METHOD
SOUP BASE
Toast the spices and put into soup bag
Char the eshallots and ginger (use grill or dry pan fry)
Blanch beef tendon (remove any hairs) chop into bitesize
Blanch ox tail
Rinse meats and put all of above into electric pressure cooker for 12 minutes with 1.5L water (this means under full pressure for 12 mins and takes about 30 mins in total)
Cook, release pressure and remove any impurities from top (scoop off or strain)
Add salt/msg to taste or the can of chicken consomme
PHO BOWL
Bring pot of water to boil
Divide washed topped/tailed bean sprouts amongst bowls
Cook rice noodles, divide amongst bowls arranging on other side of bowl to sprouts
Cook beef tendon balls and tripe, divide amongst bowls on top
Divide and arrange raw beef slices
Decorate with spanish onion slices and sprinkle with herbs
Ladel hot soup soup top to "cook" raw meat
Top with some cut chilli (to tolerance) and a serve of lime
TIPs
For soup bag use the loose leaf tea bags from Daiso
You can also find prepackaged pho soup herbs in a bag ready to use. The spice combination may be different and produces slightly different soup bases.
To char ingredients - just dry fry in a non stick saucepan.
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