Froggie does Nam - Part 2: Phở

If Vietnam has a national dish, then it might well be Phở. A true Vietnamese could not face starting the day at work without first tucking into a huge steaming bowl of the famous beef noodle soup. It is a staple of street food stalls, available everywhere and at any time of day or night, and specialised restaurant chains selling only a few versions of the dish (usually, a beef and a chicken option with various sorts of noodles) have sprouted all over the country. Frankly, given the chance, I would be slurping this for breakfast every day myself, and it is certainly what I do everytime I go back to Vietnam. I love this light, flavourful and nutritious dish and make it very often at home; it is pretty easy to make and can be conveniently prepared in advance and reheated at the last minute.

Spices for Phở broth: cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, black peppercorns



Fresh herbs to garnish: mint, Thai basil, coriander



Preparing the fish sauce dip

Vietnamese fish sauce dip

3 chillies

3 cloves garlic

150ml water

4 tbsp fish sauce

50gr sugar

1 tbsp vinegar

Juice of 2 limes

½ tsp salt

·       Peel and roughly chop the garlic, slice the chillies and grind with a pestle and mortar. Add the salt and sugar, and grind until a paste forms.

·       In an airtight container, mix the water, fish sauce, vinegar and lime juice. Stir well.

·       Add the paste from the mortar, close the container and shake well.

·       Keep refrigerated until use. This sauce can be used to dip spring rolls, salad rolls, grilled meat skewers, prawn paste on sugarcane, etc… and will keep in the fridge for a good couple of weeks.



Phở, ready for slurping



Phở (serves 4)

Broth:

2 liters beef stock (home-made or store bought)

500gr beef (shank, brisket or shin)

1 large onion, peeled and bruised

2 shallots, peeled and bruised

5cm ginger root, peeled and bruised

3 star anise pods

1 cinnamon stick

2 cloves

1 tsp crushed black peppercorns

4 tbsp fish sauce

Garnishes:

Thai basil, mint and coriander leaves

Lime sections

Chopped red chillies

350gr rice noodles (flat, vermicelli or rice sticks)

500gr thinly sliced beef (type shabu-shabu)

250gr bean sprouts, blanched

·       In a large soup pot, dry-fry the shallots, onion and ginger until browned on all sides.

·       Add the beef broth, fish sauce, spices and meat, bring to a boil and let simmer over low heat for 1.5 to 2 hours, skimming off the surface regularly to remove any fat or any foam that may form on the surface.

·       Rinse the rice noodles under running water and cook them in boiling water for 3mn (vermicelli), 5mn (rice sticks) or 8mn (flat noodles).

·       Drain and cool under running water, to remove any remaining starch that would make the noodles sticky as they cool down. Place in 4 individual serving bowls.

·       When the beef is cooked, remove it from the broth, slice it and place it on top of the noodles.

·       Add the thin beef slices (still raw), a handful of bean sprouts and garnishes to taste.

·       Ladle the boiling soup over the noodles and meat (this will partially cook the raw beef) and serve immediately with individual portions of fish sauce dip.