Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef [or pork, chicken] and Rice Noodle Soup)

Ingredients

3 L Beef broth
12 slices Fresh ginger root
3 stalks Lemongrass, coarsely chopped
180 g Shallots, sliced thin
1 Cinnamon stick
90 mL Nuoc Nam (Vietnamese fish sauce) or nam pla (Thai fish sauce) T&T market
Salt to taste
750 g Beef tenderloin or other tender beef steaks
750 g Rice sticks

Garnishes, as desired:
Shallots, sliced thin
Mung bean sprouts
Fresh mint leaves
Fresh cilantro leaves
Fresh red chillies, seeded and sliced thin Lime wedges
Chile paste with garlic

1. Combine the broth, ginger, lemongrass, shallots, and cinnamon stick in a stockpot. Simmer 30 minutes.
2. Strain. Discard the solids.
3. Add the fish sauce.
4. Taste and add salt if necessary.
5. Partially freeze the beef to make it easier to slice. 6. Slice the beef into paper-thin slices.
7. Just before serving, drop the rice sticks into boiling water.
8. Bring the water back to a boil and drain immediately.
9. Place each garnish in a separate bowl and arrange on the dining table.
10. Place 60 g beef slices in the bottom of each soup bowl. 11. Ladle 250 mL broth over the beef slices. The boiling broth cooks the beef in moments.
12. Add rice noodles to the bowl.
13. Allow your family to help themselves to garnishes to flavour soup as desired.

**This recipe was originally published in our Winter 2017 issue. It was provided with thanks from Dimitra Konstantakou.**