| Beef pho

Slow-cooked bone broth with rice noodles, fall-off-the-bone beef brisket and rare steak might seem unusually hearty for first thing in the morning, but it’s a breakfast staple for millions in Vietnam. The flavours vary greatly depending on where in the country you’re from — and as I’m from the Mekong Delta, this recipe is in the southern style.

SERVES: 2 TAKES: 8 HRS

INGREDIENTS

3 onions, skins left on

200g ginger, unpeeled

10 star anise

5g cloves

3 tsp coriander seeds

2 tsp fennel seeds

3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed,

pods discarded and seeds kept 1 cinnamon stick

2 lemons, halved

205g salt

500g oxtail

500g beef marrow, chopped into 7cm

pieces (ask the butcher to do this) 2kg beef brisket on the bone

500g beef flank

500g beef ribs

1 daikon, peeled and halved

200g yellow rock sugar or rock

sugar, crushed

2 tbsp fish sauce

500g dried pho noodles

150g beansprouts

500g topside steak, thinly sliced

TO SERVE

200g coriander leaves

200g spring onions, chopped 200g Thai basil leaves

200g sawtooth herb (optional) 4 limes, cut into wedges

5 bird’s eye chillies, sliced sriracha sauce, for dipping hoisin sauce, for dipping

METHOD

Char the onions and ginger over an open gas flame until the skins are blackened (if you don’t have a gas stovetop, heat oven to 180C, 160C fan, gas 4 and roast for 20–25 mins). Set aside until cool enough to handle, then peel. Rinse in cold water and set aside.

Dry toast the cloves, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cardamom seeds and cinnamon in a small frying pan set over a medium heat for 3-5 mins until aromatic. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Tip the spices into a spice (or tea) strainer, breaking the cinnamon stick up if necessary, and set aside.

Next, prepare the bones and meat. Squeeze the juice of the lemons into a stockpot, throw in the used lemon halves and fill with plenty of cold water. Soak the oxtail, marrow, brisket, flank, ribs and bones in the water, then add

85g of the salt. Stir well and leave for 1 hr.

Remove the lemon halves and discard. Set the pot over a high heat and parboil the bones and meat for 5 mins. Drain, rinse in cold water and leave to dry.

Rinse the pot, then fill with 8 litres of water. Add the parboiled meat and bones and set on the stovetop at the highest heat for 3-4 mins to force all the impurities to the surface, then skim off the scum until the water looks clear. Reduce the heat to low, partially cover with the lid and simmer for 3 hrs.

Add the prepared onions and ginger along with the daikon and the remaining 120g salt. Stir in the sugar, then simmer for a further 2 hrs. Remove the daikon and onion from the broth and add the spice strainer along with the fish sauce. Cook for 3 hrs more.

Adjust the seasoning to taste (in the north of Vietnam, pho is a little saltier; in the south it’s a little sweeter). Take the pot off the heat, remove the bones and meat and set them aside to cool. Skim off any fat that has risen to the surface, then carefully and slowly strain the broth through a large sieve into a clean stockpot. Don’t rush this process.

Soak the noodles in a bowl of cold water for 30-45 mins. Drain and set aside.

Debone and tear the brisket meat into strips. Cut the flank into thin slices. Tear the meat off the ribs, if you like, or serve it on the bones.

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, then blanch the beansprouts for 5–10 seconds and drain. Divide between two serving bowls.

Fill the pan with fresh water and cook the soaked noodles for 3–5 seconds, then drain and add to the bowls with the beansprouts. Add the cooked meat, then arrange the topside steak on top.

Bring the broth to the boil, then ladle it out between the bowls. Add the marrow, if you like, or serve it on the side for guests to help themselves. Finish with the herbs. Serve with the lime wedges and chillies, plus the sriracha and hoisin sauces for dipping.

Recipe taken from The Little Viet Kitchen, by Thuy Diem Pham

(Absolute Press, £17.50).