Pho Bo: Beef noodle soup


Broth
2 kg beef bones
2 brown onions, peeled and cut in half
1 knob of ginger, cut into chunks
1 pig’s trotter, ask your butcher to
saw in half
500 g beef brisket
1 star anise
4 cm cassia bark or 1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp salt

To serve
600 g pho noodles
200 g scotch fillet, thinly sliced
1 tbsp of fish sauce
4 shallots, finely sliced
4 spring onions, half finely sliced and half
cut into rings
½ cup of coriander leaves
½ cup of basil leaves

Accompaniments
1 lemon, cut in half or into wedges
1 long red chilli, sliced
Fish sauce to taste

Place beef bones on a baking tray in oven, preheated to 200 degrees Celsius. Roast for 20 minutes. Turn meat over and roast for a further 20 minutes.
Heat the grill or barbeque. Grill onion and ginger on all sides until charred lines appear.
Remove bones from oven and place in a large pot. Add the pig trotter. Cover with cold water and slowly bring to simmering point, removing scum as it comes to the surface. Add onion, ginger, brisket, star anise, and cassia bark. Simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove brisket and set aside. Take care not to boil the stock as it will result in a cloudy broth. Continue to simmer stock for a further four hours. Strain stock and discard bones, vegetables, and spices.


To Serve
Marinate the scotch fillet in the fish sauce and set aside. Slice the brisket. Ensure the broth is at simmering point.
Bring a pot of water to the boil. Drop the noodles into boiling water and stir with a chopstick to separate noodles, ensuring they are heated evenly (approximately 20 seconds). Drain noodles thoroughly and divide evenly into six bowls.
Place brisket, sliced fillet, shallots, spring onions, and herbs on top of the noodles. Ladle hot broth into the bowls. Generously add lemon juice, herbs, and fish sauce.

This recipe from Hanoi Cooking Centre