I ♥ Pho

When we were in Vietnam earlier in the year everywhere you looked there were people selling T-Shirts saying I ♥ Pho and other crazy things to do with Pho and iPhone and god knows what else! Whilst on a tour our helpful guide Nhan told us that it is pronounced "fur" and means noodle soup. Nathan was on a mission to try it and managed to eat a couple of bowls of Pho Bo (Beef Noodle Soup) and realised why everyone loves Pho. Tonight we decided to recreate this amazingly delicious soup and the results were fantastic. It is so light, refreshing and tasty. All we need now is the 35 degree heat, $1 beers and $3 cocktails.... I can't give you that but I can give you the recipe I used:

Ingredients~

• 1 litre beef stock
• 1 litre water
• vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 3 cm piece ginger, finely diced
• 1 star anise
• 1 cardamon pod
• 1 pinch fennel seeds
• 1 pinch coriander seeds
• 1 pinch cloves
• 1 cinnamon quill, broken in half
• 300g steak, very finely sliced
• 1/4 long red chilli, finely sliced
• 1 spring onion, finely sliced (including green bit)
• handful of rice stick noodles
• basil
• mint
• lemon
• bean shoots

To Cook ~

• Saute the onion and ginger until the onion is soft and translucent in a saucepan over medium heat.
• Add the beef stick and water. 
• Then add the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, corainder seeds, fennel seeds and cardamon.
• Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for about 40mins to let the flavours infuse. Taste about half way to make sure there is enough flavour. Taste at the end and add a bit more water if it is too strong.
• Just before the broth is ready cook the steak strips quickly in a pan over high heat (will only take 1-2mins). Add cook the noodles by pouring boiling water over the top and leaving to soften for 30seconds.
• To make he soup put the steak, white part of the spring onion and noodles in a bowl. Then pour strained broth over the top. Sprinkle green part of spring onion over the top.
• Serve with the basil, bean shoots, chilli and lemon so you can add as much or as little of these ingredients as you like. 
• Serve with hoisin dipping sauce for the beef strips if you like (it is super tasty).

Mmm yum. I ♥ Pho indeed!