Top Blog Recipes

31 Dec 2014

PHO A GLORIOUS BOWL OF HEALTH AND HAPPINESS

A glorious bowl that hugs and loves you back, this wonderful yet simple dish is loaded with super health giving properties that boost your immune and detox your system, there is nothing you won't love about this dish.  Gorgeous thin ribbons of steak and thai noodles bathed in a seasoned broth with star anise, lemongrass, ginger and a hint of cinnamon.

Generally traditional Pho is made from roasting beef and marrow bones and making a simple yet packed with flavour stock that you then build your dish around, you can also make your Pho broth with left over roast chicken or roast pork bones.  Building your dish traditionally you would add to your bowl thai noodles, beansprouts, thinly sliced rare beef, sliced chillies and a dash of fish sauce and lemon juice finished with a sprinkling of coriander, but this is just one way to enjoy this beautiful meal, I get my inspiration from Japanese ramen's and thai tom yum and laska style thin stock soups

Prep 15 minutes / Un-attended cooking time 3 hours / Assembly time 5 minutes


I make my broth up in advance the reason for this is two fold, firstly I like to store my broth in the fridge so that once it has gone cold and jelly set I can scoop of the fat and discard and secondly it is ready to go for quick and speedy suppers during the week, I can have a gorgeous healthy meal on the table in under five minutes.

Ingredients
(serves 2)

BEEF BROTH
2 beef knuckle/leg bones
1 marrow bone
2 carrots scrubbed
2 sticks celery rough chopped
1 leek rough chopped
3 star anise
1 stick lemongrass bashed
1/2 stick cinnamon
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 onions halved
1 lemon halved
3" piece ginger halved

FOR THE MEAL
6oz piece of rib or fillet beef
(allow 20 minutes chill time before use)
1 tsp coconut or ground nut oil
1 handful beansprouts
2 spring onions
1 red chilli
Thai noodles cooked
1 tbsp fresh coriander
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp lemon juice

First pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees to roast your beef bones for approx one hour, no need to do this if you are using leftover roast beef bones.  Place the roasted bones and scrapings from the roasting tin into a deep saucepan, add three litres of water and bring to a simmer, meanwhile in a frying pan on a medium heat and caramelise the onion, ginger and lemon, this releases their natural sugars and adds another depth of flavour to the broth, add these to the saucepan along with the rest of the broth ingredients, carrots, celery, leek, star anise, lemongrass, cinnamon and fish sauce.

Leave to gently simmer for three hours and skim off any scum that collects on the top, the slower you simmer the less scum will be produced and you will make a clearer purer stock.  Once your stock has bubbled away for three hours and reduced by half, increasing the depth of flavour, strain through a fine mesh sieve or muslin.  

Heat a non stick frying pan to medium hot, rub the beef with a dash of oil and sear the fillet on all sides for three to four minutes for rare and five to six for medium, take off the heat, wrap in clingfilm and place in the freezer, for twenty minutes, this will firm up the beef making it much easier to thinly slice, while the beef chills, place 600ml of stock in a saucepan and bring to a rolling simmer, turn down to tick over, take your beef from the freezer and thinly slice into ribbons.

In your bowls place a handful of thai noodles and top with a handful of beansprouts, a sprinkling of spring onions, chillies and coriander, place the ribbons of beef piled high in the centre and then pour over your hot beef stock, adjust the seasoning if needed with a dash of fish sauce and or lemon juice then enjoy your bowl of goodness, health and happiness.

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