Friday, July 27, 2012

Egg Noodle Soup ala Vietnamese

Star Q


One off my favourite cooking programme on telly is Taste Takes Off on Channel 703.  It is more of a documentary programme which takes the viewers to specific places, mainly in Australia, and introducing certain dishes from those places.  

On this particular programme, the host, Peta Mathias, took viewers to Vietnam.  And one of the recipes featured that caught my attention was the Beef Noodle Soup.  What attracted me was the noodle was served with thin slivers of raw beef which were instantly cooked when boiling hot soup was poured onto it.

I, on the other hand used meatballs (store bought, no less!) since my kids prefer them to sliced beef.  And my version lack the greens that Vietnamese noodles are famous for.  Firstly, because the beansprouts is one vegetable too many for my kids.  And the second reason is, I just couldn't find any of the other greens! Haha!  

Anyway, as with any soups, the most important part of this recipe is the soup!

Stock :
500g beef bones
1/2 tsp each of cumin, fennel and coriander
3 cloves
1 star anise
3 inches cinnamon quill 
1 knob ginger, crushed
2 stalks lemon grass, bruised
4 cloves garlic, crused
1 Holland onion, quartered
Fish sauce for seasoning

To serve:
Egg Noodles (I used dried ones which I boiled to al dente)
20 beef balls
Some fried bean curd
Some beansprouts 
Some pickled green chilies 

Place all the stock ingredients above (except the fish sauce) in a pot.  Fill the pot with enough water to cover the ingredients and simmer until whatever meat that is stuck to the bones is tender.  Strain the stock and discard the ingredients.  Place the stock back into the pot, add in the beef balls and the fried bean curd and simmer gently, adjusting the seasoning.

To serve, place the egg noodles and beansprouts in a bowl together with a few beef balls and fried bean curd.  Ladle in as much of the hot soup as you like.  Serve with the pickled green chilies.

No comments:

Post a Comment