SERVES SIX

INGREDIENTS:
250g/90z beef sirloin
500gll l!4 lb dried nood les , soaked in
lukewarm water for 20 minutes
1 onion , halved and finely sliced
6-8 spring onions (scallions),
cut into long pieces
2- 3 red Thai chillies, seeded and
finely sli ced
115g/4ozf1l2 cup beansprouts
1 large bunch each fresh coriander
(cilantro) and mint , stalks removed,
leaves chopped
2 limes, cut in wedges, and hoisin
sauce, nUDe mam or nUDe cham
to serve

For the stock:
1.5kg/31b 50z oxtail , trimmed of fat
and cut into thi ck pi eces
lkg/2 l!4 lb beef shank or bri sket
2 large onions , peeled and quartered
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
7.5cm/3 in fresh root gin ger,
cut into chunks
6 cloves
2 cinnam on sticks
6 star ani se
5m lll t sp bl ack peppe rc orns
30m 1/2 t bsp soy sa uce
45-60ml/3-4 tbsp nUDe mam
salt

Method:
1 To ma ke the stock, put the oxta il into a large, deep pan and cover it with water. Bring it to the boil and blanch the meat for about 10 min utes . Dra in the meat, rinsing off any scum, and clean out the pa n. Put the blanched oxtail back into the pan with th e other stock ingred ients, apart from the nuoe mam and sa lt, and cover with about 3 li tres/5 114 pintsl12 c ups water. Bring it to the boil , reduce the heat and simmer, covered, fo r 2-3 hours.

2 Remove the lid and simmer for anoth er hour, until the stoc k has red uced to about 2 litres/31f2 pints/ 8 c ups . Skim off any fat and then st rain the stock into another pa n.

3 Cut the beef si rl oin across the grain into thin pieces, the size of the heel of you r hand . Bring the stock to the boi l once more, stir in the nuoe mam, season to taste, then red uce the heat and leave the stock simmering until rea dy to use.

4 Mea nwh ile, brin g a pan fi lled with water to the boil , drain the ri ce sticks and add to the water. Cook for about 5 minutes or until tender - you may need to se parate them with a pa ir of chopsticks if they look as though they are sti cking together.

5 Drain the noodles and divid e them eq ually among six wide soup bowls. Top each se rving with the slices of beef, oni on, sprin g oni ons, ch illies and bea nsprouts.

6 Lad Ie the hot stock over th e top of th ese ingred ients, top with the fresh herbs and serve with the lime wedges to sq ueeze over. Pass around the hoisin sa uce, nuoe mam or nuoe cham for those who like a little sweetening, fish fl avou ri ng or extra fi re.

COOK'S TIPS:
• The key to pho is a tasty, light stock flavoured with ginger, cinnamon, cloves and star anise, so it is worth cooking it slowly and leaving it to stand overnight to allow the flavours to develop fully.

• To enjoy this dish, use your chopsticks to lift the noodles through the layers of flavouring and slurp them up. This is the essence of Vietnam.

Beef Noodle Soup