Recipe Index

Serving count not stated for this recipe, so quantities are shown as written.

Ingredients

• 1 qt beef stock
• 1 large onion, halved
• 2¾ oz fresh ginger, thickly sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 star anise
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1/2 tsp whole cloves
• 8 oz sirloin steak, chilled for easier slicing
• 1 tsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 7 oz flat rice noodles
• 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1 small bird's-eye chilli, thinly sliced
• ½ oz fresh basil leaves (a handful)
• ½ oz fresh coriander leaves (a handful)
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste

Method

1. Halve the onion and slice the ginger, then char both cut-side down in a dry heavy pan over high heat for 4-5 minutes until well blackened in spots; this gives the broth its depth.
2. Toast the cinnamon, star anise, coriander seeds and cloves in the same dry pan for 1 minute until fragrant.
3. Put the stock in a large pot with the charred onion, ginger and toasted spices. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 30 minutes. Strain, return to the pot, and stir in the palm sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and salt. Taste: the broth should be savoury with a faint sweetness. Keep at a bare simmer.
4. While the broth simmers, slice the steak as thinly as you can across the grain and leave it raw at room temperature for 15 minutes.
5. Cook the rice noodles in a separate pot of boiling water according to the packet directions until just tender, then drain and rinse briefly under warm water.
6. Divide the noodles between two large warmed bowls and arrange the raw beef slices over the top in a single layer.
7. Ladle the broth over the beef at a rolling boil so the slices cook through in the bowl, turning pale and just opaque.
8. Scatter over the spring onions, chilli, basil and coriander, and serve at once with the lime wedges for squeezing over.

Nutrition not computed — no serving count in the source recipe (per-serving values cannot be derived without one).