Pho Real

Our favourite place to eat Pho in Shanghai

We thought it was about time Cooking Tuesday took some inspiration from our time in Asia. Although this is not specifically a Chinese recipe it is a dish we ate a lot of while living in Shanghai. This Tuesday we set about trying to re-create our own version of:

Beef Pho - (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

The recipe we started with, is one we found on the UK Allrecipes website. We spent quite a while looking around the Internet for a recipe, finally choosing this one for its simplicity and use of raw meat. We won't bother writing out all the ingredients and process again as the Allrecipes one is easy to follow.

Our bundle of delicious ingredients

We do have one important suggestion if you are going to attempt this recipe. As with any soup of this kind the secret is good stock. We used a carton of beef stock from Marks & Spencers but believe the soup could have tasted more delicious with a better stock. (Sadly) afterwards we noticed that many people had left comments on the original recipe saying that for a more authentic taste, you should go to an Asian food store to buy actual Pho stock. We HIGHLY RECOMMEND this too, and next time we make it (as there definitely will be a next time) we shall be nipping over to our local Asian shop ourselves.

The VERY important garnishes

The thing we love most about Pho is the 'do it yourself' aspect. You get a bowl of steaming hot stock, noodles and thin slices of raw beef. Then you add your choice of mint, basil, coriander, chilli, limes, bean sprouts and sauces. And by using raw beef slices everyone can have it to their liking; leave it cooking for longer in the hot soup for a more well-done meat. What a great dinner party dish.. all hands in!

Pho'alicious!

As a final note check out this piece of information graphics on how to make Pho. Maybe this should be the next step for our Cooking Tuesday recipes! We love how simple, yet completely understandable, it is.