A Tale of Beef Noodles - Pho

Instead of the typical flowers, sweet goodies or other crafts that hotels normally provide as a welcome note to its guests, Rex Hotel surprised me with this Card sitting on my bed. It's not just an ordinary card because it narrates the tale of the world famous Vietnamese dish - Pho. It also describes how a Pho is usually prepared (see recipe below). But what caught me from everything that's written was this:

 

"To appreciate Pho propersly, it should be eaten in restaurants with the atmosphere of people going in and out, the sound of bowls, chop sticks and knives, and the passionate faces."

Broth:
200g ox's bone
50g ox's tendon
100g pork's bone
50g ginger, unpeeled
1 large onion, halved and unpeeled
4 pcs star anise, 2 pcs cloves, a pc of cinnamon

Garnish:
100g rice noodles
2 bunches spring onions, sliced thinly
10g bean sprouts
3 large limes, cut into wedges
fresh hot chillies
100g fillet mignon, fat trimmed & sliced very thinly

Procedure:

1. Put the ox's bone, tendon and pork's bone into a large pot with 300ml boiling water. Simmer the stock at low heat. Skim the scum on the surface of the stock.

2. Add grilled ginger, onion and star anise along with cloves and cinnamon and 1 tbsp of salt into the boiling stock.

3. After 4 hrs, remove all ingredients and set aside. Let the broth continue to simmer, until the broth is rich and flavorful; about 1 hr.

4. Taste the broth and add more salt or fish sauce to taste.

5. Arrange the slices of raw fillet over the noodles in the bowl. Carefully ladle the boiling broth all over; the raw beef should be submerged in the broth.

6. Serve immediately along with the platter of garnish.