vietnamese beef noodle soup

There’s a definite touch of winter in the air in SW14, not least because everybody is suffering some sort of cold. Milo for one is pleased as he can finally have his favourite menthol vaporising nightlight in his bedroom, which he’s been banging on about since the evenings started drawing in.

Even better (for me) is the unexpected appearance of 36 bottles of beer on my doorstep, care of Dr R P Manwaring, all the way from Australia via Beer Hawk.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Anyway, faced with the spectre of snot, hacking coughs and a dramatic increase in front room blankets, emergency intervention is required in the form of our favourite ginger-infused, spicy Vietnamese beef and noodle soup, after the last of the black forest gateaux of course...

Just the smell of the spicy broth simmering away is enough to clear the sinuses, although once again I forgot about the lemon grass:

Amongst the many beauties of this recipe is once you’ve got the base broth (cinnamon, star anise, ginger, chicken stock, fish sauce, and erm lemon grass), you can add any variety of chopped veg to it depending on your mood. We didn’t have pak choi because I forgot it, but we did have beansprouts and red pepper, and I’ve also been known to throw in matchsticked carrots, mini corn, tenderstem broccoli and shredded cabbage – all delicious additions.

sources
vietnamese beef noodle soup - Waitrose Kitchen, Feburary 2012, p88