nourishing nouilles (or, phở fa’sho!)

An appropriate title methinks, considering Vietnam’s French colonial past (though granted, phở, unlike bánh mì or Vietnamese coffee, is through and through a pure national dish without European influence I correct this – since it was the Chinese who introduced the rice noodles, and the French who introduced eating red meat into Vietnam!).

Vietnamese food is definitely on the rise, at least in my world. In the span of a few days I’ve made and eaten Vietnamese food, edited and rewrote some sections in a feature on Vietnamese flavours (unfortunately I couldn’t rewrite as much as I would have liked, as in the end it is the intellectual property of the original writer), and jealousy watched the Hairy Bikers sample the best of Saigon’s street food. And it couldn’t be a better time, what with the absurdly chilling wet weather we’ve been experiencing in England. What better than a hot, fragrant, steaming bowl of phở to warm oneself up with?

Well, to be honest, to quote my rewrite, “Vietnamese cooking is perfect for any time of the year. The traditional dishes on offer provide the best of both worlds. There are hearty, full flavours on the one hand – a perfect antidote to the festive hedonism in the winter; and on the other, light, tangy and deliciously spicy dishes that are a surprisingly refreshing way to beat the heat come summertime.”

Phở bò (beef noodles) though, is not a simple dish to make. The broth makes the dish, and the broth (usually made with beef shin, or knuckle) requires hours upon hours of boiling and simmering to get that perfect, meaty flavour. But with the right key ingredients, you too can make a cheat’s version of phở bò .

One thing about me is that I’m awful at following, and thus, writing recipes. I never owned a measuring cup until my flatmate bought us one (for the primary purpose of baking). My teaspoons and tablespoons aren’t actual measures, more like small glugs or big glugs (or when I feel the need to be slightly more accurate, the small spoons and big spoons in my utensil drawer). So I’m afraid I can’t really give a recipe with measures. Instead I’ll try and guide you through my poor excuse of a recipe…

Phở bò (Vietnamese beef noodles)
For the broth:
1 beef stock cube (for myself, I used half a cube)
1/2 small onion, finely sliced
pinch of cinnamon
bay leaf
2 tbsp fish sauce (nuoc nam)
1/2 lime, juice only
things I would have wanted to have in the stock as well:
kaffir lime leaf
star anise (v. important!)
For the noodles:
1 bundle rice noodles
1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
1 spring onion, chopped
1 large handful beansprouts
And of course the obligatory beef. I used a small portion of rump steak.

If you want, you can peel the onions and chargrill them over a gas flame first. It intensifies the flavours later on to in the broth.
1. Dissolve your stock cube in a saucepan full of boiling water, add the sliced onions, the cinnamon, bay leaf, and if you have any of the other ingredients I wish I had, add them too. Boil for five minutes and then lower the heat to let the broth simmer, and let it reduce down to about 2/3 of its original volume. I’d let it simmer for about 20 minutes, but since we don’t really have any real beef bones or anything of the sort to get any real flavours out, you don’t have to leave it too long.
2. Add the fish sauce to taste, then squeeze in the lime juice.
3. Soften the rice noodles by submerging them in a bowl of hot water for about five minutes.
4. Prepare the beef by frying in a bit of sesame oil for about 2-3 minutes on each side, if you want it to be on the rare side (remember when you pour the hot broth over the thinly sliced beef, it will continue to cook). Cook for longer if you prefer. Remove from the heat and allow to rest for five minutes, then thinly slice.
5. Drain the noodles and place in a bowl. Top with the beansprouts. If you can take the heat of the chilli, just sprinkle them raw over the noodles. If not, you can add it to the broth before you serve to cook for a bit to remove the intensity of the spiciness. Arrange the beef slices around.
6. Pour the steaming hot broth over the noodles, and garnish with a generous sprinkling of spring onions. Enjoy!

I definitely need to work on my recipe writing, but hopefully you’ll find my ‘cheat’s phở ‘ delicious :)

♪ choux bee doo be doo!

First things first – I am not a pastry chef (a phrase uttered by so many contestants on Top Chef, and understandably so). I cook in a haphazard way, tossing in spices and seasonings in liberal doses, adjusting flavours as I go along. It’s no surprise then that the fine art of pastry making (and baked desserts in general), with its almost scientific approach in terms of heeding to detail and requiring precision in its execution, is lost on me. But it doesn’t prevent me from trying sometimes!

With the coconut pudding I had made a few days before leaving something to be desired, I had an itching to attempt something new. I’d spent much of Friday editing recipes from a new BBC Food programme, and one of those recipes was for chocolate profiteroles. As with many recipes, they make it look so easy, so effortless. “Har har,” I chortled to myself, “I shall amuse myself on a Saturday afternoon by attempting to make choux pastry! They shall be marvellous little puffs of heaven, and the world reading Tasty Treats will be in awe of my culinary skills!”

‘Twas not to be. Even under the encouraging eyes of Lesley Waters, who was showing me the ropes to making choux pastry step-by-step, my first batch suffered from too many eggs and the resulting mixture didn’t hold any shape at all (well, unless ‘flat disc’ is a suitable shape for a profiterole). Needless to say, it was a bit of a failure. And my initial mixture (pre-eggs) was such a little mound of perfection! Little did I know it would end this way…

Luckily for me, I’d halved the recipe quantities so there wasn’t a whole lot gone to waste. But still, I didn’t want to throw them away – even as discs, they still had a light, buttery wonderfullness to them, even if they weren’t puffed and so a bit denser than what I would have liked them to be. But then I had a brainwave- wouldn’t they be nice as the base for some sort of open fruit tart? “And,” I excitedly murmured to myself, “I could give them a pretentious name – something about it being deconstructed!”I cackled and got to work.

So I whirled away from the bin, set the platter of failed profiteroles firmly on the counter, and proceeded to whip up the double cream (mixing in a tad of coconut cream), and melt the dark chocolate to create a sauce. Spooned the cream on top of the profiterole discs, drizzled on some of the chocolate sauce, and arranged fresh summer berries on top (I’d gone on a fruit rampage earlier on in Sainsbury’s – half-price on all three!). Not bad for improvisation, if I do say so myself! :)

Et voila – deconstructed chocolate and summer berry profiteroles.

the breakfast, lunch & dinner post

Breakfast, or “An ode to the egg”

I am never one to skip breakfast- I can’t really remember there being a time in my life where I didn’t have that all-important first meal of the day. Most days I go to bed dreaming or pondering over what I’d have to eat at 8am the next morning. I have to say breakfasts here are quite different to breakfasts in Hong Kong. Whereas back home, that first nourishing meal would range from steamed sticky rice to beef congee (a hot and savoury rice porridge) with “oil fried ghosts” (fried sticks of batter you’d dip into your congee), or a bowl of hot broth with dumplings and choi sum (vegetable), eating breakfast in Britain is something of a different affair.

And it is here I must extend my eternal gratitude to the humble chicken – what would we do without it? Oh, the marvellous egg, how versatile is thee, bringing me endless choices of what to cook for breakfast! A tad hyperbolic but I suppose because today I had the perfect soft-boiled egg and garlic & rosemary toasted soldiers, those eggs deserve all the praise I lavish upon them. It was the breakfast of champions! Oh, and don’t forget the bacon.

* This isn’t a picture of today’s breakfast – the foodies should know that asaparagus is out of season now, sadly – it just takes a while for me to wake up, so save for the weekend I never take photos of my breakfast!

Lunch at the Beeb
I had my first day at the BBC today and I must say, I am just slightly underwhelmed by their cafeteria. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I judge a work place by its food pantry. I suppose I was spoiled by the wonder that is IPC, with their marvellous catering and stellar raspberry jelly and chefs who like to banter (“Turkey thing? It’s an escalope, love!” berated one when my supervisor made the mistake of using non-culinary lexicon when ordering). By contrast to the floor to ceiling windows and sprawling view of the Tate Modern, St. Pauls and the Thames, the BBC seemed like its meek and messy little brother.

So, I settled for a sandwich today. A prawn sandwich that cost me £3.50! Outrageous! I could have gotten Rosemary roasted chicken slathered in a creamy mushroom sauce with a side of dauphinoise potatos for that price at IPC. It saddens me. I may have to resort to bringing in lunches myself, but I shall give the Beeb canteen a week before I boycott it completely. Though, I was not so enamoured by the rubbery looking chow mein (they even had those quaint little Chinese takeaway boxes if you so desired to have it at your desk- somehow I get offended by Chinese takeaway boxes, kind of like how I get offended by fortune cookies and tinkling “Oriental” music in TV documentaries on the “mysteriously exotic East”) but I digress.

The 15 minute dinner (more or less)
Because White City is pretty much in the opposite side of town from where I live, it was already 7 by the time I got home. Luckily I had a massive rump steak waiting for me. Simply pan fried for a few minutes (I like my steak still mooing) with some mixed peppercorns, with a side of mashed Jersey Royal potatoes and steamed pointy cabbage, I was set. Oh and don’t forget the gravy- a strange but delicious sauce that my dad can take credit for. It’s very simple: Sauteed garlic and onions (and extra of choice- I usually add sliced mushrooms but today I substituted it with quartered cherry tomatoes) Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce + Lee Kum Kee oyster sauce, a bit of water to thin it out and then a bit of cornstarch mixed with water to thicken it out again. I don’t know why, but the rich saltiness of the oyster sauce and the sweet and sour tanginess of the Worcestershire sauce go together so well with steak. A marvellous dinner – I’m only sorry to say that I was so hungry I didn’t stop to take a picture.