Soups & stews
Shin of beef, noodle and vegetable soup
Essentially a reworking of the classic Vietnamese noodle dish pho, this is a great way of making the most of a cheap cut of beef and any spare vegetables that are lurking in the fridge. If you already have some good stock to hand, there's no reason why you can't use other types of meat or fish stock, and reduce the cooking time. In Southern Vietnam pho's often eaten for breakfast, but perhaps begin trying it for lunch or supper and work your way up from there!
Ingredients
- 1kg shin of beef (on the bone, if possible), in 2 or 3 large chunks
- 2 onions, sliced
- 4cm fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 red chilli, thinly sliced
- 3 star anise
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 beef stock cube
- 1 garlic bulb, cut horizontally in half
- 400g mixed vegetables: carrot or celery batons, cauliflower or broccoli florets, purple sprouting broccoli florets, sliced peppers, spinach, chard or pak choi, sliced mushrooms
- 100g rice noodles, soaked in hot water for 10 mins, then drained
- 1 tbsp fresh coriander or basil, chopped
Method
-
Step 1
Place the beef in a pan with the onions, ginger, chilli, star anise, soy sauce, stock cube and garlic. Add enough water to cover by 3cm and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours or until the beef is tender.
-
Step 2
Add the prepared vegetables to the pan and cook for 10 minutes.
-
Step 3
Turn off the heat and add the rice noodles. Thin with a little hot water, if necessary, to give a soup consistency, then sprinkle with the herbs.
-
Step 4
To serve, you can either leave the beef in chunks or take it out of the pan and break it up into smaller pieces, removing the bone.
