Pho Vietnamese Beef Rice Noodle Soup Recipe

Our very first Vietnamese recipe!

Prettier picture to share as we made this again on 30 Mar 2017! Give this recipe a try. We believe you'll love it too.

Pho Beef Noodles is what will come to our mind when we think of Vietnamese food. The richness of the beef broth but yet light enough to enjoy every slurp. The soft tender beef. It's one of the food you will think of when it's a cold rainy day.


Broth Ingredients
700g Oxtail
1.5" Ginger
1 Yellow Onion
50ml Fish Sauce
4 whole Star Anise
3 whole Cloves
2" Cinnamon Stick
0.5 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
2 Bay Leaves
3 litre of Beef Stock
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 Soup Stock Bags


Step 1 Place the oxtail in a large pot and add enough water to cover and let it boil for 10mins.
Step 2 Remove the oxtail and set aside while you pour away the water, rinse the pot.
Step 3 Slice the Yellow Onion and Ginger in half and place it on a aluminium foil and char them under the broiler until lightly browned.
Step 4 Using the same pot place the oxtail in along with the Beef Stock and bring it to a boil.
Step 5 Meanwhile, toast the Star Anise, Cloves, Cinnamon Stick in a small pan over a stove on medium heat. Turn the spices a couple of times, they are ready when you can smell. the aroma and it is slightly darken. This will take approximately 3 to 4 minutes.
Step 6 Pack up all the spices, charred Ginger and Onions in the Soup Stock Bags for easy retrieval.
Step 7 When you're done with Step 5 and 6, the broth would have just started boiling. Place in the packed Spice Bags and let the broth simmer for 4 hours.
Step 8 After 4 hours, discard all the packed spice Bags. Remove the oxtail from the pot and pull the meat from the bones.
Step 9 Return the bones to the broth and continue simmering uncovered for about an hour.
Step 10 Add salt and pepper to taste.


Serving Ingredients
2 serving of Rice Noodles
1 cup of Mung Bean Sprouts
1 bunch of Scallions
1 hand full of Fresh Cilantro
1 hand full of Parsley
1 hand full of Basil
3 Limes
Chilli Paste
Thinly sliced Filet Mignon/ Brisket/ Flank or Beef Balls

Step 11 Soak the Rice Noodles in cold water for 20minutes.
Step 12 Arrange the sliced scallions, cilantro, parsley, basil, bean sprouts, lime wedges on a platter in separate piles.
Step 13 Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the drained rice noodles. Give the noodles a quick stir and cook for about a minute until tender but firm.
Step 14 Just before serving, return the broth to a full boil.
Step 15 Divide the Rice Noodles, arrange the Beef and Mung Bean Sprouts on top of the Rice Noodles.
Step 16 Carefully ladle the boiling broth over the raw beef or beef and Mung Bean Sprouts.
Step 17 Garnish with Scallions and serve immediately. Or serve the bowl of noodles immediately along with the platter of garnish.

Cooked these meal for deary and me only. The oxtail meat was sufficient portion for us, so we didn't add extra beef or beef balls. Also, as you notice from the picture we omitted Cilantro, Parsley, Basil as we don't fancy these herbs. This is the beauty of home cook food.


Enjoy~!!!

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Singapore's Best Omakase Sushi - Shinji by Kanesaka, Raffles Hotel

Two weeks ago we blogged about Shinji by Kanesaka's 9-piece Hana 花 set, and we concluded that the Sushi was the best we've ever eaten. Today we continue with the review of the Omakase Yume 夢, which adds on some sashimi and cooked dishes before proceeding to the restaurant specialty sushi - let's go!


Yuzu-marinated Ikura (Salmon Roe)
Considering that Japanese typically don't eat salmon sushi/sashimi (because it's an imported fish and not available in the local fish markets), it's a little surprising that they eat so many salmon eggs. No complaints from us, though - the yuzu marinade does wonders here to temper the saltiness of the eggs. Delicious and opens up the palette perfectly for the food to come.


Sawara Sashimi (Spanish Mackerel) with Ground Japanese Brown Rice

Ika (Squid) and Uni (Sea Urchin gonads)
We've never liked the (lack of) taste and texture of raw squid, and unfortunately this simple soy-sauce'd rendition doesn't change our minds. The Uni is gorgeous though - creamy, buttery, briney, umami deliciousness.


Steamed Octopus, Tuna Meat and Kamasu (Barracuda)
A trio of seafood is next! We thought that the tuna meat was rather ordinary and did not have the necessary flavor to stand on its' own. The octopus was sublime, though. Octopus is normally a little tough/chewy/rubbery, but this one having been steamed for 2 hours was texturally quite similar to chicken! Barracuda was lightly seared skin-side presumably to crisp up the skin a little and provide a nice textural contrast to the raw fish.


Chawanmushi with Red Snapper and Prawn Paste
By far the weakest dish of the entire afternoon was this tepid chawanmushi; it lacked either the flavour or texture to compensate for being served lukewarm.


Saba (Mackerel) Sashimi with sesame and shiso leaf

Grilled Cod with turnip paste and baby yam with miso paste.
I really liked this dish. The cod itself was grilled superbly and the turnip-based accompanying paste was what elevated it to pefection; followed by a delightfully sweet baby yam which went well with the saltiness of the miso paste.


Skinless Japanese Tomato
Half a Tomato comes next, fresh, sweet, refreshing to ready the palatte for the next part of the meal - the sushi! Many of the neta here was also served in the 9-piece Hana 花 set, so do head on over to that post if you haven't already as we won't be repeating the write-ups.


Hirame (Flounder)

Kinmedai (Golden Eye Snapper)

Chu Toro (Medium Fatty Tuna)
Just to recap, in the previous post we had this to say about the sushi served here:

What we liked most about the sushi here is the shari (sushi rice). It comes at the perfect temperature, and is packed just tightly enough to hold it's shape from plate to mouth. Once the chewing starts the rice breaks apart, allowing you to taste and feel every single seasoned, slightly sweet, vinegared grain. Bliss.


Aji (Horse Mackerel)

Shimofuri Oh-Toro (Marbled Tuna)

Uni (Sea Urchin Gonads)
More of the delicious creamy Uni! Personally we prefer Uni in this gunkan sushi rendition; the addition of the sweet/vinegary rice and crisp seaweed is a perfect accompaniment and gives a interesting bite and extra flavor to the Uni.


Sufugai (Spiral Shell) with lime
We don't normally like shell-based sushi as it tends to be a little lacking taste-wise. The next time we visit we'll try to get the Chef to change this to something else. Like another piece of Oh-Toro :)


Kuruma Ebi (Japanese Imperial Prawn)

Maguro Akami (Lean Tuna)

Unagi Two Ways (Eel) - Salted and Sauced

Clear Clam Soup

Negi Toro (Minced Tuna Belly) Maki
Ten pieces of gorgeous, delicious nigiri, followed by the same clear clam soup, and then a Negi Toro maki handed personally by the chef.


Musk Melon
It's our first time eating musk melon (on account of its exorbitant price here); and we immediately understand where the name comes from. It's juicy and sweet, but the main difference between regular honeydew is the 'musky' taste - it's similar to that slight fermented after taste you get in some durians.


"Hey, you must take my photo. I am very famous chef." - Master Chef Koichiro Oshino
Like we mentioned in the previous post, we thoroughly enjoyed dining here because the Chefs are so jovial. Master Chef Koichiro Oshino speaks pretty good English, explained all the dishes, chatted with us and even made us take his photo!

Good things don't come cheap, though, and it's hard to say if the $250++ price tag is worth the money. We suppose that like all good things in life, you need to pay top dollar for the best, and the 'mid-range' options are normally the best value for money. So it is with Shinji by Kanesaka - their 9 piece lunch set is insanely good value. The Omakase is much pricier but you also get the absolute best produce that the restaurant could procure, cooked with all the combined skill of the Chefs. Do note that the 20-plus dishes do take a while to serve; you won't be able to squeeze this into a 1-hour lunch break.

Shinji by Kanesaka is at Raffles Hotel and is open from Mondays to Saturdays for Lunch and Dinner: Reservations highly reccomended: Telephone +65 6338 6131 or Email reservations@shinjibykanesaka.com

Juice Exploration ::: Pure Star Fruit Juice

Just juice 5-6 Starfruits for 2 cups of Juice to enjoy.

Let's learn a little about Star Fruits.

Health Benefit of Star Fruits Juice
Lower cholesterol levels
Cure hangovers and prickly heat
Stimulate the flow of milk for nursing mothers
Cure sunstroke
Cure nausea and indigestion
Help ward off winter colds and flu
Low calorie content
Treating cough
Help prevent cure flu and colds
Appropriate food for those who suffer from dehydration and poor nutrition
Regular consumption of this fruit can add moisture and mass to stools
Rreduces cholesterol levels and cures hangovers


List of goodness
Rich in vitamins A, B and C
Iron
High fiber content
Low in sugar, sodium, and acid
Calcium
Protein
Carbohydrates
Low calorie
Powerful antioxidant properties
Antibacterial and antifungal properties


How to choose Star Fruits in general?
- Choose uniform, large, rich looking yellow-orange fruits. Avoid green color, small size fruits, which tend to be extremely acidic, and unappetizing. Avoid those with cuts, bruise, shriveled or spots.
- Unripe light green fruits may be kept at room temperature until they turn rich orange-yellow color.
- Ripe star fruits can be stored unwashed for 2-3 days at room temperature. Storing the fruit longer than this period, especially in very hot climatic conditions, requires refrigeration. Star fruits kept in plastic bags and kept in refrigerators can last for approximately a week.


When to avoid Star Fruits
Avoid eating star fruit if you have kidney problems! Starfruit contains oxalic acid, which can be harmful to individuals suffering from kidney failure, kidney stones, or those under kidney dialysis treatment. Confirmed by this website.


Click here for our blog page Desserts, & Drink for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Japanese Crabstick and Corn Salad Recipe

Ingredients
6 Crab Stick
2 Japanese Cucumber
4 tablespoons whole Kernel Corn
2 tablespoon of Tobiko or Ebiko
Japanese Mayonnaise

Step 1 Steam Crab Sticks and shred it into strips.
Step 2 Steam and cool whole Kernel Corn.
Step 3 Remove seeds of Japanese Cucumber, shred and soak it into cold water for 2 mins.
Step 4 Drain Japanese Cucumber and Corn.
Step 5 Place ingredients in individual serving bowl. First Japanese Cucumber. Second Crabsticks, Third Corn then top it with Tobiko/Ebiko.
Step 6 Drizzle Japanese Mayonnaise and serve.


This is a very good Japanese Meal Side dish.

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~