Vietnamese Beef Soup
Ingredients
- 200 g beef (boneless, lean - I like sandwich steak)
- 1.5 c water
- 7 oz beef stock
- 5.25 oz condensed consomme
- 1 T soy sauce
- 1 T minced ginger (fresh)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 oz rice noodles (about 1/8" wide - it doesn't sound like much, but it will expand. Use thin noodles.)
- 1/4 c thinly sliced carrots (or julienned)
- 1 c fresh mung bean sprouts
- 1/2 c thinly sliced red onion
- 1 T chopped cilantro (fresh)
- 1 T chopped basil (fresh)
Method
Place beef in freezer about 45 minutes, until firm. Meanwhile, combine water, beef broth, consomme, soy sauce, ginger, and cinnamon stick in large saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, 20-30 minutes. Remove cinnamon stick; discard. Meanwhile, place rice noodles in large bowl and cover with warm water; let stand until pliable, ~20 minutes.
Slice beef across grain into very thin strips. Drain noodles. Place noodles and carrots in simmering broth, cook 2-3 minutes until noodles are tender. Add beef & bean sprouts; cook 1 minute or until beef is no longer pink.
Remove from heat; stir in red onion, cilantro, and basil. To serve, lift noodles from soup with fork and place in bowls. Ladle the remaining ingredients and broth over noodles.
Notes
SJ Note 11 March 2010: This was good, but it had too much cilantro. It originally called for 1/4 cup each cilantro and basil; I've scaled both back to 1 T. It also needs more liquid for next time: I will adjust that next time, as I am thinking about trying to make beef consomme from scratch first. Serve with chopsticks to anyone who uses them.