Vietnamese Beef Soup
Ingredients
- Broth
- 2.5 c water
- 1/2 beef stock cube (low sodium)
- 5.25 oz condensed consomme
- 1 T soy sauce (reduced sodium)
- 1 T minced ginger (fresh)
- 1 cinnamon stick
- The rest
- 2 oz 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)
- 200 g sandwich steak (thin strips)
- 1 c fresh mung bean sprouts
- 1/2 c thinly sliced red onion
- 1 T chopped cilantro (fresh)
- 1 T chopped basil (fresh)
Method
1. Combine broth ingredients: water, beef stock cube, consomme, soy sauce, ginger, and cinnamon stick in large saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat.
2. Reduce heat to low; simmer, covered, 20-30 minutes.
3. Remove cinnamon stick; discard.
4. Add noodles and carrots to simmering broth. Cook 2-3 minutes until noodles are tender.
5. Add beef and bean sprouts; cook 1 minute or until beef is no longer pink.
6. Remove from heat; stir in red onion, cilantro, and basil.
7. Serve by lifting noodles from soup with fork and placing 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.