Vietnamese Beef Noodles (2005-09-15)
In Sydney, there are a lot of restaurants that serve genuine Vietnamese food in two particular suburbs called Campsie and Bankstown where many Vietnamese immigrants reside. KL and I used to go to a couple of them there where the Vietnamese beef noodles and chicken red rice were just to die for.
KL almost always ordered the noodles and nothing else. The
rice noodles was served steaming hot with thin slices of raw beef,
onions, chopped green onions and coriander. The broth which is
cooked for long hours using beef bones and herbs is hot enough to cook
the beef and the raw bean sprouts which come as an accompaniment. A
squeeze of lemon and some Thai basil make the noodles even more
aromatic.
Last week my younger sister sent me a pack of Vietnamese beef noodle
stock cubes she found in a store. Knowing how much KL loves beef
noodles, she thought we might give it a try and see how close it would
come to be the real thing.
I dutifully went out to buy all the ingredients needed for the
noodles and dared not leave out one single item. I went to Ueno (
)
to buy dried rice noodles specifically made in Vietnam (fresh noodles
would have been more authentic, but you've got to make do with what's
available and dried ones are better than nothing). I got the most
expensive marble beef in our supermarket, bean sprouts, onion,
coriander, lemon and Thai basil. I prepared the stock following
the packet instruction exactly as it says.
The result? The noodles was every bit as good as the one we
used to eat in the restaurant. It was absolutely DEEE.....LISH!
Man, it was so good we could've eaten another bowl!
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