This is the noodle soup I crave at least weekly. I will go far to eat a good version of it but sometimes I make it at home. Yes, this fragrant, delicate but very delicious noodle soup can be made at home as long as you have the items necessary and give yourself a few hours. Despite the length of the list of ingredients it isn't a particularly difficult recipe to make and you will enjoy one of the best phở bò to be had anywhere. This recipe yields a pure tasting broth and is easily doubled if you'd like to freeze leftover stock for the next time a craving for a Vietnamese noodle soup comes around ... it is cold here and this soup was very welcome in our dining table last night.

Beef Pho and Rice Noodle Soup or Phở Bò Tái, adapted from a recipe by Andrea Nguyen 

Makes 6 medium-large sized bowls

For the broth:

• Yellow onion:1 medium size, unpeeled, slightly charred on a gas burner or in a bbq, cooled, washed and quartered
  
• Ginger: one 5 cm piece
  
• Beef marrow bones: 1.5 kilos, ask your butcher to cut them into 3 cm pieces
• Pork hock: 1, ask your butcher to cut into 3 cm pieces
  
• Star anise: 2
• Cloves: 2
• Cinnamon or cassia: 1/2 stick
• Coriander roots: 3, thoroughly cleaned
  
• Spring onion roots: 3, thoroughly cleaned
  
• Beef brisket: 250 grams after trimming and cut into bite size pieces
  
• Salt: to taste
  
• Fish sauce: 2 tablespoons
  
• Yellow rock sugar: 2 cm chunk

For the bowls:

• Dried or fresh banh pho noodles: 1 kilo, about 5 mm wide
• Beef eye of round or sirlon: 150 grams, sliced about 2 mm thick across the grain (freeze for 15 minutes to make it easier to slice)
• Yellow onion: 1 small, sliced paper-thin, left to soak for 30 minutes in a bowl of cold water
• Spring onions: 2, cut into thin rings diagonally
  
• Fresh coriander: 1/3 cup chopped 
• Ground black pepper to taste
  

Garnishes arranged on a plate and placed at the table:

• Sprigs Vietnamese basil and/or spearmint
• Fresh coriander leaves (ngo gai)
• Bean sprouts: about 2 cups
  
• Red hot chiles (such as Thai bird or dragon), thinly sliced
• Lime wedges
  

Prepare the pho broth:

Place bones and hock in a large stockpot and cover with cold water. Over high heat, bring to boil. Boil vigorously 2 to 3 minutes to allow impurities to be released. Dump bones, hock and water into sink and rinse bones with warm water. Quickly scrub stockpot to remove any residue. Return bones and hocki to pot.

Add 3 litres of water to pot, bring to boil over high heat, then lower flame to gently simmer. Use ladle to skim any scum that rises to surface. Add remaining broth ingredients and cook, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours. Brisket should be slightly chewy but not tough. When it is cooked to your liking, remove it and place in bowl of cold water for 10 minutes; this prevents the meat from drying up and turning dark as it cools. Drain the meat; cool, then refrigerate. Allow broth to continue cooking; in total, the broth should simmer 3 hours.

Strain the pho broth through fine strainer. If desired, remove any bits of gelatinous tendon  from bones to add to your pho bowl. Store tendon with cooked brisket. Discard all other solids.

Use a ladle to skim as much fat from top of the pho broth as you like. (Cool it and refrigerate it overnight to make this task easier; reheat befofe continuing.) Taste and adjust flavor with additional salt, fish sauce and yellow rock sugar. The pho broth should taste slightly too strong because the noodles and other ingredients are not salted. (If you've gone too far, add water to dilute.) Makes about 2 litres.

Assemble pho bowls:

The key is to be organised and have everything ready to go. Thinly slice cooked meat. For best results, make sure it's cold.

Heat the pho broth and ready the noodles. To ensure good timing, reheat broth over medium flame as you're assembling bowls. If you're using dried noodles, cover with hot tap water and soak 15-20 minutes, until softened and opaque white. Drain in colander. For fresh rice noodles, just untangle and briefly rinse in a colander with cold water.

Fill 4 litre saucepan with water and bring to boil. For each bowl, use long-handle strainer to blanch a portion of noodles. As soon as noodles have collapsed and lost their stiffness (10-20 seconds), pull strainer from water, letting water drain back into saucepan. Empty noodles into bowls. Noodles should occupy 1/4 to 1/3 of bowl; the latter is for noodle lovers, while the former is for those who prize broth.

If desired, after blanching noodles, blanch bean sprouts for 30 seconds in same saucepan. They should slightly wilt but retain some crunch. Drain and add to the garnish plate.

Add other ingredients. Place slices of cooked meat, raw meat and tendon (if using) atop noodles. (If your cooked meat is not at room temperature, blanch slices for few seconds in hot water from above.) Garnish with onion, spring onions and chopped coriander. Finish with black pepper.