← Nouns Cooking · Vietnamese

Ingredients

• 1 kg pork bones or ribs
• 2 l Water
• 1 Onion, quartered
• 300 g skinless pork belly, thinly sliced
• 400 g large raw prawns, peeled and deveined
• 3 tbsp fish sauce, divided
• 1½ tsp ground turmeric, divided
• 2 tsp sugar, divided
• 3 Shallot, finely chopped
• 4 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 2 tsp annatto seeds (or 1 tsp sweet paprika)
• 1 tsp salt, to taste
• 400 g wide flat rice noodles (fresh mì Quảng, or dried)
• 4 tbsp roasted peanuts, roughly crushed
• 2 Sesame rice crackers (bánh tráng mè), grilled or microwaved until puffed
• 1 Lettuce, shredded
• 150 g Bean sprouts
• 1 bunch mint and Thai basil
• ½ bunch Coriander (cilantro)
• 2 Spring onion, sliced
• 2 Lime, cut into wedges
• 2 Red chilli, sliced (optional)

Method

1. Cover the bones with cold water, boil hard for 5 min, then drain and rinse. Return them to the clean pot with 2 litres of fresh water and the onion and simmer gently for 45 min, skimming now and then.
2. Meanwhile, toss the pork belly and prawns with 1 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp sugar and half the shallot and garlic. Leave for 15 min.
3. Warm the oil and annatto seeds in a small pan over low heat for 2–3 minutes until the oil turns deep red, then strain out and discard the seeds. (If using paprika, just stir it into the warm oil off the heat.)
4. Heat the red oil in a wide pan over medium heat and fry the rest of the shallot and garlic for 1 minute. Add the pork and stir-fry for 5 min until browned, then add the prawns for 2 min until pink.
5. Strain the broth into the pan and add the rest of the fish sauce, turmeric and sugar. Simmer for 10 min and season with salt: the broth should be golden, rich and quite strongly seasoned.
6. Cook the noodles according to the packet, rinse and drain. Line bowls with lettuce, sprouts and herbs, add the noodles, then the pork and prawns.
7. Ladle over just a little broth (mì Quảng is not a soup, only half-drowned). Top with peanuts, broken rice crackers, spring onion, chilli and a squeeze of lime.

Tips

• Some cooks add halved hard-boiled quail eggs or chicken to the topping; both are traditional.
• Peanuts and sesame crackers are key here; leave them off for nut allergies.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Vicky Pham Delightful Plate