Vietnamese Beef & Noodle Soup

Now, I am so white that I can get a sunburn inside, so when I say "Vietnamese", I hope you understand that the recipe that follows is like Vietnamese food in the same way that Connect 4 is like chess.  But it still tastes good, and best of all it is easy and can be ready when you walk in the door in the evening.

This is adapted from a recipe in Slow Cooker Revolution, which you should totally buy.  I make a new thing from it every 2-3 weeks, and I've loved everything so far.

When you buy the beef, get something with a nice bone in the middle with tons of marrow.  It makes the soup taste super beefy.

You could use some of those tiny bird peppers that are way more authentic, but you could also just put some lighter fluid in your mouth and light a match.  I have no idea how people eat them, so I use jalapenos.  If you like them, by all means use them as garnish.

One really nice thing about this is that the heat comes from the garnish, so the whole family can enjoy this.


Vietnamese-Style Beef and Noodle Soup

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 onions, chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 T. vegetable oil
- 4 c. low sodium chicken broth
- 4 c beef broth
- 2 c water
- 1/4 c fish sauce
- 2 T. soy sauce
- 2 T. sugar
- 1 stalk lemon grass
- 4 star anise pods
- 4 whole cloves
- 3-4 lbs. beef shank or beef soup meat with bone
- 8 oz. thick rice noodles (see picture below.  I bought mine at 99 Ranch. If you can't find these noodles, I'd suggest using ramen noodles instead.  Throw out the flavor packet and cook them in the slow cooker for about 5 minutes instead of the 20 needed for the rice noodles.)
- 2 c bean sprouts
- 1 c fresh thai basil or regular basil leaves
- 1 c fresh cilantro
- 2 scallions, sliced thin
- 1 fresh jalapeno chili, sliced thin
- lime wedges


Serves 8

Take the lemon grass and cut off just the bottom 5 inches.  Then smush it a little with the flat side of your knife.

Saute onions, garlic, and oil in a skillet for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until onions are softened. Transfer to slow cooker.

Stir chicken broth, beef broth, water, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and lemon grass into slow cooker.  Put the  star anise and cloves in a small cheesecloth pouch or tea bag and add to slow cooker.   If you have a tea ball, you can use that instead of cheesecloth.

Season the beef with salt and pepper and nestle into slow cooker.  Cover and cook until beef is tender, 9-11 hours on low or 5-7 hours on high.

Transfer beef to cutting board, let cool slightly, then shred into bite-size pieces.  Throw away the bone.  Discard lemon grass and spice pouch.

Stir in the noodles, cover and cook on high until noodles are tender, 10-20 mins.  Stir in shredded beef and let sit until heated through, about 5 minutes.

Serve with bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, scallions, and jalapenos for garnish.

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