Vietnamese Pork Noodle Soup
A fast, aromatic noodle soup: pork poached in ginger and fish sauce broth over rice noodles, finished with lime, herbs and chilli.
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total
- 35 min
- serves
- 4
- level
- easy
This is weeknight pho logic: you are not simmering bones for twelve hours, you are coaxing a bought stock into something aromatic with ginger, garlic, star anise and fish sauce, then poaching thin pork in it.
Nigella Lawson put a version of this on British weeknight tables, and the lesson stands: the toppings are the dish. Herbs, lime, chilli and crunch, added at the table, turn broth into dinner.
This dish is one of our top 10 recipes that made Nigella Lawson famous.
method
Simmer the stock with the fish sauce, ginger, garlic, star anise and sugar for 10 minutes. Fish out the star anise.
Cook the rice noodles according to the packet, rinse briefly, and divide between four bowls.
Drop the pork slices into the barely simmering broth and poach for 2 to 3 minutes, just until cooked through.
Ladle the pork and hot broth over the noodles.
Top each bowl with beansprouts, spring onions, herbs and chilli, and squeeze lime over at the table.
chef's tips
- Freeze the pork for 15 minutes first and it slices paper thin.
- Keep the broth at a bare simmer for the pork; a rolling boil toughens it in seconds.
- Season each bowl, not the pot: fish sauce for salt, lime for brightness, chilli for heat.