So this is my most favorite vietnamese dish, I normally do not make it because it consumes time and effort. The noodle is made from tapioca flour giving u a final chewy texture. The stock is a combination of Napa Cabbages and Beef bones. So below is my recipe, remember it takes time to make it
Ingredient
- 2 pounds of beef bones
- 1 pounds shrimp
- 1 Atlantic Spanish Mackerel
- 1/2 pounds of fish paste
- a jar of pork paste
- sweet basil, green onion, garlic, and shallots, lemon
- 6 or 7 big leaves of Napa cabbages
- 4 packages of tapioca flour
- sugar, salt, pepper, fish sauces,
1. Stock :
Rinse beef bones under hot water, and put them into a big pot, let them boil a little , then pour the water into the sink to remove the fat and foam. Rinse the beef bones again the second time
Rinse 6 or 7 big leaves of Napa Cabbages
transfer Napa Cabbages and beef bones into a stock pot
Add about 1 gallon of water into the pot
Place the stock pot on a stove and turn the heat to high, ( add 3 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of granuated chicken soup base mix, 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce into the stockpot), let them boil ( you can adjust the seasoning depends upon ur flavor) for half an hour. While the stock is boiling, u can remove the foam floating over the top until the stock is clear with no foam.
2. Fish paste
Atlantich Mackerel : fillet the Mackerel , remove the skin and bones, and only take the meat portion, chop and grind the fish meat.
Chop 4 gloves of garlic and 3 gloves of shallots
Clean the shrimps, remove the heads, peels the shells, chop and grind them until they turn into shrimp paste
Mix the shrimp paste, pork paste, fish pastes , garlic, shallots , pepper, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of fish sauce, 1/2 tsp of chicken soup base, again the seasoning depends upon ur preference)
mix them well again with clean hands.
Heat a pan with vegetables oil, and fry the meat mixture until it turns into a yellow, golden colors
Also in order to make a meat balls, use a wet spoon to scoop and drop it into the hot stockpot, wait for the meatballs to float over the top, do not over cooked the meat balls, otherwise, they will become tender,
3. Tapioca noodles
This is a part that consumes quite a mount of time and requires ur patience, :)
Boil 2 cups of water
pour 3 and 1/2 packages of tapioca flour into a big bowl ( save 1/2 packages of flour for dusting and prevent the noodles from sticking to each other)and then pour half of the boiled water over the flour, please be careful, its hot !!
Knead the powder into a smooth dough using enough water.
Lightly dust the work surface with dry flour, lightly dust your hands and rolling pin.
Position your rolling pin in the center of the dough and flatten the dough out,
then cut the dough into a a thin slices
In a boiled hot water, soak the tapioca noodles and wait for them to float over the top , and remove them from the hot water, add the soup along with sweet basils, fried meat, green onions, and some drops of lemon and u are ready to eat.
Sweet basil makes the tapioca noodles taste delicious, It is an important ingredient, Do not forget :)
