PHO Soup from Vietnam!

We have just arrived back from Vietnam, where we had some amazing food. One of the most famous dishes in Vietnam is there PHO soup that you can eat at any time of the day!

We have just arrived back from Vietnam, where we had some amazing food. One of the most famous dishes in Vietnam is there PHO soup that you can eat at any time of the day!

Usually it is made with beef broth, but Varn made it for us with chicken broth.

She arrived from the market with, fresh pork, chicken and lots of herbs, Vietnamese mint and corainder.

PHO (Simply pronounced Fuh)

1 Litre chicken stock
4cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and halved
2 star anise
3 teaspoons of light soy sauce
1 tablespoon of fish sauce
2 cups of rice noodles (pad thai) your choice of noodle
2 tablespoons of lime juice
2 cups of sliced cooked pork
1/2 cup of fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup of fresh coriander leaves
2 green onions, thinly sliced
Red Birdseye chili and lime wedges, and fresh diced garlic to serve.

Method

Place the stock in a saucepan with ginger, star anise, soy sauce and the fish sauce. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, and then drain well.
Divide the noodles among warmed soup bowls, then top with sliced pork fillet, mint, onions and coriander.
Pour over the hot soup mixture (the heat will gently cook the meat) and top with chili, lime juices and fresh garlic.

Our sweet Moscato would go well with this lovely soup.

Pork Meatballs over Laksa Soup

We have been very busy the last couple of weeks with entertaining overseas guest, from China, Germany and USA.

We have been very busy the last couple of weeks with entertaining overseas guest, from China, Germany and USA. We have mainly been providing them with our pork and our goat, and fresh fruits and vegies from our garden/orchard.

One quick dish I did was steaming Asian pork meatballs over a Laksa soup. I have a steamer with a reasonable size base that I cook the soup in the bottom (where you usually only boil water) and have the meatballs steaming above, getting all of the lovely flavours infusing through.

For the Meatballs
• 500g pork mince
• 4 shallots, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
• 5 water chestnuts, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh coriander leaves
• 3 teaspoons soy sauce
• 3 teaspoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 egg, lightly whisked
• 40g (1/4 cup) plain flour
• Steamed rice and Asian greens to serve with, or you can place in the Laksa to make it an all in one main dish.

First of all combine the mince, shallots, water chestnuts, garlic, coriander, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and egg in a bowl. Roll 1 tablespoonful of the mixture into a ball and roll in seasoned flour, with salt and pepper and place in the steamer. Place baking paper between the layers.

Laksa Soup
Fry 1 diced onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger in a tablespoon of olive oil in the pan of your steamer. Then add 1 full jar of Laksa paste(400mls) with 3 cups of Chicken or vegetable stock, 400ml of coconut milk and 125ml of coconut cream. Place the steamer on top, bring to the boil and let it simmer for half an hour or until the pork meatballs are all cooked through.
Whilst that is cooking, get your soup bowls ready with the following items divided between them. You can have it as an entrée, if you have lots of people or if you only have 4-6 you can have it as a main dish.

• 100g mung bean vermicelli noodles (cellophane or glass noodles)
• A kaffir lime leaf in each
• 2 cups of (110g) bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves
• 1/2 cup Vietnamese mint leaves
• Cooked prawns, diced chicken
• Sambal oelek and lime wedges, to serve

This dish goes nicely with a glass of our Riesling or Sauvignon Blanc

Leftover Sausage Curry

It's been really busy at our house recently with lots of dinner parties with friends, relatives and business partners.

It's been really busy at our house recently with lots of dinner parties with friends, relatives and business partners.

Please see below a recipe I did on Sunday night, after a BBQ we had for 20 people on Saturday night.

Leftover Sausage Curry
Fry in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, the following ingredients;
1 diced onion
1 tsp. grated ginger
2 tsp. crushed garlic
1 tsp. turmeric powder
1 tsp. Garam Masala
1 tsp. coriander powder
1 tsp. Cumin
1 tsp. dried chilli or more if you like it hot.

Fry this all together, until golden brown. It's important to cook your spices first, as it brings out the flavour in them. Even better if you mortar and pestle the seeds of the above spices, before frying.

Then add a dozen leftover sausages diced, as these are already cooked, you just need to cover them in the spices, then add a can(400gm) of chopped tomatoes and a can(400gm) of coconut milk. Let this simmer until heated all the way through and the flavours have soaked into the sausages. This should take approximately 20-30mins.

Serve with Pilau rice
1 cup Basmati rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. Garam Masala
1 bay leaf.
1 tsp. crushed garlic

Place the chicken stock and spices in a saucepan and cook the rice for 12 minutes until light and fluffy.
Whilst the rice is cooking, fry up 1 thinly sliced onion, in 2 tsp of olive oil, until golden and caramelised. Spread out on a baking tray and place in a preheated 180°c oven for about 10 minutes until it is crunchy, then toast 1/4 of a cup of Salted Cashews.
Combine the onion and cashews and sprinkle on the top of the rice for serving.
Serve with a green salad, Cucumber and Yoghurt and red chillies for those who like it hot.

Enjoy with a glass of Rose.