Vietnamese Pork Pho
Serves 2

Ingredients
Drizzle of oil
½ onion, skin on
2 cloves garlic skin on
20g fresh ginger skin on
½ tsp coriander seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
½  tsp fennel seeds
2 whole cloves
2 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
½  tsp Whole black pepper corns
250g pork shoulder
2 slices streaky bacon (finely cut pancetta might work too)
1 tbsp salt
25ml fish sauce
10g palm sugar


100g flat rice noodles
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh coriander, roughly chopped ( or dried coriander leaf if you cant get it)
100g bean sprouts
2 tbsp Thai basil (not essential but nice)
½  red chilli, finely sliced



Ze cooking
1. Preheat oven to 220°C (fan)
2. Place the onion, ginger and garlic on a baking tray and pour on the oil roast for 20-25 mins until caramelized
3. In a small, non stick frying pan gently toast the spices, put them in a bowl and smash them up with a rolling pin (not too much just enough to break the seeds open a bit)

4. In a large heavy based saucepan,
Put the half onion in then lay the pork on top of it ( so its not in direct contact with the pan)
Add the bacon, spices, fish sauce, palm sugar, salt and the ,ginger and garlic.

5. Cover the ingredients with Water and gently simmer for 2 hours
hours the pork should be falling apart if you touch it

6. Place the noodles into a bowl and cover with boiling Water
and stir until soft. Drain and dress with a light drizzle of
oil.

Now back to the pork Use a sieve, strain the braising liquid into another pan. ( that should get all the shit out from the herbs, you could also use muslin cloth or a clean tea towel to get a really clear broth.)
At this point you are meant to throw away everything but the pork and the liquid, you can clean the herbs and crap off the bacon and keep it if you want)
Flake the pork shoulder and gently stir through the broth

Throw the noodles and the spring onions, fresh coriander, beansprouts chilli thai basil into a bowl ( or 2 bowls if you are eating with someone else) then pour over the still boiling hot broth give it a couple of mins then eat the veg should soften from the heat but still be a bit crispy