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Pork meatball pho

Name: Pork meatball pho
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 27 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Vietnamese recipes
Ingredients: For the soup base:; 1 litre good-quality beef stock; 5cm pece fresh ginger, sliced; 2 garlic cloves, bashed; 1 star anise; 2 tbsp fish sauce; 400g flat dried rice noodles; For the meatballs:; 6 cream crackers; 1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; Handful fresh coriander; 250g free-range pork mince; 1 medium free-range egg, beaten; 2 tsp fish sauce; To serve:; Large handful fresh herbs, such as coriander, mint and Thai basil; 1 red chilli, finely sliced; 1 lime, cut into wedges; Soy sauce (optional)

By: Delicious. food team

Published: 2 Oct 19
Updated: 18 Mar 24

An aromatic and spicy noodle soup is the tastiest way to end the day, with or without chopsticks.

Or opt for chicken with this aromatic chicken pho noodle soup recipe.

Easy
September 2019

Test kitchen approved

Serves 4
Hands-on time 20 min, simmering time 7 min

An aromatic and spicy noodle soup is the tastiest way to end the day, with or without chopsticks.

Or opt for chicken with this aromatic chicken pho noodle soup recipe.

Dairy-free recipes

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 643kcals
Fat: 10g (3.6g saturated)
Protein: 40.4g
Carbohydrates: 95.3g (4g sugars)
Fibre: 4.8g
Salt: 3.5g

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Ingredients

For the soup base:

1 litre good-quality beef stock
5cm pece fresh ginger, sliced
2 garlic cloves, bashed
1 star anise
2 tbsp fish sauce
400g flat dried rice noodles

For the meatballs:

6 cream crackers
1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Handful fresh coriander
250g free-range pork mince
1 medium free-range egg, beaten
2 tsp fish sauce

To serve:

Large handful fresh herbs, such as coriander, mint and Thai basil
1 red chilli, finely sliced
1 lime, cut into wedges
Soy sauce (optional)

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Method

For the soup, put the beef stock in a saucepan with the ginger, garlic, star anise and fish sauce, then heat gently to bring to a simmer. Turn down the heat and keep warm.
To make the meatballs, put the cream crackers in a food processor and whizz to a fine crumb. Add the lemongrass, garlic and coriander and whizz again to make a paste. (Or pound crackers and herbs to paste in a large pestle and mortar.) Transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the pork, egg and fish sauce with a large pinch of salt and pepper. Mix with your hands, then shape into 12 meatballs.
Bring the soup back to a simmer, then remove the aromatics and discard. Lower the meatballs into the soup with a slotted spoon and simmer for 7 minutes until just cooked through. Remove to a plate.

Cook the noodles according to the pack instructions, then divide among 4 bowls. Ladle the soup over the noodles, top with meatballs and serve with the fresh herbs, sliced chillies a lime wedge for squeezing and a splash of soy sauce, if you like.