Phở Bò (Vietnamese Beef Pho)

Hanoi hits you like a hot freight train.

The humidity instantly causes sweaty brows and drenched shirts. The smells are a heady mix of food - citrusy herbs, roasted coffee and fish sauce - and traffic fumes. All around is a giant swarm of scooters and honking motorbikes, millions of people moving in a purposeful chaos across the city.

The capital of Vietnam offers an intriguing window into the history of the country. Tall pagodas rise from carefully curated parks while ancient temples sit nestled down dusty side streets, cracked and overgrown with the tentacle-like roots of giant banyan trees. The Old Quarter, a tangle of narrow lanes buzzing with workshops, gives way to elegant Parisian-style boulevards, an imposing neoclassical opera house and rows of mustard yellow art deco houses built by the French over a century ago. In the distance, towering skyscrapers remind everyone of Vietnam's rapid and recent rise. Like an onion, Hanoi's layers peel back to reveal the old and the new.

One constant - apart from the traffic - is the food. Vietnam is world famous for being a foodie's paradise. The sounds of chopping, frying, sizzling and spitting fly out from restaurant kitchens as tantalising aromas drift in the air. Street vendors squat over giant pots or sell from baskets brimming with goodies: bowls of slippery noodles, grilled pork pastries, crab soups and fresh spring rolls.

And of course... phở bò.

It's day one in Hanoi and after several hours negotiating the relentless and terrifying sea of mopeds, it's time to sample Vietnam's national dish. This seems appropriate. Phở bò, noodles with thin cuts of beef and bundles of fresh herbs swimming in a rich broth, comes from northern Vietnam. But like much of Hanoi itself, the dish is relatively recent and has been shaped by the outside. Interpretations vary but many point to the arrival of workers from southern China at the turn of the last century who brought with them recipes for water buffalo soup. The Hanoians adapted and popularised their own version, which proved immensely popular, including with the French (the word phở is said to be derived from 'pot-au-feu'). Today the dish is loved the world over.

Red and yellow placards scream PHO BO (beef) and PHO GA (chicken) from the restaurants and street kitchens around St Joseph's Cathedral, leaving no question as to what is on offer. Tables are stacked with bowls and bottles of sauces and other condiments. Locals and tourists are sat on a jumble of tiny chairs, tucking into bowls of phoey goodness, their chopsticks pinching noodles at speed.

My knees reach my shoulders as I sit down on my kiddy stool, like a giant human frog. Using my best tourist sign language, I point and nod enthusiastically at the sign for PHO BO. My self-consciousness rises as the owner giggles something in incomprehensible Vietnamese. This could be awkward. However these feelings give way to relief as a steaming bowl of phở arrives almost instantly, a medley of bright green herbs on top of a beautiful clear broth wafting intoxicating aromatics. Welcome to Vietnam.

Ingredients (serves 4)

For the broth:

300g beef chuck

1kg beef or veal bones (shank, marrow or oxtail)

1 large onion

1 large piece ginger

5 star anise

1 tbs coriander seeds

6 cloves

1 stick cinnamon

1 large piece yellow rock sugar

1 tsp salt

2.5/3L water

4 tbs fish sauce (at the end of cooking)

For the bowl:

400g Bánh phở (flat rice noodles)

200g beef chuck (raw, thinly sliced)

2 spring onions (thinly diced)

100g beansprouts

Black pepper

For the garnish:

1 lime (cut into wedges)

Coriander leaves

Thai basil leaves

Spearmint leaves

Fresh chillis (thinly diced)

Preparation (5h)

1. With a chef's torch char the ginger and onions, skins on, until blackened and soft inside (10min each). Let cool, remove skins and set aside. If you do not have a torch, roast in the oven uncovered at 180C for about 1 hour.

2. In a pan gently toast the spices - cinnamon, cloves, coriander seeds and star anise - for about 30s to unleash their aromas.

3. Place the bones in a pot and cover with cold salted water. Bring to the boil and cook on high heat for 2min to remove the impurities. Drain the water and rinse bones well. Clean the pot and put bones back inside. Cover with 2.5/3L cold water. Bring to the boil then turn heat to low. Add the beef chuck and the rest of the broth ingredients (apart from the fish sauce). Simmer uncovered for 1.5 hours, removing any foam or other impurities that rise to the surface.

4. Remove the beef from the broth and submerge in a bowl of cold water for 10min. This will stop the meat drying out. Remove and pat dry. Thinly slice the meat across the grain. Set aside.

5. Simmer the broth covered on low heat for 3 hours.

6. Strain the broth and discard the bones and aromatics. Put the (now clear) broth back in the pot and keep on low heat. Add the fish sauce just before serving.

7. Soak the noodles in warm water for 15min. Drain and set aside.

8. Just before serving, bring a pot of salted water to the boil. Blanch the beansprouts for 1min and set aside. Repeat for the cooked meat and the noodles.

9. Dress the bowl. Fill each bowl 1/3 of the way with noodles. Layer slices of cooked beef, raw beef, spring onions and beansprouts over the needles. Add a crack of black pepper. Ladle the steaming broth into the bowl - watch as the raw beef changes colour! :)

10. Garnish your pho with bundles of fresh green herbs, fiery chillis and whatever else you desire!

TIP1: You can find all these ingredients - and more - at any one of Brussels's awesome Asian supermarkets like Jin Long Trading (Rogier) or Kam Yuen Supermarket (La Bourse).

TIP2: For quality fresh meat in Brussels check out Wesley's Butcher Shop (Schaerbeek) or Boucherie Moussa (St. Josse). They will be happy to throw in the bones for free!

TIP3: For best results refrigerate the broth overnight after Step 4.

TIP4: Use a soaking bag or cheesecloth for the spices to prevent them floating on the surface during cooking.