Week 5: Vietnamese-Style Beef Noodle Soup

I love Thai food but every time I order soup it’s always so greasy and gives me a stomach ache.    Here’s an easy recipe from six years ago that’s a bit spicy and uses roast beef  Vietnamese-Style Beef Noodle Soup so you don’t actually have to prepare meat.  It was the right amount of spiciness to my tongue- not too spicy, not too mild.  It had enough flavors with the serrano chili peppers, the mint and cilantro to make it just right. By the third bowl, my eyes started to water and my face got red.  Hint Hint- 3 bowls? What? That’s how good it was.

My mom would have a heart attack if she saw the mess in the kitchen.  I couldn’t help myself because I like to spread all the ingredients out on the counter when I follow directions- if I follow directions.   The only two ingredients I didn’t use was the fish sauce and the Thai basil and it was still plenty good.  I was glad I didn’t use the fish sauce because it has so much sodium in it- 1340 mg and the soup didn’t need any salt to enhance flavor.     It was nearly impossible to tear the vermicelli noodles apart without getting all the little bits and pieces all over the counter and the floor.  That was my only challenge.  I used scissors and a knife to tear them a part but they wouldn’t budge.

Pretty herbs I love the smell of fresh cilantro and mint.

Rating: 1= Bad/Hard, 5=Excellent/Easy

Taste/Flavor: 5

Do-Ability: 4 – couldn’t find good Thai Basil. It was still pretty easy. Using roast beef was smart because no one wants to get E coli these days.