Vegetable Pho

Dinner pairing: Monsoon + this Vietnamese noodle soup straight from the Masterchef-inspired Sunday Brunch menu at Shiro, Lower Parel.

Ingredients

For the vegetable stock
1 litre cold water
1 small onion cut in half
1 stalk celery (roughly chopped)
2 cloves garlic
1 bay leaf
3 black peppercorns

For the broth infusion
500 ml vegetable stock
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
1 inch ginger, halved
Quarter of a red chilli (sliced fine)
3 pieces coriander root
2 tbsp light soya sauce
Juice of half a lime

For the pho 
80 g fresh and cooked rice noodles
15 g carrot (julienned)
¼  red capsicum (sliced fine)
2 fresh shitake mushrooms (sliced fine)
10 g shitake mushrooms
1 spring onion (sliced fine)

For garnish
A squeeze of lime juice
2 sprigs Vietnamese mint
3 sprigs coriander leaves
¼ red chilli (sliced fine)

Method

For the stock, place all the ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. 

Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 45 minutes.

Strain stock through a fine sieve and discard solids.

For the broth infusion, place ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Season with light soya sauce and lime juice.

To serve, layer the pho ingredients into a serving bowl and gently pour over the broth infusion.

Garnish with lime juice, mint, corainder and sliced red chilli.