Thai Beefball Noodle Soup

Thai Beefball Noodle is a common street food in Thailand. It is basically rice noodles with some beefballs and beansprouts in a beef broth, garnished with some Thai basil and fried garlic oil. There are many versions of the tasty noodle ~  some with beef slices or tendon, some are spicy or prepared dry.

Nevertheless, to do the noodle justice, you've got to prepare a good beef broth / stock. I don't like quickies so I prepare the broth from scratch which takes a minimum of 4-5 hours. However, if you are pressed for time, just purchase beef stock in powder or liquid form. You will still have to add the spices to the stock to get that Thai flavour.

I am lucky to have a authentic Thai grocer in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, which means I could actually get fresh beefball and real Thai rice vermicelli from Thailand instead of the ones sold at the markets. 

Thai Beef Noodle Soup (4 Servings)

1 kg beef bone, blanch in hot water

300gm beef shank

3 litre water

1 brown onion, sliced

3 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

 1 packet of dry rice vermicelli

 24-30 beefballs

Seasoning:

1 tsp Thai sweet dark sauce

1 tbsp Thai fish sauce

Salt to taste

Garnishing:

50g beansprout

A few sprigs of Thai basil

Deep fried garlic mince

Lime

Method:

1. To prepare the broth, blanch the beef bones in boiling water for 3 minutes. Place beef bone and beef shank in a stock pot. Add water, onion, star anise and cinnamon stick. Bring stock to boil then allow to simmer for a few hours. If you are using ready stock, one hour will do.
2. When broth is ready, blanch the rice noodle and place it in individual serving bowls. 
3. Bring the heat back up for the broth , add the seasoning and let it boil for 15 minutes . Put in the beefballs. When the beefballs are floating on top, place the beef ball and some beef shank into your serving bowl with noodles and pour a ladle of soup on top. 
4. Garnish with beansprouts, basil leaves. Pour a little more soup on top of the garnishing, to cook the beansprout slightly. Squeeze some lime juice and serve!