Ramen Bowl with Marinated Beef Sirloin

This recipe is based on Bill Granger’s, Rice noodle pho with rare beef and star anise, which can be found here.

We made this Vietnamese pho an ultimate Asian mishmash by using Japanese ramen instead of rice noodles and adding few vegetables typically added to a Thai Tom Yum soup. Nevertheless, a perfect one-bowl dinner.

The ginger, cinnamon and star anise infused broth is pretty good and pairs great with the beef. The caramelization on the sirloin from the soy and honey marinade is amazing, but you do need to be careful not to cook it longer than the 2 minutes per side, as the glaze could get a bitter taste.

The recipe (serves 4)

• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 sirloin steaks (about 225g / 7oz each), fat removed
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil

• 250g / 8oz ramen noodles
• 1 liter / 4 cups chicken stock
• ½ liter/ 2 cups water
• 5 thick slices from a peeled thumb of ginger
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 3 star anise

• 1/2 bunch of bok choi, leaves cut into long strips
• 1 bunch sprouting broccoli
• 6 mushrooms, quartered
• 2 tomatoes, quartered

• 1 red chili, halved, de-seeded and sliced on the diagonal
• a handful of (Thai) basil leaves

1. Put the soy sauce, honey,  fish sauce, and a pinch of sea salt in a shallow dish and stir to combine. Add the steak, cover the dish, and leave to marinate.
2. Meanwhile, prepare your noodles according to the instructions on the packet (mine were boiling the ramen noodles for 4 minutes, then drain and refresh under cold running water, so you just need to reheat them in the broth).
3. Place the stock, water, ginger, lime juice, fish sauce, cinnamon stick, sugar, and the star anise in a medium saucepan and bring everything to the boil. Then reduce the heat, add the bok choi, sprouting broccoli, mushrooms, and tomatoes and them simmer for about 5 minutes as well.
4. In the meantime, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes until hot, add the oil and sear the sirloin steaks for 2 minutes on each side. Immediately remove from the pan and allow to rest for about 2 minutes before slicing the steaks.
5. Divide the noodles between four bowls. Ladle the hot soup into the bowls and top with steak, red chili slices, and basil leaves.
   

As some of us at home are not into steaks that much, I also made a chicken version by poaching a chicken breast in the broth for about 8-9 minutes and shredding it just before serving.