Serves 8, takes up to 120 minutes

This is a delicious, tasty, fragrant soup with an amazing set of flavours that meld beautifully. As it takes some time to prepare, you can make the stock part, remove the meat, and let it mature overnight.

Stock

2 dstps finely chopped coriander stalks

600g very lean rump steak

2 pork chops, most of the fat removed

3 stems lemongrass

4 thin slices galangal, preferably fresh but dried works fine

1 tbsp light fish sauce (Nam Pla or Nuoc Nam)

5 curry leaves (optional)

1 mild chilli roughly chopped

Vegetables

8 baby pak choi, finely shredded lengthways

200g mushrooms, quartered

Either 100g baby carrots or 100g mange tout or 100g little green beans or 100g baby sugar snaps

Garnish

2 tbsps chopped fresh coriander leaves

2 tbsps finely sliced spring onion whites, sliced lengthways

Quarter of a cucumber, peeled, halved, deseeded and sliced across very finely

Everything else

2 tbsps vegetable oil

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp dried shrimp paste

2 shallots, finely sliced

1 tbsp light fish sauce (Nam Pla or Nuoc Nam)

Enough good quality narrow ribbon rice noodles for 8 people. If you can’t get them (Wing Yip supermarkets carry a huge range of noodles), ordinary rice or wheat noodles will do fine

Salt and pepper

• Put all the stock ingredients into a big pot or wok with 2 litres of cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer gently for 75 minutes. Skim it every 15 minutes or so, removing as much froth as you can. When time is up, remove the meat, and set it aside to cool. Sieve the stock
• Then blend the oil, the shrimp paste and the tomato puree in a dish. Transfer to another large pot, and fry on a medium heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the shallots and a ladle of the stock, and simmer for 3 minutes, then add the remaining stock. Simmer for 20 minutes
• Meanwhile, slice the cooked beef and pork thinly, set aside
• Cook the noodles as per the instructions on the packet, then transfer to a colander and rinse under cold water
• Bring the stock back to the boil. Add the mange tout/carrots/green beans and mushrooms, and simmer for 3 minutes, then add the pak choi and simmer for 3 minutes. Add half a tablespoon of fish sauce and season to taste, check, then add another half a tablespoon of fish sauce if necessary
• To serve, divide the noodles between the serving bowls. Then divide the meat between the serving bowls. Then add a few ladles of stock to each bowl, then sprinkle some garnish on each serving and serve immediately