• a potful of Chicken Broth (homemade or canned broth will do)
• 1 whole onion
• 4 scallion stalks
• 5 anise stars*
• 10 quarter inch peeled slices of ginger

• 2 bags of fresh rice noodles called Banh Pho (these noodles are shaped just like linguine noodles, except they're white,not yellow)**
• fill a deep pan about 3/4 of the way full with water (approx. 6 or so cups)

• paper thin slices of beef (you can find thin slices at asian markets or by asking your butcher to do it)* ~
• 1 cup of chopped scallions
• 1 cup of chopped cilantro
• 1/2 cup of thinly sliced onion

• 1 bunch of Thai purple basil**
• 1 bunch of prickly long herbs called Ngo Gai**
• 1 handful of bean sprouts*
• lime wedges
• hoisin sauce*
• ground red chilli paste*

* In pretty much all asian markets ** In Vietnamese markets ~ Variation for this dish: you can use cooked chunks of chicken breast meat instead of the beef.

To start out, fill a large pot with chicken broth and put on high heat. In the meantime, peel the onion but leave it whole; dunk into pot. Take the scallion stalks and cut them in half...reserve the green parts for the topping, but take the white ends and put them into the pot. Since the onion and scallions will make the broth slightly sweet, there is no need to add extra sugar like most traditional recipes require. Then take out the anise stars and ready peeled slices of ginger and drop them into the pot as well. These are only for flavoring; don't serve them to your guests. Keep on high heat until it boils (approx. 20 min); then turn to low heat and keep it simmering until you're ready to serve.

In the meantime, get another pot or a deep pan and pour the water into it; boil. When the water is ready, take the rice noodles out and drop them in. Remember to continuously stir for approx. 2-3 minutes or until the noodles are a little past the aldente stage. Turn off the heat, and pour into a strainer.

To plate it up, take a good helping of the noodles (a little less than the amount of spaghetti you'd serve) and put it into a large bowl. Place 5-6 raw, thin slices of beef (the hot stalk will cook the meat as it's ladled on top, so don't worry about the beef being raw) over the noodles. Ladle the hot stalk into the bowl until it just slightly covers the top of the noodles and meat. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of chopped cilantro and scallions, and a couple slices of onions on top. To pull the whole dish together, place a white end of the scallion stalk that was cooked in the pot, right smack at the center (the scallion is very edible and quite sweet when it's cooked).

At the table, place the washed basil, prickly herbs, sprouts, and lime wedges in separate piles on one single plate at the center of the table. In one bowl, place the hoisin sauce, and in another bowl, place the chilli sauce. Put in as much of the herbs, lime juice and sauce as you'd like (or can handle). Remember, chopsticks and a large soup spoon is required (just think of it as eating chicken soup with chopsticks...sounds fun eh?).

Serves about 4 people, each with 2 portions. This sounds like a lot, but this is a whole meal in and of its own...no appetizers or sides dishes served...so why not go for 2 portions? I would! But if you'd prefer to serve this as a starter before a main course, you can serve about 8 people, one small portion each.

Leftovers can be stored up to a week or until it starts smellin' funny.