Hungover? Send your fry-up packing and sit yourself down with a steaming bowl of pho. Vietnamese food finally had it's 'moment' last year - meaning there's now LOADS of ways get hold of some. Which is great. Becuase it's delicious. Even better, we’ve also just found out that it’s actually a brilliant hangover cure too. Already a well known concept in Australia – where locals have been fixing the morning (afternoon) after the night before with a big bowl of pho for years now, the combination of the chilli and hot broth are great for clearing out your head, and the meat is full of energy giving protein, plus there’s lots of salt to replace the stuff you lost.
Here’s three Vietnamese ways to cure your hangover today.
The Recipe
For the less critical cases of you out there with enough energy to pull together a meal, spend a quick half an hour making this salad by Bobby Chinn.
Sautéed Beef with Rice Noodles and Salad BúN Bò
Serves 2
Ingredients
100g beef fillet, thinly sliced
5g coriander, chopped
20g shiso
50g mixed salad
100g rice noodles
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp finely chopped garlic
2 tbsp Beef Stock (see page 50) or water
50g beansprouts
2 tbsp Nuoc Cham sauce (see page 43)
Marinade
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 tsp finely chopped lemon grass
Garnish
1 tbsp Crispy-fried Shallots (see page 38)
1 tbsp white sesame seeds
1 tbsp Roasted Peanuts (see page 41)
Method
First marinate the meat: oil it, then coat with the lemon grass and leave for about 15 minutes.
Prepare each serving bowl by adding some herbs and salad and topping with rice noodles.
Lightly oil a stainless steel sauté pan almost to smoking point. Place the meat in the pan and sear, then let it sit a bit before shaking the pan to create a little caramelization.
Stir to ensure it is all evenly cooked, then place the chopped garlic in the pan and sauté a little more making sure that it does not brown.
Keeping the heat high, deglaze with beef stock or water, scraping the pan to release the caramelized juices, creating a brown sauce.
Throw in the beansprouts and cover for a minute while the sprouts cook a bit. Add a little Sweet-and-Sour Sauce and taste.
Spoon the beef and beansprouts, with their juices, into the bowls. Garnish with shallots, sesame seeds and peanuts.
The Restaurant
Cooking seeming like too much of heavy task? Then head out for Vietnamese instead. Go forth (if you haven’t already) to Pho. Located all around the country from Brighton to Leeds, this chain – which lays claim to being the first Vietnamese street food restaurant in London when it first opened in 2005-serves up steaming bowls of pho noodles in meaty broth. We recommend the Pho Tai Chin – the steak and brisket option. NICE.
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The Take Away
For those that are seriously struggling with their hangovers, our heart goes out to you. If leaving the house or cooking seem like tasks of Everestic proportions then fear not. Deliverance – the posh takeaway people have just added Vietnamese food to their menu. Choose from a lemongrass and chilli pork ball stir fry or Pho with shredded chicken or pork balls.
Bobby Chinn's Vietnamese Food in out now
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.