Vietnamese Beef And Spinach Soup

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 lb fresh spinach, stalks removed
• 6 ounces lean steak fillets, cut into thin slices about 2in long
• 2 shallots, finely sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• fresh ground black pepper
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 small red chili pepper, deseeded and chopped

Recipe

• 1 bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the spinach leaves for a few seconds until they are just wilted. drain well and refresh in cold water to prevent further cooking. drain again, squeezing out excess water.
• 2 combine the steak strips with the shallots, garlic, 1 tablespoon of fish sauce and a grinding of black pepper, and then set aside.
• 3 just before you are ready to eat, bring the chicken broth to a simmer in a large saucepan and stir in the remaining fish sauce, together with the lemon juice, sugar and chili.
• 4 stir in the blanched spinach and the beef, with its marinade.
• 5 bring the soup back to simmering point; add another good grinding of black pepper and serve at once.