Beef Pho

Blanch the oxtail and marrow bones: cover with cold water, bring to a boil and boil hard for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse each piece under cold water to remove the scum, and scrub out the pot. This step is what keeps the broth clear.

Return the bones and oxtail to the clean pot with the brisket and 8 L cold water. Bring up slowly to a bare simmer, with just a few lazy bubbles and never a boil. Skim off the foam for the first 30–60 minutes.

Once the skimming is done, add the charred onions and ginger, the salt and the first 15 g of white sugar. Keep it at a gentle simmer, partly covered.

At about 2 hours, check the brisket. It should be tender but still sliceable. Lift it out, plunge it into cold water for 10 minutes so it doesn't darken or dry out, then wrap it and refrigerate it whole.

At about 3–3.5 hours, the oxtail meat should be tender and pulling away from the bone. Lift out the oxtail, along with the onion and ginger, which go mushy and cloud the broth if left in longer. Strip the oxtail meat and refrigerate it, then put the oxtail bones back in the pot.

Keep the bones at a bare simmer for 8–10 hours in total. Top up with hot water whenever the level drops below the bones.

For the final hour, dry-toast the star anise, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, fennel and cardamom in a pan for 2–3 minutes until fragrant. Tie them in muslin or a spice bag and add it to the pot. Remove the bag before straining, because longer steeping turns the anise bitter.

Strain the broth through a fine sieve, lined with muslin if you have it, and discard the bones. Cool it quickly by splitting it into shallow containers or sitting the pot in a sink of cold water, then refrigerate overnight. Don't add the fish sauce yet.

Lift the solid fat off the chilled broth. Bring the broth to a simmer. If the spice aroma has faded, add a star anise and a cinnamon stick, and a small knob of fresh charred ginger for brightness, for about 20–30 minutes, then remove them.

Season with the fish sauce and the remaining 15 g of white sugar, then adjust with salt, fish sauce and sugar to taste, a teaspoon at a time. It should be savoury and lightly sweet, and taste slightly over-seasoned on its own, because the noodles dilute it.

Slice the cold brisket thinly across the grain. Warm the oxtail meat in a little of the broth. Slice the raw beef as thin as you can; 15 minutes in the freezer first makes this easier. Cook or soak the noodles according to the packet, then drain and rinse them.

Bring the broth to a rolling boil. Fill each bowl with noodles, brisket and oxtail, and lay the raw beef on top. Ladle the boiling broth straight over, which cooks the raw beef. Serve with bean sprouts, herbs, lime, chilli, hoisin and sriracha on the side.