Phở (pronounced like fah or fuh) is a fragrant Vietnamese noodle soup. Green Dinner Table Chef Tom Riley fell in love with this dish and it became his late-night post-work dinner when he lived in Toronto.

Serves 2-3 big bowls.

Shopping list:

Stock

• 30g ginger

• 1 large onion

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1.5L water

• 2 pieces star anise

• ½ cinnamon stick

• ¼ tsp fennel seeds

• 3 tsp vegetable stock

• 30ml soy sauce – more to taste

Garnish

• 1 block tofu

• 20g basil (Thai or regular)

• 30g fresh coriander

• ½ bunch spring onions

• 3 Tbsp cornflour

• ½ pack rice noodles

• 2 fresh chillis

• 100g bean sprouts

• 1 lemon

• Salt and pepper (Szechuan pepper if you have it), to taste

Make it happen:

1. Mince the ginger. Peel and roughly cut the onion into chunks. Cut each half into about 12 pieces. Peel and roughly chop the garlic. Place the onion, garlic and ginger in a pot with the water and the spices. Cover and gently simmer this broth for 30 minutes while you get everything else ready.

2. Remove the tofu from the packet and press between a tea towel (or paper towel) with a few kilograms of weight on top.

3. Bring a large pot of water to boil with a little salt (this will be used to cook the noodles). Remove the basil leaves from any large stalks (a little stalk is fine). Very roughly chop the coriander stalk and leaves into large 5cm pieces. Thinly slice the spring onions.

4. Cut the tofu into 1cm to 2cm cubes and toss with cornflour. Place the coated tofu in a sieve (over the sink) and shake off the excess cornflour. Strain the broth into a bowl. Keep the stock. You can eat the onion and garlic if you want. Add the soy sauce to the stock along with a little salt. You want the broth to be quite salty as it will mellow once everything else is added.

5. Heat a large fry pan with a good splash of oil. Once hot, cook the tofu for about 5 minutes, turning regularly until very crispy. Place on a paper towel and season well with salt and pepper.

6. While the tofu is frying, cook the noodles in the boiling water for 5 to 6 minutes, or until tender, stirring regularly. Slice the chilli.

7. Once the noodles are cooked, place in a serving bowl. Pour over broth, top with herbs, spring onions, bean sprouts, tofu and chilli. Squeeze the lemon over and dig in!

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