2lbs.beef neck bones or oxtailcut into 2” – 3” pieces
1large yellow onionsliced (about 8 oz.)
¼cup/2 oz. grated ginger
1cinnamon stick
5star anise*
¼cup/2 oz. fish sauce
4oz.rice vermicelli
1large bunchabout 1 ½ lbs. mustard greens or bok choy, roughly chopped
2cups/4 oz. julienned carrots
2cups/2 oz. finely chopped scallions
2cups/4 oz. roughly chopped cilantro
Srirachato taste
Instructions
Place the beef neck bones, onion, ginger, cinnamon, star anise, and fish sauce in a slow cooker. Cover with 10 cups of water. Season with black pepper, if desired.
Cover and cook until beef is soft and falling off the bone (about 4 hours or longer).
Discard the star anise and cinnamon. Pull the bones out of the slow-cooker. When cool enough to handle, pick the meat, roughly chop it if need be, and place it back in the slow cooker. Discard the bones.
When close to eating, place rice vermicelli in a bowl and pour boiling water over them. Let sit for about 10 minutes to soften. Drain.
While the vermicelli is softening, place the mustard greens and carrots in the slow cooker.
To serve, divide the noodles between 8 bowls. Ladle the soup over noodles and sprinkle with scallions and cilantro.
Make spicy, if desired, by stirring in sriracha sauce.
Recipe Notes
Tip:
To make it easier to extract the star anise later, place them in a coffee filter and tie it closed to form a bouquet garnis.