The best bowl in Sydney: Pho

Serves 4 · 1 1/4 hr · Medium

Make the spice paste from scratch if you can (it's what makes it); a good jar of laksa paste is the shortcut. The bowl is a mix of noodles, so use both thick egg noodles and thin rice vermicelli.

You need

• For the paste: 8 dried red chiles (soaked in hot water 20 minutes), 6 shallots, 4 cloves garlic, 2 stalks lemongrass (white part), 1-inch piece galangal or ginger, 1-inch piece fresh turmeric (or 1 tsp ground), 6 candlenuts or macadamias, 1 tsp shrimp paste (belacan), toasted, 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 3 tbsp neutral oil
• 1 lb (450 g) boneless chicken thighs
• 4 cups (960 ml) chicken stock
• 2 cans (13.5 oz / 400 ml each) coconut milk
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp fish sauce, plus salt to taste
• 12 large prawns, peeled
• 12 tofu puffs, halved
• 1 small Asian eggplant, in wedges, fried or steamed
• 8 oz (225 g) fresh thick yellow egg noodles
• 4 oz (115 g) rice vermicelli
• To serve: bean sprouts, Vietnamese mint (laksa leaf) or regular mint, sliced cucumber, halved boiled eggs, lime, sambal

How to make it

1. Blend all the paste ingredients with a splash of the chile soaking water until smooth, 2 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and fry the paste, stirring often, 8-10 minutes, until it darkens, smells toasty and the oil separates. Don't rush this step.
3. Add the stock and chicken thighs and simmer 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Lift out the chicken and slice it.
4. Pour in the coconut milk, add the sugar and fish sauce and bring to a gentle simmer, 5 minutes. Taste for salt.
5. Add the tofu puffs and prawns and cook 3 minutes until the prawns turn pink.
6. Blanch the egg noodles in boiling water 1 minute and soak the vermicelli in boiling water 3 minutes; drain both.
7. Divide the noodles, chicken and eggplant among 4 deep bowls, ladle the laksa with prawns and tofu over, and top with bean sprouts, mint, cucumber and egg. Serve with lime and sambal.

Pans and tools

• Blender
• large pot
• saucepan for the noodles

Chef's tips

• Tofu puffs soak up the broth: they're the best bite.
• The paste keeps a week in the fridge or 3 months frozen; make double.
• Don't boil hard once the coconut milk is in, or it can split.

Contains: shellfish, fish, gluten, egg, soy, tree nuts.

Our recipe, the same one we give for curry laksa in Melbourne. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 12 hr (mostly simmering) · Weekend project

Tonkotsu is pork bones boiled hard, not simmered, until the fat and collagen emulsify and the broth goes white. It takes a day, but it's mostly waiting.

You need

• 4 lb (1.8 kg) pork trotters and neck bones, cut by the butcher
• 1 lb (450 g) chicken backs
• 1 onion, halved, 1 head garlic, halved, 2-inch (5 cm) ginger, sliced
• 4 scallions, white parts
• For the tare: 1/2 cup (120 ml) soy sauce, 1/4 cup (60 ml) mirin, 2 tbsp sake, 1 tsp salt
• 1 lb (450 g) pork belly, rolled and tied
• 4 eggs
• 4 portions (about 1 lb / 450 g) thin fresh ramen noodles
• To serve: sliced scallions, nori, bean sprouts, pickled ginger, sesame seeds

How to make it

1. Cover the bones with cold water, bring to a boil, boil 10 minutes, drain and scrub off the grey scum. Clean the pot.
2. Return the bones with fresh water to cover by 2 inches (5 cm). Boil hard, lid off, 10 to 12 hours, topping up with boiling water to keep the bones covered. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and scallions for the last hour. Strain: you want about 2 quarts (1.9 l) of white broth.
3. Meanwhile, braise the pork belly in the tare plus 1 cup (240 ml) water, covered, at a low simmer for 2 hours, turning now and then. Cool, slice thin, and keep the braising liquid.
4. Boil the eggs 6 1/2 minutes, chill in ice water, peel and soak in 1/2 cup of the braising liquid for at least 4 hours.
5. Put 2 tbsp braising liquid in each warm bowl. Cook the noodles 1 minute less than the packet says, drain well and add. Ladle 2 cups of boiling broth over each, then top with pork, a halved egg, scallions and nori.

Chef's tips

• A pressure cooker gets the broth white in about 2 hours on high.
• Taste the broth with the tare in it before adding salt; the tare is the seasoning.

Contains: wheat, soy, egg, sesame.

Our recipe, the same one we give for tonkotsu ramen in Amsterdam. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 2 hr · Medium

A rich, spiced, slightly sweet broth. Pig's blood is traditional; it can be left out (the broth is thinner without it).

You need

• 2 lb (900 g) beef bones or pork bones
• 1 lb (450 g) beef brisket or pork shoulder
• 3 quarts (2.8 l) water
• 3 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cloves, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 2 pandan leaves, 3 slices galangal
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, 3 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp palm sugar, 1 tbsp fermented bean curd (red) with its liquid
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) pig's or beef blood, optional
• 1 lb (450 g) thin rice noodles
• Morning glory or bean sprouts, Thai basil, fried garlic, pork cracklings, chile vinegar

How to make it

1. Simmer the bones and meat with the spices, pandan and galangal in the water 1 1/2 hours. Slice the meat and strain the broth.
2. Season with both soy sauces, fish sauce, palm sugar and the mashed bean curd.
3. If using blood, whisk a ladle of hot (not boiling) broth into it, then stir back into the pot; keep below a boil.
4. Blanch the noodles and greens in small portions and put into small bowls with slices of meat.
5. Ladle over the broth and top with basil, fried garlic, cracklings and chile vinegar.

Chef's tips

• Serve in small bowls; it's meant to be eaten fast and often.

Contains: soy, fish, wheat (soy sauce)..

Our recipe, the same one we give for boat noodles in Bangkok. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.

Serves 4 · 3 hr · Medium

The Lanzhou formula: clear broth, white radish, red chili oil, green coriander and yellow noodles. Hand-pulling takes practice; fresh thick wheat noodles stand in well.

You need

• 2 lb (900 g) beef shank, in one piece
• 2 lb (900 g) beef bones
• 4 quarts (3.8 l) water
• 1 in (2.5 cm) ginger, sliced
• Spice bag: 2 star anise, 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, 1 tsp fennel seed, 1 small cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves, 1 black cardamom, 1 tsp cumin seed
• 1 small daikon, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 lb (450 g) fresh thick wheat noodles
• Chili oil, chopped cilantro and garlic chives or green onion

How to make it

1. Soak the shank and bones in cold water 1 hour, then blanch 5 minutes and rinse.
2. Simmer in the water with the ginger and spice bag 2 1/2 hours, skimming, until the shank is tender.
3. Lift out the shank, cool and slice thin. Strain the broth.
4. Simmer the daikon in the broth 10 minutes; season with salt and white pepper.
5. Cook the noodles, divide among bowls, add beef and daikon, ladle over broth and top with chili oil and herbs.

Chef's tips

• The broth should be clear; never let it boil hard.

Contains: wheat..

Our recipe, the same one we give for lanzhou beef noodle soup in Melbourne. Saved, it opens in Chef Amazing with a timeline, mise en place and what you already have.