I’ve already got a go-to Vegetarian Pho recipe I’ve tried and tested, and both the husband and I rather like. But being a sucker for any Anna Jones recipe (I know, Anna Jones again) I thought I should give her Fragrant herb and star anaise pho recipe a go. I love 99.9% of her recipes and if there was such a thing as desert island recipe book I would definitely take one of hers with me. But I digress.

Anna’s recipe looked simple enough and there’s no faffing around stir-frying mushrooms like my go-to Pho. There’s nothing out of the ordinary on the ingredients list to put you off either. What there is though is a lot more faffing around making the broth – charring ginger, onions and garlic, toasting spices, boiling stock with herbs, spices, veg and dried mushrooms, and then having to strain the lot.

But, it’s worth the effort. The broth is brimming with delicate flavours that don’t overpower the lovely fresh flavours of sugarsnap peas, beans sprouts and pak choi. And the addition of fresh Thai basil, coriander and lime really brings the dish alive.

But which Pho is my favourite? I’d probably have to ditch Anna  on this one (sorry Anna) and go with the lovely peeps from ohmyveggies.com, purely because theirs takes just 30-minutes from thinking about making it to actually eating it and the mushrooms may be a faff but they add another delicious texture to the bowl.

The verdict from the cook: ‘It’s a bit of a faff for a bowl of noodles but I’d probably make it again as it tastes delicious.’