As promised - the Faux Pho recipe 
You will need:
- 4 cups water
- Chicken stock powder to taste
- handful shallots
- Finely chopped onion
- Five spice powder, cumin and cinnamon to taste
- Pho (flat rice noodles)
- 400gm thinly sliced beef
- two handfuls of fresh basil
Throw chicken stock powder into hot water - taste carefully to check if you need to add more. Add shallots and onion. Add five spice powder, cumin and cinnamon to taste. Cook over slow heat until the onion starts to soften. Add half a packet of pho (flat rice noodles) and a handful of holy basil. When the noodles are nearly cooked, add beef. Add more basil to serve and consume while it is still warm.
This is definately not as good as a proper stock made by boiling beef bones for hours and hours. But it is good enough for a lazy slightly hung over brunch.
This recipe is adapted from one originally posted on Facibus Reviews.
Laksa (a curry noodle soup) is a favourite of a lot of techy folks here in Canberra. There are two main types of laksa that I’ve been able to identify through research over the years:
- Laksa Lemak: contains curry paste, coconut milk and laksa plant (AKA Vietnamese Mint) as well as some kind of meat and/or vegetables, and
- Penang Laksa: basically Laksa Lemak without the coconut milk, usually contains fish.
I’ve eaten both sorts here in Australia as well as in Malaysia and Thailand. Being on a health kick currently, Helen and I prefer the Penang Laksa - contains more good stuff (the fish) and less fattening stuff (the coconut milk).
Real Penang Laksa involves a whole (sans guts) fish - usually mackerel - being boiled into a state of disintegration then further pounded/shredded into a paste (bones sometimes included - they go soft if cooked for long enough).
Here is my slack version. You will need:
- a small handful of spring onions or one whole onion (either way, chop finely)
- curry paste (something mild like Massuman works well - please do not use more than a tablespoon until you’ve tasted it)
- teaspoon of oil (peanut/olive/canola/whatever you have)
- a couple of small tins of sardines, drained
- Asian greens, like Sam Bok or Bok Choi, chopped
- a cup of water
- some kind of soup noodles - like Ramen, Soba or Hokkien (whichever you prefer), not more than 100gm when cooked (rehydrate/cook noodles per packet instructions prior to use)
- half a handful of basil leaves
In a saucepan, brown the spring onions/onion in oil and curry paste. Throw in the sardines, then add Asian greens and stir gently for a minute or so. Add water, cooked noodles, some basil, and serve.
This is a great recipe for experimentation - you can add any vegetables you might think are nice in this kind of curry soup, or use different curry pastes, different herbs, a heap of pepper, fresh fish (watch for bones!), you name it. Experimentation and sloth are at the heart of the true faux cuisine cook 
Note: this recipe is adapted from one originally posted on Facibus Reviews.
I made this for breakfast this morning - it passed the “I’ll have that again!” test so is herewith recorded for posterity.
You will need:
- 1 cup cooked rice
- a tablespoon of butter
- 200gm tin of smoked kippers (preferably in springwater) - drained
- handful of fresh parsley
- half a handful of fresh basil leaves
- four eggs
Place rice and butter in a casserole dish. Add kippers, parsley, and basil leaves. Mix well. Crack the four eggs over the top of it and bake at 200 degreees Celsius until the eggs are cooked enough for you. Serve warm.
This post was adapted from one originally posted on Facibus Reviews.
