Put water to boil in a large stock pot with pork bones, pork chunks, pork balls, Daikon, mushrooms and pandanus leaves.

In the meantime, toast in pan, the crushed garlic, coriander roots and galangal ginger chunks, for several minutes then put into a sachet bag, close and throw into stock pot.

Add cinnamon sticks, star anise, and bay leaves to pan to toast for a few minutes and remove and set aside.

Add peppercorns to pan and heat for a minute or so then add to a second sachet bag then crush them some in the bag and then add the toasted cinnamon sticks, star anise, and bay leaves to the same bag. Close and throw into stock pot.

Then add all the seasonings, from the rock sugar to the salt, to the pot.

Bring to boil then simmer for 2 hours, while occasionally skimming off the scum off the top.

Mix chopped green onions and coriander (also known as cilantro) in a little bowl, mix together and set aside for use as a topping later.

In a wok, add cooking oil, such as canola, and throw in pork fat. Rendering the fat for about 10 minutes then also add the crushed small garlic to fry with pork fat. Remove from wok into a serving bowl.

Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and corn starch to thinly sliced pork shank/brisket. Mix well and set aside in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Mix toasted small pounded chili’s in with vinegar and set aside.

Add fish sauce, chili powder and sugar to separate condiment bowls and set aside.

When broth has simmered for a couple of hours taste and make sure it doesn’t need any additional seasonings to your liking.

Remove a chunk of the pork brisket and slice thinly and set aside

Take out raw marinated pork from refrigerator and set aside

To assemble soup bowl, using a spider strainer basket add some bean sprouts, Thai basil, and a handful of rice noodles of your choice into the basket. Set in a pot of simmering water and cook for a couple of minutes or until your noodles are done, as you shake the strainer in the water to redistribute and cook the ingredients.

Strain and add contents to a 1 person serving bowl, that has been warmed with the hot liquid from the strainer and then water in the bowl dumped back into the water pot.

Now, your guests/family have a choice. You can add the precooked and sliced pork into the soup bowl or add a fresh pork version. In the fresh pork version you will put several pieces of the raw marinated pork into the same spider strainer basket (after you have removed the bean sprouts, noodles, and basil) and set it into the broth pot (not the water pot) until it cooks fully…about 3-5 minutes and shake the strainer every so often so the pork doesn’t stick together. Once done you can place it on one side of the perimeter of the serving bowl, on top of the noodles.

Add a piece of daikon, a mushroom, some pork balls to the perimeter of the bowl as well.

Top, in the middle of the bowl, with chopped green onion and coriander mixture and then with pickled cabbage on top of the onion/coriander mixture.

Finally add broth to the bowl to come up to where your ingredients end.

Serve with four condiments (fish sauce, chili in vinegar, chili powder and sugar) on the side and everyone adds whatever they want to their bowl.