Set the stove to medium, to medium high heat and boil for 15-20 minutes until you see all the gross bits and frothy blood on the surface of the water.

Remove any dried outer leaves from the lemongrass and cut off the dried tips at the top. We want to keep the bottom ⅔ of the stalk. With a blunt object, smash the lemongrass stalks to release the oils. Keep the lemongrass intact and add to the pot

Peel the onion and cut it in half, peel the garlic and keep it intact so you can easily fish it out later when the broth is done. Put them in the pot.

Add in the ginger slices, sugar, lime leaves, star anise into the pot

Add in 12 cups of water and set the heat to medium low and keep it at a low rolling boil.

Mix the shrimp paste with ¼ cup of water and add it into the pot.

Add in the fish sauce (add in half the amount of fish sauce first and then do a taste test to make sure it is not overly salty. If it needs more salt, add in the rest of the fish sauce.

Set a timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

You can make the sate chili sauce while you are waiting for the broth to cook and add it into the broth as soon as the sauce has cooled. (Sate Chili Sauce steps below)

Once 1 hour and 30 minutes passes, remove the beef shank and set it aside covered for use later

If your broth reduced a lot, add 2-3 cups of water back to the broth

Set the timer for 1 hour and 30 minutes again and cook the broth for a total of 3 hours. It doesn't hurt to cook this more than 3 hours though! :)

When the broth is done, discard the lime leaves, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, star anise and onion

Do a taste test of the broth, to make sure it has enough salt. Add additional fish sauce to the broth for more flavour.

Remove the pork hock and beef bones and set it aside covered for use later

In a sauce pan, set the stove to medium heat and add in the annatto seeds and stir it for 3-5 minutes until the oil turns a bright red color. Discard the annatto seeds

Add in the chili flakes, lemongrass, garlic and shallots and toast it in the oil for 10 minutes

Turn off the heat and let the oil cool

Once the oil has cooled, add it to the broth

Make the noodles according to the package. To ensure you have springy bouncy noodles and not over cooked mushy noodles, subtract 1 minute from the directions and try the noodles. If the noodles are still hard in the center, add 1 more minute to the cooking time and taste test again

Run the noodles under cold water once it is done cooking to remove the extra starches and to stop the cooking process.

[Optional] I like to mix 2 teaspoons of oil into the noodles while I am running cold water through it to prevent them from sticking together later on

Thinly slice the beef shank, Vietnamese sausage (discard the banana leaf if it's wrapped in it) and chop the pork shank and add it all to the bowl

Add in the noodles and the broth

Add in garnishes and toppings and enjoy hot! :)