By Andrea Nguyen
Who doesn't love noodles soup? In the Vietnamese repertoire, beef pho noodle soup is a classic. In fact, it's practically the national dish of Vietnam. Below is my family's recipe for the quintessential Vietnamese food -- pho noodle soup. You may have had bowls of pho in Vietnamese noodle shops, in Vietnam and abroad. but have you made some yourself? Before leaping into this beef pho noodle soup recipe, check out Pho Secrets and Techniques post for a primer on bones, charring the onion, saving some fat, etc. Also, read about the history and evolution of pho in Vietnam and America. Making pho noodle soup takes time but most of it is passive cooking. And remember, you can freeze pho broth for future bowls of steamy hot pho noodle soup!
If beef isn't your thing, then take a look at the chicken pho noodle soup. Both this and the chicken pho recipes were adapted from my cookbook, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen. For more about pho techniques and history, preview and purchase The Pho Cookbook.
The Saigon-style beef pho recipe in "The Pho Cookbook."
Beef Pho (Pho Bo)
Author Andrea Nguyen, from "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen" (Ten Speed Press, 2006)
Yield 8 servings
Ingredients
For the broth
- 2 medium yellow onions (about 1 pound total)
- 4-inch piece ginger (about 4 ounces)
- 5-6 pounds beef soup bones (marrow and knuckle bones)
- 5 star anise (40 star points total)
- 6 whole cloves
- 3-inch cinnamon stick
- 1 ⅓ pounds piece of beef chuck, rump, brisket or cross rib roast, cut into 2-by-4-inch pieces (weight after trimming)
- 1 ½ tablespoons fine sea salt
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 ounce (1-inch chunk) yellow rock sugar (duong phen; see Note)
For the bowls
- 1 ½-2 pounds small (⅛-inch wide) dried or freshbanh phonoodles ("rice sticks'' or Thaichantaboon)
- ½ pound raw eye of round, sirloin, London broil or tri-tip steak, thinly sliced across the grain (1/16 inch thick; freeze for 15 minutes to make it easier to slice)
- 1 medium yellow onion, sliced paper-thin, left to soak for 30 minutes in a bowl of cold water
- 3 or 4 scallions, green part only, cut into thin rings
- ⅓ cup chopped cilantro (ngo)
- Ground black pepper
Optional garnishes arranged on a plate and placed at the table
- Sprigs of spearmint (hung lui) and Asian/Thai basil (hung que)
- Leaves of thorny cilantro (ngo gai)
- Bean sprouts (about ½ pound) Red hot chiles (such as Thai bird or dragon), thinly sliced
- Lime wedges
Instructions
Prepare the pho broth
Char onion and ginger.Use an open flame on grill or gas stove. Place onions and ginger on cooking grate and let skin burn. (If using stove, turn on exhaust fan and open a window.) After about 15 minutes, they will soften and become sweetly fragrant. Use tongs to occasionally rotate them and to grab and discard any flyaway onion skin. You do not have to blacken entire surface, just enough to slightly cook onion and ginger.
Let cool.Under warm water, remove charred onion skin; trim and discard blackened parts of root or stem ends. If ginger skin is puckered and blistered, smash ginger with flat side of knife to loosen flesh from skin. Otherwise, use sharp paring knife to remove skin, running ginger under warm water to wash off blackened bits. Set aside.
Parboil bones.Place bones in stockpot (minimum 12-quart capacity) and cover with cold water. Over high heat, bring to boil. Boil vigorously 2 to 3 minutes to allow impurities to be released. Dump bones and water into sink and rinse bones with warm water. Quickly scrub stockpot to remove any residue. Return bones to pot.
Simmer broth.Add 6 quarts water to pot, bring to boil over high heat, then lower flame to gently simmer. Use ladle to skim any scum that rises to surface. Add remaining broth ingredients and cook, uncovered, for 1 ½ hours. Boneless meat should be slightly chewy but not tough. When it is cooked to your liking, remove it and place in bowl of cold water for 10 minutes; this prevents the meat from drying up and turning dark as it cools. Drain the meat; cool, then refrigerate. Allow broth to continue cooking; in total, the broth should simmer 3 hours.
Strain the pho broth through fine strainer. If desired, remove any bits of gelatinous tendon from bones to add to your pho bowl. Store tendon with cooked beef. Discard solids.
Use ladle to skim as much fat from top of the pho broth as you like. (Cool it and refrigerate it overnight to make this task easier; reheat before continuing.) Taste and adjust flavor with additional salt, fish sauce and yellow rock sugar. The pho broth should taste slightly too strong because the noodles and other ingredients are not salted. (If you've gone too far, add water to dilute.) Makes about 4 quarts.
Assemble pho bowls:
The key is to be organized and have everything ready to go. Thinly slice cooked meat. For best results, make sure it's cold.
Heat the pho broth and ready the noodles.To ensure good timing, reheat broth over medium flame as you're assembling bowls. If you're using dried noodles, cover with hot tap water and soak 15-20 minutes, until softened and opaque white. Drain in colander. For fresh rice noodles, just untangle and briefly rinse in a colander with cold water.
Blanch noodles.Fill 3- or 4-quart saucepan with water and bring to boil. For each bowl, use long-handle strainer to blanch a portion of noodles. As soon as noodles have collapsed and lost their stiffness (10-20 seconds), pull strainer from water, letting water drain back into saucepan. Empty noodles into bowls. Noodles should occupy ¼ to ⅓ of bowl; the latter is for noodle lovers, while the former is for those who prize broth.
If desired, after blanching noodles, blanch bean sprouts for 30 seconds in same saucepan. They should slightly wilt but retain some crunch. Drain and add to the garnish plate.
Add other ingredients.Place slices of cooked meat, raw meat and tendon (if using) atop noodles. (If your cooked meat is not at room temperature, blanch slices for few seconds in hot water from above.) Garnish with onion, scallion and chopped cilantro. Finish with black pepper.
Ladle in broth and serve.Bring broth to rolling boil. Check seasoning. Ladle broth into each bowl, distributing hot liquid evenly so as to cook raw beef and warm other ingredients. Serve your pho with with the garnish plate.
Notes
This recipe is adapted from my cookbook, Into the Vietnamese Kitchen (Ten Speed Press, 2006). If you'd like to totally master pho, check out The Pho Cookbook, my 2017 book devoted to cooking and learning about one of my favorite food groups!
Yellow rock sugar (a.k.a. lump sugar) is sold in one-pound boxes at Chinese and Southeast Asian markets. Break up large chunks with hammer.
Courses Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Cuisine Vietnamese
Other pho recipes to explore:
- Chicken pho(on this blog)
- Chef Didier Corlou's(Hanoi pho seminar booklet)
- Food writer Nicole Routhier's(RecipeSource.com)
- Chef Emeril Lagasse's(Food Network)
- 30-minute version(Food Network, Gourmet)
- Viet restaurateur Ha Guthrie's recipe(Spicelines.com blog)
