Vietnamese Noodle Soup: Pho

by Adam on August 5, 2010

“If someone asked me what my last meal on earth would be before I die, I would think for a few seconds, then quickly come up with an answer: SOUP!” – Adam

There is just something incredibly warming and wholesome about a great bowl of soup (or two) and the way that such delicate or not so delicate (depending on the soup) flavors can hit your palate. Soups are soul food, plain and simple.

Now, back to the last meal thing – so, I have decided on soup as the dish, but which one, there are millions of choices out there, well maybe not millions, but you get the point; French onion, butternut squash, oxtail, chicken noodle, cream of mushroom….there are just so many. But it wouldn’t take me very long to come to my final decision….Pho. You may not have heard of Pho before, but it is a wonderful delicate Vietnamese noodle soup, usually made with beef or chicken. It is nothing short of soup perfection. The way all the spices and flavors from star anise, cardamom pods, to fennel seeds and cinnamon come together is incredible and the best part, you can customize; it is encouraged that you add any and all the condiments you desire to make it your own. It is a good amount of work to make, but the reward is well worth it, trust me on this one.

Vietnamese Noodle Soup: Pho

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Author: Adam

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 3 hours 30 mins

Total time: 4 hours

Serves: 4

A wonderfully delicate full-flavored Vietnamese soup, usually made with beef or chicken. Flavored with beef bones, star anise, cardamom pods, fennel seeds, cinnamon and coriander.
Adapted from Steamy Kitchen’s pho recipe

Ingredients

The Broth
5-6 lbs of beef bones (We used 4 lbs. beef knuckles and 2 lbs. oxtail)
2 medium sized onions, halved
3-4″ piece of ginger, halved lengthwise
6 quarts of water
1-2 tbsp salt
1/4 cup fish sauce (see picture below for the one we used)
1 inch piece of yellow rock sugar, you can use 1oz of regular sugar
One sachet of spices (1-2 cinnamon sticks depending on size, 1 tbsp fennel seeds, 5 star anise, 1 black cardamompod, 6 whole cloves, 1 tbsp coriander seeds)
The Condiments
bean sprouts
2 limes, cut into wedges
sliced red chili peppers
mint leaves
basil leaves (We recommend Thai basil, it has a more assertive flavor)
hoisin sauce
chili sauce
sliced green onions
extra fish sauce to taste (careful this stuff has a very strong flavor)
Serving
3/4-1 lbs of sliced top sirloin (you can also use flank, sirloin, or eye of round)
dried or fresh rice noodles

Method

Charring the onion and ginger: Turn on your oven’s broiler and move the oven rack to a high position. Place your halved pieces of ginger and onion on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil for easy cleanup. Broil the ginger and onions until they begin to char. Rotate them to cook evenly. This step should take about 10-15 minutes.
Parboiling the beef bones: While your onions and ginger are broiling, parboil the bones by filling a large 12-quart pot with cool water. Bring the water to a rolling boil, then add bones. Keep the water and bones at a rolling boil for about 10 minutes. Then drain and rinse both the pot and bones. Refill the pot with the rinsed bones and 6 quarts of cool water. Bring water to boil and reduce to simmer. At this stage continue to remove any scum that comes to the surface with a ladle or spoon. This step removes most of the impurities that are present in the beef bones.
Simmering the broth: Once you have parboiled your beef bones and reduced water to simmer add sachet of spices, charred ginger and onions, sugar, fish sauce, salt and continue to simmer uncovered for 2-3 hours. Remove the beef bones, saving them for another stock or one more pho soup another day. Strain the broth and return to pot. At this point, if necessary add some more fish sauce, salt, or sugar to adjust the seasoning to your liking. Your broth is finished!
Move your broth to storage container, cool and place into your refrigerator for at least an hour. This will give the excess fat, from the beef bones, a chance to separate to the top allowing you to skim it off. This will keep your soup from being excessively greasy, or you can cool, then freeze the broth for use another day. We had to freeze ours because we only had time to make the broth. By using this method the fat separated, then froze so it broke off the top very easily.
Prepare the condiments before you are ready to plate so the soup can be served very hot.
Slice your piece of meat into very thin strips. It helps to semi-freeze the steak for about 10-15 minutes. Now, you have two options. You can either pre-cook the meat in a small pan before you make your soup or you can cook the meat with the hot broth. It is completely up to you but we did decide to try the broth cooking method. With our meat sliced pretty thin (picture below) the meat cooked to a nice medium rare-to-medium.
Bring your broth to a boil and reduce to simmer. It is now time to make your soup! Prepare your bowls by adding your cooked or raw meat to the bowls. Add the hot broth with a ladle then add your hot, cooked rice noodles (cook these using the directions on the package). Add your desired condiments and enjoy!