Recipe: Pho

Do you like Pho, but think it’d be way too hard at home? You’re wrong; its actually just another beef noodle soup.

Ingredients

Pho Broth

• 3 lbs of beef bones & oxtail
• 1 large white onion
• Slices of ginger
• Fish sauce
• Spices
  • 6 star anise
  • 1 tbsp whole cloves
  • 1 tbsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds
  • 2 sticks Chinese cinnamon
  • 5 cardamom pods

Garnish

• Rice noodles
• Sliced beef
• Beansprouts
• Lime
• Whole basil leaves
• Thai chili peppers

Instructions

Part 1: Pho Broth

 

1. Boil beef bones in water for 10 minutes
2. Strain out bones and rinse clean
3. Place bones, onion, & ginger on aluminum-lined baking tray
4. Brush with oil and place tray into oven with top broiler set to high
5. Check on ingredients every few minutes
   • Allow onions and bones to char for a deep smoky flavor, but try not to set off your smoke alarm
6. Toast spices on low heat until fragrant
7. Combine bones, onion, ginger, and spices into large soup pot
8. Add water to cover all ingredients
9. Heat pot to a low simmer and cover
10. Let stew for at least 2 hours
11. Season with fish sauce and salt to taste

Part 2: Serving

 

1. Heat Pho broth to boil
2. Cook rice noodles and place into bowl
3. Add garnishes to noodle bowl as desired
4. Pour Pho broth through strainer over noodles and garnishes
5. Allow Pho broth to cook all raw ingredients

Notes

Pho is an intriguing and delicate broth. I’m not too familiar with South East Asian cooking, so I wasn’t sure which ingredients would be needed. It turns out it’s just another beef noodle soup, which I’ve realized time and again is my favorite type of dish.

As a kid, I really enjoyed the instant soup noodles (gung zai min); I have distinct memories of eating them with my grandpa and siblings when my parents were working. I still like them as a guilty pleasure, despite their high sodium and empty calories. My mom gave me a huge box of them when I first moved out.

I always thought it was beef flavor, but It was actually Five Spice flavor the whole time

I referenced several different Pho recipes online, and didn’t find anything unheard of. I was already familiar with fish sauce; I would ask the cooks in my family’s restaurant to make me Pad Thai with extra fish sauce. I really like the savory brininess that it provides, and don’t mind the smell too much (which my dad says smells like feet). The same thing for oyster sauce and shrimp paste. Fermented sea creatures are quite important to Asian cooking, it turns out.

The various Pho recipes were consistent with the beef bones, onion, and ginger. The one part that varied the most were the spices; some called only for star anise, but others called for a variety. Thanks to my Japanese Curry recipe, my spice cabinet had expanded greatly, so I could be really liberal with them. Most of the spices used were components of the popular “Five Spice Powder” used in Asian cooking:

1. Star anise
2. Whole cloves
3. Chinese cinnamon
4. Fennel seeds
5. Sichuan peppercorn

Only the Sichuan peppercorns were not used, since the special numbing taste is not part of the unique Pho taste. I actually did use all of them in the Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup recipe, but didn’t reference Five Spice powder for some reason. In any case, I would prefer to use the whole spices over the powder since they look fancier and probably have more flavor. The same thing for chili powder, which is actually just a blend of cayenne, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and oregano; all spices I’m adding anyways (per Chili recipe).