What the Pho?!
I’ve been working hard perfecting the techniques and recipe for Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup, or Pho, just for you. It’s taken years of kitchen experiments, eating out and scouring for good recipes. Of all the cookbooks that I own, the best recipe that I’ve found for Pho is from:
Andrea Nguyen’s 
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, which is one of the most comprehensive books on the cuisine of Vietnam. The book also won nominations for a James Beard Foundation award and two International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). Definitely a must-have book for Asian food lovers.
So, let’s get right to the Vietnamese Beef Pho Recipe!
The dish is pronounced “fuh” and not “foo” or “foe” or “puh”
Yeah, Pho is cheap eat out…but to be able to make a home made version? Pretty Pho-king amazing, if you ask me.
Pho Spices
It’s best if you can get each spice separately, but I do find that the spice packets are pretty convenient. They cost less than $2.00 and even come with a mesh bag to put all the spices in. Spices include cinnamon sticks, cloves, coriander pods, star anise and cardamom. Whatever you do, don’t use the Pho spice paste that comes in a jar or can. Nasty stuff, that’s Pho-sho’.
Best Bones for Pho
Leg and knuckle bones are the best to make the stock. See that wonderful yellow marrow below in the photo? That’s pure flavoring that makes your Pho taste full, meaty and rich. But let’s say that you can’t find leg/knuckle bones. Go ahead and use whatever beef bones your supermarket has and just supplement with some oxtail bones or a pound of beef meat (rump, chuck, brisket, etc.) for extra flavor.
Bones are parboiled first for a good 10 minutes in rapidly boiling water – this gets rid of the yucky impurities like blood particles and extra fat. You’ll see gray foam float up to the surface as you boil. After 10 minutes, dump out all of the water, rinse out your pot, rinse the bones, and refill with clean, cool water. I know it’s an extra step, but this will give you the pure, clean-tasting broth.
This is just after blanching – the golden gelatinous goodness is where all the flavor and body is.
Charring Onions and Ginger
Charring or roasting the onions and ginger gives you a wonderfully mellow and naturally sweet flavor. I used to char over an open flame on my stovetop with a pair of tongs, but that got pretty tiring. Plus, metal tongs + long time over flame = very hothothot hands. So now, I just raise my oven rack to the highest position and turn my broiler on. See how golden the ginger gets?
Damn Scumbag!
So here is my broth boilin’ away with the mesh bag of spices, charred ginger, charred onions and beef bones. You can see floating bits of fat and the damn scumbag.
Fat & marrow bits = good eats. Try to keep that in the broth!
But gotta get rid of the scum! I use a very, very fine mesh strainer designed just for scum. heh. A scumbag strainer. Can you imagine if I had a line of cookware and tools – “Steamy Kitchen Scumbag Strainer.” Straining the scum keeps your broth pure and clean. The lower the simmer, the less scum you have.
A note on broth simmering time – I simmer the broth for 3 hours. According to both Andrea Nguyen and Corinne Trang (author of Authentic Vietnamese Cooking and former editor and director of Saveur’s test kitchen) – all of the flavors in the bone have been extracted after 3 hours.
Thin Sliced Meat
You can use a thinly sliced flank steak, london broil, sirloin, eye of round or tri-tip. Instead of beef slices, you could use beef balls (Bo Vien) found in the freezer section of your Asian market. The secret to cutting meat is to cut across the grain. You want your beef slices as thin as possible, and I always throw the whole chunk of meat in the freezer for 15 minutes to make it easier to slice thinly.
Pho Noodles
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Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup typically uses rice noodles. You can buy them dried or fresh. I love the slippery softness of fresh noodles (look in the refrigerator or freezer section) Most restaurants will use dried, flat rice noodles. Look for ones that are medium thickness and flat like these. |
Pho-tastic Condiments
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On the tables of every Pho restaurant, you’ll see these two condiments, Cock Sauce (Sriracha hot chili sauce) and Hoisin Sauce. You can squirt and slather as much of these two condiments as you want…but I’m a purist.If I’m going to spend a couple of hours carefully crafting a rich, flavor-packed, clean soup – I better taste every damn drop. Condiment sauces just get in the way.
Sometimes, I’ll squirt a bit of each sauce in a little dish and dip my meat in the sauce as I take a bite. You ask….why do we call it Cock sauce? See that rooster on the bottle? |
Pho Vegetables and Herbs
Fresh mint, cilantro, basil, bean sprouts, limees, sliced chili peppers are just some of my favorite accompaniments. Set a plate at the table and your guests can pick and choose what they like.
Great Pho-tograph of fresh vegetables and herbs
PrintVietnamese Pho: Beef Noodle Soup Recipe
Pho-Shizzle, My Bowl-o Noozle!!
Adapted from my favorite Vietnamese cookbook: Into the Vietnamese Kitchen
serves 8
Sometimes, I omit the 1lb of beef meat in the broth (you’ll see I’ve made it optional) – as I’ve found that as long as I have good bones, the broth will have enough flavor to not need the extra beef meat.
THE BROTH
2 onions, halved
4″ nub of ginger, halved lengthwise
5-6 lbs of good beef bones, preferably leg and knuckle
1 lb of beef meat – chuck, brisket, rump, cut into large slices [optional]
6 quarts of water
1 package of Pho Spices [1 cinnamon stick, 1 tbl coriander seeds, 1 tbl fennel seeds, 5 star anise, 1 cardamom pod, 6 whole cloves - in mesh bag]
1 1/2 tbl salt
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 inch chunk of yellow rock sugar (about 1 oz) – or 1oz of regular sugar
THE BOWLS
2 lbs rice noodles (dried or fresh)
cooked beef from the broth
1/2 lb flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round, sliced as thin as possible.
big handful of each: mint, cilantro, basil
2 limes, cut into wedges
2-3 chili peppers, sliced
2 big handfuls of bean sprouts
Hoisin sauce
Cock sauce (Sriracha)
Char: Turn your broiler on high and move rack to the highest spot. Place ginger and onions on baking sheet. Brush just a bit of cooking oil on the cut side of each. Broil on high until ginger and onions begin to char. Turn over and continue to char. This should take a total of 10-15 minutes.
Parboil the bones: Fill large pot (12-qt capacity) with cool water. Boil water, and then add the bones, keeping the heat on high. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and rinse out the pot. Refill pot with bones and 6 qts of cool water. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer. Using a ladle or a fine mesh strainer, remove any scum that rises to the top.
Boil broth: Add ginger, onion, spice packet, beef, sugar, fish sauce, salt and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the beef meat and set aside (you’ll be eating this meat later in the bowls) Continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours. Strain broth and return the broth to the pot. Taste broth and adjust seasoning – if you want a little more flavor, add a few dashes more of fish sauce, large pinch of salt and a small nugget of rock sugar (or large pinch of regular sugar).
Prepare noodles & meat: Slice your flank/london broil/sirloin as thin as possible – try freezing for 15 minutes prior to slicing to make it easier. Remember the cooked beef meat that was part of your broth? Cut or shred the meat and set aside. Arrange all other ingredients on a platter for the table. Your guests will “assemble” their own bowls. Follow the directions on your package of noodles – there are many different sizes and widths of rice noodles, so make sure you read the directions. For some fresh rice noodles, just a quick 5 second blanch in hot water is all that’s needed. The package that I purchased (above) – needed about 45 seconds in boiling water.
Ladling: Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, shredded cooked beef and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. the hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately. Guests can garnish their own bowls as they wish.
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Crock Pot/Slow Cooker Pho Recipe
Don’t have time to man a stove? Use your crock pot or slow cooker!
Vietnamese Chicken Pho (Pho Ga) Recipe
Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup (Pho Ga)
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Pho-Lovers Pho-Ever
{ 222 comments… read them below or add one }
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Interesting recepe, but we always order vegetable pho with egg noodle
Do you have any recipes. The pho we get at the restaurant has baby bok choy,
broccoli,carrot,bamboo shoots,and other vegetables, and has fried tofu also.
They bring us a dish with fresh bean sprouts,sprigs of basil,sliced jalapeno peppers,
and weges of lime. Not sure if the broth is chicken,beef, or pork.
We don’t text.
Thank you
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SteamyKitchen Reply:
November 14th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Ron-You can always make the pho as is, but also add some of the sliced vegetables that you’ve mentioned for a couple of minutes to cook.
Might also like this one: http://steamykitchen.com/139-vietnamese-chicken-noodle-soup-pho-ga.html
just add the vegetables to boil at the last minute.
jaden
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I made the Pho soup and my family loved It !! I recently moved from California to Germany and have not found any good Pho restaurants here in Germany. We are so happy my family especially my German husband to have this recipe. It was absolutely YUMMI !
Thank you so much for posting your recipes online it was fantastic.
Nicole Kretz
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I completely agree with you! I am such a purist with my pho. I want to appreciate it the way it was made, that’s how you know you have a good recipe or chef=) My husband on the other hand has this ritual where he takes longer to add ingredients than to eat it, lol.
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The way you describe stuff is soo fun! The pho is gonna be delicious because i’m making it now! I am adding meatballs, and tend ant.
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I was looking up a veg version and wanted to ensure closeness in technique to the beefy one; I found your explanation of the step-by-step technique really useful! Thanks for demystifying this! (veg pho rocks, too, btw!)
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When it comes to finding the right beef, I have found if you go to an Asian market, they will sell the flank steak and other types beef sliced very thin already. Tripe and other hard to find product will be there too.
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Soak 3-4 lb oxtail with salt water for 2 hrs. Clean bones well and placed in slow cooker machine (I used a 7 quart slow cooker machine). Bake 1 onion and ginger in oven. Remove from oven, sliced ginger, and placed onion and ginger in slow cooker machine. From the oven, cook water in another pot. After it boil, pour in slow cooker machine. Set high for 6 hours. Go to work, school, sleep, or wherever.
Now just add seasoning. The soup base is very clear and taste way better than restaurant. No need to be around the kitchen. Good luck.
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I never laughed so much reading a recipe, as that for your pho! “Damned scumbag!” Oh my goodness, you made reading this so much fun, that what started out as a half-hearted attempt (the soup I’ve tasted from Paris to Flushing has been so outstanding) to one giving my best effort! Wish me luck, and no matter what, I’ve really enjoyed your site. Thanks again!
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I made the ‘Pho-Shizzle, My Bowl-o Noozle!!’ the other day. It turned out terrific! Our VN exchange student was gone that day so I had him try it when he returned home. He said it was better than his own mother’s. Ok, probalby best for him not to tell her that. Much thanks!
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I’ve have Pho on several occasions, but this is the first time I’ve made it. I followed your recipe, and it turned out great. This will be my go to recipe the next time I have a craving for pho.
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Amazing recipe! I’ve started substituting a fresh pineapple instead of sugar in the stock. Acid helps tenderize – along with the sweetness.
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Great Recipe. I made pho for 10 of my friends and they all agree that this pho recipe is better than some of the pho restaurants they’ve tried….and we’re from northern va! so that says A LOT.
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First, any good bone stock will be simmered for a long time, 8+ hours. You can tell that you get full extraction when the bone marrow has dissolved into the stock. The stock should be a creamy white and not restaurant lazy half ass clear. Second, do yourself a favor and do a proper char for the ginger and onions. Third, DON’T parboil ANYTHING for too long! All that scum is from the blood, excellent nutrients. Also the fat is clear grease and a rich stock can have a LOT of grease. So it is not too conservative to separate some grease from the stock. Trust me you will still have plenty of flavor. Fourth, if you really want to do it right fresh made byoon, rice noodles are much better than anything premade. Finally, don’t be afraid to REFRESH the stock with herbs and spices. That is how you keep the flavor on stocks that have to simmer for long periods of time.
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We decided we needed to get our Pho on… so we went to our local Ranch 99 (The power of Ranch 99 is amazing!!). As we were searching for the Pho spice pack (they didn’t have the one this recipe mentions) we moved down the aisle to find yellow sugar when we ran into another caucasian couple asking an employee questions about spice packets for Pho. “So are you guys making Pho too?!” They said, “YES!” I asked, “Where did you get your recipe from?” They replied, “Steamy Kitchen!” You my dear, are everywhere! We were in Cupertino, CA.
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.. anyone working in the kitchen of PHO HOA in El Cajon Blvd. San Diego? Dude.. share us the secret of your broth! You have the best pho soup broth, the bench mark that I compare with of all the phos I’ve had!
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April Roberts: that’s tripe! Cow intestines. I’ve never tried it in Pho but I go all the time with my friends and they love it. Maybe I would have tried it if I didn’t know what it was…
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SteamyKitchen, Thanks for sharing the pho recipe and it works great at my kitchen too.
Check out here: http://www.mywisewife.com/home-kitchen-recipe-vietnamese-noodle-soup-pho-with-pork-balls-and-spare-ribs.html
Otherwise, I wouldn’t know what to do with the pho spices I bought. Many thanks again!
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Thank you so much for posting this online! This saves me a trip from visiting the local Pho restaurants on a daily basis b/c I love eating this so much! now I can just make my own–all with organic ingredients….b/c who KNOWS where those mom and pop vietnamese restaurants get their beef to make the broth!!! Now I can avoid the restaurant staff more frequently b/c as anyone who patronizes vietnamese restaurants know, the service is always poor but the food is always cheap and delicious!
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OMG…just checked your bio on this blog. You are like a asian Rachel Ray but ONLY BETTER b/c you KNOW asian food and I feel like Ms. Ray just does goopy generic foods…. Your technique on the detail, say for example on this pho dish, has the same level of detail that I see on sites like Martha Stewart, which I highly respect. I would compare you to Martha Stewart as far as technique and good food goes but your blog on this recipe is too happy (and not uptight) to be 100% Marthat Stewart!! Maybe now you can search out more fantastic asian foods…like some authentic Thai or Asian Indian food….so I will definitely be returning here to see what other great asian recipes you have! =)
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Your beef pho came top when I searched and I understand WHY, wonderful post with the step-by-step and GORGEOUS photos! Love “scumbag strainer” idea, very funny. Well, I have to sub a lot with this, don’t have half of stuff. Your handwriting is so artistic.
Thanks Eleanor! jaden
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My beef pho must have turned out O.K. cause hubz kept saying, “umm, delicious, very good.” Very pleased with my first attempt. Your instructions were very helpful, I could decide what I wanted to leave in or take out cause I understood WHY, always a good thing. Thnx for guidance.
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Hi! I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post; it’s really marvelous of you to display your efforts here and share!
But I have a question: in addition to the simmered spices that you mention, i was instructed by one cook many years ago to also include sliced betel-nut. Have you ever heard of using this ingredient in pho? I, myself, have yet to see a printed recipe that calls for it, although that could be because it is sometimes difficult to find here in the states…or it could have been her personal twist- I have no clue!
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SteamyKitchen Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 5:45 pm
I think it’s a personal twist- I haven’t seen a pho recipe that called for betel nut
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Pelicano Reply:
January 28th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Here’s a chuckle: I did some searching and found absolutely nothing that indicates betel-nuts should ever be included in pho bo (short of beef wrapped in betel-leaves), but…I think I solved the mystery! I found there are some who add grated or sliced nutmeg to pho!
So…either I misunderstood, or the lady at the shop confused the English name for these with that of betel-nut.
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