Comments on: Crock Pot Pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

By: Shawna Lay

Shawna Lay — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 21:02:29 +0000

Hi Mary I read that you’re not getting much flavor from the Pho. I cooked my Pho for 16 hours straight. Everything I’ve read online says that 8-12 hours is preferred and more would probably be better. I also added double the spices noted for more flavor. I put in approx 1/4 cup of fish sauce. I also made new onions and caramelized them on the stove which added a lot of flavor.

By: Mary

Mary — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:08:23 +0000

so, i followed this recipe to the “t” i currently have 2 hours left of cook time…and the broth tastes like herbed water. i am no slouch in the kitchen and ive had enough pho to know that this is not what pho broth is supposed to taste like. boiled the bones, toasted the spices, ginger and onion. added all to crock pot (filled with water up to about 1 1/2 inch from the top) and left it on low for the first 4 hours. is giving off a wonderful aroma but absolutely no taste. have turned it up to high for the last 4 hours of cooking. what went wrong?

By: Shawna Lay

Shawna Lay — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:24:58 +0000

Thank you so much for this Pho recipie! My boyfriend’s ex was vietnamese and her dad used to make Pho for my boyfriend alot. I love to cook so I thought I would give this recipe a try. It was a big hit with my boyfriend who said it was perfect and just like he remembers it. I also added a bit of yellow rock sugar for some more flavor. I’ll be making this recipe many times over.

By: SteamyKitchen

SteamyKitchen — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:36:59 +0000

Yes, we have Safeway here in the US, I love ‘em!

By: Chevelle

Chevelle — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 22:34:48 +0000

We’re trying out this recipe right now! ;D But while we were searching for ingredients we found that “Safeway” had the beef already sliced thinly at a fair price. If that helps your readers! (I live in Canada and I am unsure if Safeway exists in the states, but still!)

Anyways, it smells excellent so far! Excited to see how it goes.

By: Georginne

Georginne — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 02:07:52 +0000

Hello Jaden,

This recipe is wonderful. I used beef neckbones for mine. Howeve, my crock pot is only 5 quartz size so I had to minimize the bones to only 3 pounds and I added 2 boullion cubes (I placed mine in high for 4.5 hours which really needs a boost since time really cannot be substituted for a good broth.) Anyway, I love this recipe so much. My husband even had 2 servings of it plus 1 to bring to work. Too bad. My area is in the border of Mexico that I am glad I was able to get most of your ingredients. (So hard to get Asian ingredients unless I go out of the RGV). More power to you. I hope to see more things to do with my crock pot.

P.S. For those looking for a short cut in scum removal. Jaden suggested the most easiest way for the soup not to taste like scum. I tried the Japanese paper where the scum would attach to the paper while cooking. Sadly, does not work. I am still stuck with the scum. The other time, I just put the meat in the slow cooker with water (making nilaga that time) then I saw my meat all with scum after 1 hour. I got to throw the whole soup, wash the meat and wash the crock pot container again.

By: sashi

sashi — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:42:58 +0000

hi jaden, i just followed this recipe on the stove (instead of your crockpot) but i am still lacking some depth to my soup! is there a reason behind the depth? i bought about 4lbs of beef bone and my pot was about 6 quarts of water. please let me know if the amount of bones to water ratio makes any difference? or can it be the kind of beef bone?

By: Raj

Raj — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:47:49 +0000

Actually you can fix the oiliness bit. Just refrigerate the strained bone broth. When its cooled down, the fat should rise to the top. Skim off how much ever you want and reheat again!

Maybe straining the broth through a coffee filter or fine muslin cloth will help with the muddiness?

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:23:20 +0000

If you strain the stock anyway, why go through the step of “cleaning” the bones? Seems like you throw away some of the goodness. Scum isn’t necessarily bad!:-)

By: Becka

Becka — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:09:00 +0000

I used your recipe and LOVE it!!! I did not have an Asian food store close by, so I have to do my best with the ingredients I found and the regular food store! It turned out good! But I plan on finding an Asian store so I can do it the right way next time! And thank you for saying that I could use the crock pot! It worked out great!!!