Vietnamese Pho is a traditional Vietnamese recipe for a classic beef and noodle soup with fresh bean sprouts, basil, and chilies that's considered a national dish of Vietnam. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Vietnamese version of: Vietnamese Pho.
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Pho (pronounced 'fuh') is a Vietnamese noodle soup topped with awesome things like fresh bean sprouts, basil, and chilies. This recipe was given to me many years ago by a Vietnamese friend.
Ingredients:
7–8cm piece of ginger, cut in half lengthwise (no need to peel)
2 onions, peeled
2.25kg beef marrow or knuckle bones
1kg beef chuck [stewing beef] (cut into 2 pieces)
5l water
2 spring onions, cut into 10cm lengths
80ml fish sauce
70g rock sugar (or 2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar)
8 star anise
6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom pod
2 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp salt
500g dried pho noodles
150g beef sirloin (slightly frozen, then sliced paper-thin against the grain)
Place the bones and beef chuck in large stockpot and pour in enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and thoroughly clean the stockpot. This process removes any impurities/scum and will give you a much cleaner broth.
Meanwhile, char your ginger and onions. Use tongs to hold the ginger and onions (one at a time) over an open flame, or place each directly on a gas burner. Turn then often until they’re lightly blackened and fragrant (about 5 minutes). Rinse away all the blackened skins.
Add 5l water to the stockpot and bring to a boil. Transfer the bones and meat back to the pot, along with the charred/cleaned ginger and onions. Add the spring onions, fish sauce and sugar. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the beef chuck is tender (about 40 minutes). Skim the surface often to remove any foam and fat.
Remove one piece of the chuck and transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Then transfer this piece of beef to a container and refrigerate (you will slice this to serve with your pho later. If you were to leave it in the pot, it would be too dry to eat). Leave the other piece of chuck in the pot to flavour the stock.
Now toast the spices (star anise, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom, fennel seeds, and coriander seeds) in a dry pan over medium low heat for about 3 minutes, until fragrant. Use kitchen string to tie up the spices in a piece of muslin (cheesecloth), and add it to the stock.
Cover the pan and continue simmering for another 4 hours. Add the salt and continue to simmer, skimming as necessary, until you're ready to assemble the remainder of the dish. Taste the stock and adjust the seasoning by adding more salt, sugar, and/or fish sauce as needed.
To serve, cook the noodles according to their package instructions. Add to a bowl. Place a few slices of the beef chuck and the raw sirloin on the noodles. Bring the stock to a rolling boil and ladle it into each bowl. The hot stock will cook the raw beef.
Garnish with your toppings, and be sure to squeeze a lot of fresh lime juice over the top.
