Today's recipe is the classic Vietnamese Beef Pho. Traditionally eaten as a breakfast meal in Vietnam, most global fans enjoy this warm, comfort beef noodle soup as a lunch or dinner option. No matter when you decide you want to partake in this hearty soup, the options and ingredients are almost endless. You can enjoy it with fresh herbs and seasonings or throw in some peppers and build that heat! This noodle soup does take some prep work, but there are a few modern tricks and tips to skip the long broth making process if you must be in a hurry. However, preparing and boiling the broth overnight while you dream of that tasty bowl of Pho the next day is much easier than one might think and will fill your mouth with that true umami savory flavor everyone desires. Stick around a bit as I walk you through this amazing noodle soup recipe. We will be attacking it the long, traditional way, but I'll be sure to include those cheat steps for the lazy crowd. Everyone is invited so let's get cooking!
The key to making this Beef Noodle Pho extraordinary is all in the broth. Start by picking up a few pounds of beef knuckles or scrap bones and a couple pork hocks. We are going to first roast these base ingredients then use their inherent flavors to really fortify that delicious broth. Throw them in the oven for 45 mins or so at 425 degrees F and just let them go. There is no need to do anything special, but just get them roasted for added flavor. Once done, pull them from the oven and let them cool down just a bit, for safer handling.
Get our your biggest stock pot because we want to make the largest batch of broth possible here, especially for all this effort we are putting into the process. Put in the roasted bones and hocks, whole onion and garlic cloves (no need to even peel), carrots, dry mushrooms, whole jalapeno peppers, and really just about any vegetable or flavoring ingredient you want to use up from the pantry. Since I want a strong beef flavor, I add a container of beef stock along with another 8-12 cups of water to help fill up the entire stock pot.
Now this is where we can slightly cheat just a bit thanks to modern ingredient availability. Rather than seasoning our stock with all the individual spices (coriander, star anise, fennel, cinnamon, cloves), I found some pho stock "tea bags" for cheap at the local Asian market I decided to use to help get those flavors into my stock. Dry powder pho stock seasoning is also available at most grocery stores nowadays so you can even skip this whole 12 hour stock simmering process all together, if you want to be extra lazy. I still stand behind an overnight simmering, though, and even then maybe add some of those dry seasonings afterwards to really make sure you nailed it!
Alright, let this simmer away on low for the next 12 hours or so and get some rest for all your hard work and effort! Wake up the next day and simply strain the stock into a different large pot or container and set aside or refrigerate until ready to put together a tasty bowl of Pho! Below is a pic of everything I love in my pho, typically. Rice noodles can be softened in a bowl of hot water and drained. Everything else is fairly self explanatory. Beef and pork meatballs are great, and for the more adventurous eaters I highly suggest the fish balls. They are a bit spongy in texture, but a must have in my personal opinion.
Alrighty then...let's make our Pho. Either reheat the broth if you refrigerated it or simply ladle the fresh hot broth over into a nice big bowl. We said beef noodle soup now didn't we? Get some thin sliced ribeye or even brisket and put it directly in the hot broth cooking itself as we add our other ingredients. We definitely want paper thin here, similar to Japanese Shabu Shabu or any other hot pot soup. Then, simply add anything else you want. The rice noodles are a must add, but bean sprouts and the other fresh herbs and ingredients really make a great bowl of Pho. Do whatever floats your boat....there is no right or wrong here! Serve it up piping hot and wow your guests with the perfect beef noodle soup, even if you cheated and just made some stock in 5 minutes with hot water and dry seasoning. I won't tell on you, as long as you don't try and pass that over on me. Trust me people, just make the stock overnight so we don't cause an international Pho incident! Try it out and hit me up on instagram (grubbongrub) with your thoughts and/or complaints. Keep in mind, I did say this was traditional and not authentic by any means :)
Comments