Beef Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup)
It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep and a trip to the chiropractor can do for a woman.
For the last several days, I’ve been battling joint pain and muscle tightness that, when combined with my crazy postpartum hormones, has made for a rough start to the week. As a stay-at-home mom, my desire is to nurture my kids’ hearts, teach them about the world around them, and guide the development of their character, yet when I am sluggish and exhausted, it seems I’m unable to do any of these things. Dora episodes run on repeat while I muster all the energy I have just to keep everyone clean and fed.
This morning, though, I feel a sense of hope that perhaps things are improving. After a solid 8 ½ hours of sleep, I carried both kids off to a babysitter for the day, and then stopped by Starbucks on my way to the chiropractor. I’m home now and can feel that my body is more relaxed, and I also think a nap may be coming on. My to-do list is long and I hope to make the most of my day of childcare, but my top priority is rest and healing.
Days like today leave me craving foods that nourish and comfort, and beef pho fits the bill exactly. I hadn’t heard of Vietnamese noodle soup as a child growing up in Texas, but since moving to the Seattle area six years ago, it has become a sick day favorite. Restaurants abound supplying bowls of this soup, but a few months ago, my Cambodian friend, Mo, showed me how to make it at home, and now I don’t think I’ll ever want takeout again!
If you aren’t familiar with pho, let me tell you that the secret is in the broth. It’s in this gorgeous liquid that the flavor resides, and once the broth is prepared, the remainder of the dish preps in just minutes. The recipe below is a shortcut method, utilizing premade beef stock enhanced with a bouillon-type product from the Asian market, but it is easy and simple and perfect for warming the soul. A fully scratch-made stock is typically prepared from oxtail and/or beef knuckles and an assortment of spices, and I hope to try that in the future.
While I have enjoyed pho at many of the restaurants in our region, none have provided a soup as scrumptious as this. The broth is rich and layered with flavors of soy, cinnamon, and anise, and the basil, cilantro, and scallions add a dimension of freshness. And don’t forget the spicy Sriracha and fried garlic, the sweet hoisin sauce, and the crunchy bean sprouts – these tastes and textures combine to create a dish that is satisfying and delicious.
Ingredients
- 3 quarts low-sodium beef stock
- 3 quarts water
- 5 tablespoons instant beef flavor paste (see photo above)
- 3 1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast
- 3 tablespoons fish sauce
- 13 1/2 ounces thin vermicelli-style rice noodles
- 12 ounces bean sprouts
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems removed
- 3 ounces fresh basil, stems removed
- 6 scallions, cut into ½ inch pieces
- Fried garlic
- Sriracha hot sauce
- Hoisin sauce
- Other (optional) garnishes: sliced fresh jalapenos, lime wedges
Instructions
- In a very large pot, heat the beef stock, water, and instant beef flavor paste over high heat until boiling (covering the pot with the lid will help it come up to temperature more quickly).
- While the liquid is heating up, cut the beef roast into 1-inch cubes, trimming and discarding the fat portions; add the meat to the pot. Once the mixture is boiling, reduce the heat to medium and continue to simmer for about 2 ½ hours, until the meat is very tender. There may be some dark colored scum that rises to the surface, especially during the first part of boiling; simply skim this off with a slotted spoon and discard. Stir in the fish sauce at the end of cooking.
- Just prior to mealtime, cook the rice noodles according to the package directions. I usually place them in boiling water for 2 minutes until barely al dente, then drain using a colander (the cooking time may vary if you are using noodles of a different thickness).
- To serve, portion the cooked rice noodles into bowls (we often use medium-sized serving or mixing bowls since a regular cereal bowl is too small for our preference). Add in the desired amount of bean sprouts, cilantro, basil, scallions, fried garlic, and beef pieces, then ladle in enough broth to cover the contents of the bowl (about 4 cups of liquid). Top with Sriracha and hoisin sauce according to your taste. (As an alternative, you may serve pho in the more traditional manner by placing the noodles, meat, and broth in the bowls and serving the remaining garnishes on a side platter.)
Tips and Tidbits
- The instant beef flavor paste is a key component in flavoring the broth and cannot be substituted with traditional beef bouillon. If you can’t find the variety pictured above, try to use something similar. The ingredients label from the jar I purchased reads: onion, garlic, salt, soy bean oil, sugar, lemon grass, monosodium glutamate, soy sauce powder (soy bean, salt, wheat), artificial beef flavor, chili, spices (pepper, cinnamon, clove, star anise), ginger, paprika color, caramel color, citric acid. (As a note, there are ingredients included on this list that I typically prefer to avoid – notably, the MSG and artificial coloring – but I allow this to be an exception).
- The recipe specifies the use of boneless beef chuck roast, but truly you can use whatever cut strikes your fancy and/or is on sale. The long cooking time will allow the meat to tenderize so getting a high quality cut isn’t very important here.
- Simmering the meat until it is tender takes a few hours, so it’s not advisable to make this dish from start to finish if you have limited time. However, preparing the broth ahead of time and refrigerating it until it is needed will create an opportunity for a quick weeknight meal. Just reheat it, boil the noodles, and serve with the assorted garnishes. Plus, when the broth is chilled, the extra beef fat will harden on the surface of the liquid and can be removed if desired.
- Fried garlic is available for purchase at my local Asian food market, but it can easily be made at home as an alternative. Simply sauté finely chopped garlic in a pan with a small amount of oil until it is golden brown. Remove the garlic bits from the pan and place them on a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
ENJOY!
Your writing is wonderful, love to read your blog and the recipes look delish…just need to try them. I think I’ll start with the overnight oatmeal. Thank you.
Dona – Thank you for the compliments, especially regarding my writing. As a fairly new blogger, I’m still working on refining my style, so I appreciate the encouragement!
I love your site!!! I wish there were either a [PRINT] button for me to capture the recipe and pics without the webpage stuff or, a {Printer Friendly] button that stripped everything out but the recipe. Love your site!!!.
Thank you! I really appreciate the feedback regarding having a print option. That’s definitely something I hope to incorporate in a future site update.
If you have windows 7, use your “snipping” tool to cut out what you want to print
This soup looks delicious! I’m definitely going to give it a try. The cilantro, basil and scallions are calling to me!
Hello! I just wanted to comment and let you know that I have been reading your blog from Foodgawker for a while now and just wanted to let you know a few things about pho.
The word “pho” actually refers to the type of noodles used in this dish. The types of noodles you have pictured above are not actually pho noodles traditionally used, instead those types of noodles are used for noodles and fish sauce type dishes and are called “bun.” Pho noodles are usually stored in the cold section of your local Asian market and will say, “banh pho” or something of the like on the packaging. Typically, it is soaked in water for a few hours, placed in the bowl and then microwaved for 1min before pouring the hot soup over the noodles and meat.
In addition, the soup of pho, depending on whether you are making pho ga (chicken) or pho bo (beef), may take anywhere from 6-8 hours.
If you do want to make pho from scratch one day, it’s really good to dedicate the whole day to it, as you must constantly stir and monitor the soup. In addition, the order in which you add the various spices and ingredients also plays a large factor in the complexity of flavor in the resulting broth.
Good luck!
This is not a true Vietnamese pho recipe. If you have access to an Asian supermarket you can find instant beef flavoring just for Pho soup if you feel lazy to craft a pot from scratch. A great bowl of pho is nothing without the heavy spices used to make it. Star anise, fennel, cinnamon, black cardamom, coriander, and ginger.
Beautiful photo otherwise.
Hi Nathaniel – I totally agree that a completely scratch-made broth, slow simmered with spices and bones would be delicious, and as I mentioned in the post, I want to give that a try in the future. I’m thinking I might do a follow-up post with that recipe – more pho is never a bad thing.
Thank you also for the compliment on my photography. I’m constantly trying to hone my craft, so feedback is always welcome!
Hi Jessica – thank you for your comments! It’s interesting that you mentioned the banh pho noodles as my friend, Mo, actually used those when she was teaching me her pho-making method, but the Asian market in my town didn’t have them so I subbed the vermicelli noodles. I’ll have to ask where she found hers.
You mentioned that when making the broth completely from scratch that the sequence of adding the spices is important in layering the flavors. I haven’t heard that before, so I’m intrigued! Do you have a recipe you recommend that you wouldn’t mind linking to? It would be great to have a solid place to start when I try making it from scratch.
Hello! Thank you for your response! Unfortunately, I do not have a recipe for any type of pho. I only know this as I am Vietnamese and my father is a cook at a pho joint and like all Asian cooks, he guards his recipes fiercely (I kid you not, he has them written down in a tiny notebook that he keeps in his wallet, which he keeps on his body at all times), so I apologize. Good luck with all the cooking endeavors!
I can’t wait to try this! LOVE IT!!! Thanks for the recipe and the great photos. I can’t wait to see what other recipes you have posted.
Thanks for the recipe Christie! I have actually made broth from scratch… and after buying all the spices and spending the better part of a day making the broth, I really didn’t care for it! It was sad since I threw most of it out since I just didn’t love it. I made this one and I actually do like it! It tastes similar to what I’ve found at pho joints which is what I’ve been going for. :]
hello,
You can get the flat rice noodles dried, in the same section where you get your dried vermicelli, in English probably it’ll say “pad thai noodles” and come in various cuts, from very thin to medium to wide-cut. The texture is very different. Cambodian people make pho, but the taste is a bit different from the Vietnamese version, notably there is no fried garlic – but essentially I think it tastes just as delicious, but just different. The beef paste you used for your pho is made by Thai people who labels it as pho paste, but actually what it is better suited for is the “boat noodle soup” (http://www.eatdrinknbmerry.com/2011/05/03/sunday-supper-thai-boat-noodle-soup-recipe-kway-tiao-lua-its-all-in-the-blood/) that bears a lot of resemblance to Vietnamese pho, but one taste and you can also tell where they differ.
If you want to try the make from scratch one, Andrea Nguyen is a relatively well known Vietnamese chef and her website offers a very comprehensive and authentic pho recipe, with pictures and everything.
http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2008/10/pho-beef-noodle-soup.html
here is my own recipe http://idlehouse.wordpress.com/2006/04/16/pho-recipe/
Lastly, I’ve always considered chicken pho to be a great comfort food and sick day food. It takes only 1-2 hours to make it, A-Z, the ingredients are very simple and straight forward. Eaten on a cold rainy day, chicken pho is always good for the soul. Andrea has a great recipe as well http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2007/06/chicken_pho_noo.html. Just please please do not substitute chicken broth for homemade chicken stock. It defeats the whole purpose, I swear.
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Oh wow, just tried this & the bold flavors are amazing! Really good. I like that you can prep the broth ahead of time, so you can just add the fresh ingredients later as desired. I also followed your directions and got the exact same beef paste and fried my own garlic.
Yay! I’m so glad you liked it, Amy!
So I’ve been craving pho for a few weeks and stumbled upon your recipe. Luckily my Asian market had everything I needed and I actually found some beef broth called Pho Bac Nuoc Leo that has a picture of pho on it. I figured it couldn’t hurt to try. About an hour later my house started smelling amazing! I strained as much of that cloudy brown stuff as I could and man that broth looked beautiful. I got my bowl together and finally settled down hoping to taste heaven and that first bite was Mmm mmm good! Everything I expected and remembered from last time I went to my local Pho spot. Definitely the best thing I’ve tasted in 2013. Thank you very much!!
Hi Synthia! I’m so glad you enjoyed the pho! It definitely hits the spot this time of year.
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