Since visiting Vietnam during the Summer we fell in love with the food their and one of favorites was Pho. I had never had it before and it quickly became my favorite meal anytime of the day and even with the temperatures in the high 90’s and 100% humidity. It was so refreshing and a light meal to give us a quick pick me up to keep exploring the most amazing place we’ve been so far. Soon after returning I decided to make my own Pho and now make it weekly. Both beef & chicken. Chicken being my favorite and beef Brock’s. Below is how I make Pho, just a reminder this is a time consuming recipe but most of that time is the simmering of spices and bones. We prefer it the day after, letting all the ingredients sit in a stop pot brings out the flavor even more, but you can make and eat all in the same day. Enjoy! and if you ever have a chance visit Vietnam you will thank me, not only is the food amazing the whole experience was amazing.
Sorry my images aren’t the best I didn’t intend to post this on my site until I was asked by a ton of people off my gluten free site I posted the image on. Yes Pho is gluten free. As long as you make sure a few of the items added are gluten free, so please check labels when making. Enjoy!
My Pho Recipe:
For the pho broth:
FOR BEEF : 3 lbs beef knuckles or neck bones (with meat if possible bu not needed) even soup bones work.
FOR CHICKEN: 3 lbs Chicken pieces, legs, breasts or even a whole chicken works.
10 cups water (or enough to entirely cover the meat)
1-3 carrots cut into coins with skins on
2 large yellow onions (peeled)
1 fresh ginger root (½ size of a small palm, I don’t peel)
5 whole star anise (with pods)
½ Tbsp whole cloves
1 Tbsp black peppercorns
4 cloves garlic ( no need to peel )
1 large or 2 small cinnamon stick
6 cardamom whole pods ( I use white ones )
1/2 cup fish sauce ~ if eating gluten free make sure it’s a gluten free brand
1 Tbsp salt or to taste
2 pieces or (2 Tbls reguar sugar) yellow rock sugar, this isn’t required but adds a nice touch to the broth. If you can’t find it you can add sugar or not. Like I said it’s not required. Rock sugar you can find on Amazon or your local Asian market
I found soup bones at my local supermarket (Fry’s) and for chicken I use whatever I have on hand with bones, whole chicken, legs, breasts whatever I have or whats on sale.
For pho assembly:
12 oz flat rice noodles ( I prefer no noodles) if you eat gluten free again make sure your noodles are gluten free
FOR BEEF: 1 pound sirloin or top round steak (sliced paper-thin against the grain) slightly frozen helps you slice it thin.
FOR CHICKEN: I just use the meat off the bones after simmering the bones
For the garnish:
these are all if you want, I don’t like siracha nor do I know if it’s gluten free so we don’t use it. I will put a star * next to the items I always use.
Sriracha chili sauce
* Hoisin sauce
* Fresh cilantro leaves
* Limes (quartered)
* Mung bean sprouts
* Thai basil leaves
* Perilla leaves
Coriander leaves
* Water crest leaves
* Thai Chilies
* Mint Leaves
* Baby bok choy
* Cabbage sliced super fine
* Romaine or butter leaf lettuce
All these items I buy at the Asian market near me (Phoenix, AZ) if you don’t have one in your town most of the items you can find at your local supermarket or farmers market. I will just prepare small amounts, there’s only 2 of us in the house and we add what we want to our Pho.
Ready… here’s how you make the whole thing:
I would read this all before starting, it just sort of helps, yes it’s long sorry but worth the trouble.
Place the beef bones & carrots in a large stockpot. Add the water. The bones should be completely covered with water. If not, add more. Bring to a boil and let the the bones boil while you are preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Turn your oven onto broil and get out a cookie sheet, I line mine with foil. Cut your two onions in quarters - leave the skins on, ginger in coins or length wise, nothing fancy - skins on, get your garlic out take the bulbs apart leave the skins on and all your spices, put them on the cookie sheet and place in the broiler, keep an eye on them you want the onion to char but not burn, the skins will just char not the whole onion. This usually takes 5-10 minutes, if ones are getting more charred then others flip those. This part will make your house smell amazing. The spices bring out their oils and really smell good.
Check on the boiling bones in the stockpot and skim off any scum that has accumulated.
Now add the stuff from your cookie sheet. Side note: sometimes I add all the spices to a cheese cloth pouch I make and sometimes I just throw them in. Your choice at the end you strain the whole thing. BUT, and please read if you are going the chicken route. If you are making the chicken version I would use the cheese cloth bag, that way you aren’t picking out spices from your chicken that you take off the bones or out of the stock pot at the end.
Now bring this all to a boil. At this time I usually add about 10 cups of water. Yes you will need a good size stock pan to make Pho. Mines 12 quarts. Once this all comes to a boil, let it boil for 10 minutes then turn down to a simmer. I allow mine to simmer 5 hours. I like the taste better if it’s simmered most of the day. When making I do so on a Saturday, this is my day off and cleaning day. That way i’m home to smell the wonderful aroma and keep an eye on it. Not that I would let this simmer all day if I was gone, lol.
While simmering add the rock sugar or sugar (optional), fish sauce, salt, and stir well. Continue to simmer , uncovered, periodically skimming off any scum if it accumulates. (You will see this more with the beef then chicken) The broth will be ready to eat after 2 1/2 hours, but the longer you simmer the better it will become. If you prefer to eat this the next day let it completely cool in the stock pot before putting the whole thing in the fridge.
During the cooking time is when I get all my leaves ready, ( i call these all leaves, lol) Fresh cilantro Green Onions, Limes (quartered), Mung bean sprouts, Thai basil leaves, Perilla leaves, Coriander leaves, Water crest leaves, Thai Chilies, Mint Leaves, Baby bok choy, Cabbage sliced super fine. I put them all on a big plate and allow my boyfriend to add what he wants or more if needed when eating/drinking the Pho.
If eating the same day strain all the stuff from the broth, this can be tricky and usually requires a helper, your stock pot will be heavy and it takes 2 hands, trust me get someone to help, last time I dumped half my broth on my kitchen floor. It was very upsetting. I strain twice once into a regular colander the second time into a metal one that’s finer. I have 2 stock pots so I strain it from one to another, if you don’t strain into a large bowl or two if needed.
NOW, if making chicken Pho you will need to dig around, after cooled into that strained mixture and get all the chicken off the bones and out of the mixture, most should fall off the bones, or if you don’t like being that adventurous you can use pre-shredded chicken you might have or bought. Even a whole rotisserie chicken you want to shred up while this all cooks. Whatever you prefer. Or no chicken at all and just have veggies in your soup, trust me either way will be amazing.
Cook your noodles according to the package at this time.
Return the broth back to your stock pot and heat to an almost boil. Medium burner.
Drain the noodles and place them in six individual soup bowls. Arrange the sliced raw beef on top, followed by thinly sliced onions and scallions.
Pour the boiling hot broth into the soup bowls, making sure it covers the raw beef. The broth will cook the beef, then serve with the pho garnish platter. If making chicken just throw some chicken pieces in the bowl with the broth, as much as you want there is no limit it’s your Pho. A squeeze or two of lime juice will help cut the richness of the broth. If wanted add some hoisin sauce (makes sure it’s gluten free if you eat gluten free) and Sriracha chili sauce but taste first you may just be happy the way it is.
Notes
I had a hard time finding beef knuckles of beef neck bones at local supermarkets and ended up buying what was called 'beef soup bones'. They worked the same in my opinion.
Remember if you can’t find all the garnish don’t worry, add what you can find or like.
I serve my Pho is big bowls to have room for all the goodies and serve with chopstick or a big spoon we use both. Don’t be shy, we learned this in Vietnam you eat all the goodies out of the bowl with your chopsticks then slurp the broth from the side of the bowl. They never gave us a spoon and actually came to the table to show us how it’s done the first few times. By the time we left Vietnam we were Pho professionals.
While making this soup we joke that our house smells Pho-mazing.
*If you think I missed a step or have a question ask, I would be happy to help. Enjoy, yes it’s a long process but so worth it and really in the long run a cheap meal to make. You will have leftovers if making for 2, we usually have this again later in the week. But without any meat, just full of leftover garnish.
This is the Pho we had in Vietnam at a hostel we stayed at, they insisted on feeding us before leaving to the airport to fly to a different part of Vietnam. It was delicious, a little on the spicy side but delicious.
My first batch of chicken pho simmering.
Pho garnish
This was my first batch of Chicken Pho