Vietnamese Beef Pho

Vietnamese Beef Pho Blog

🍽 Serves:
~10

🕑 Cooking Time:
8~10 hrs

⌛ Prep Time:
30 mins + overnight

The Ingredients List

Broth

  • 2 kg Beef Bone (knuckle/leg) + 4 Oxtails
  • 2 Maryland Chickens
  • 10cm length Ginger (cut in half)
  • 2 Onions (cut each into 4 quarters)
  • ½ cup Fish sauce
  • 2 tablespoon Table Salt
  • 175g Rock Sugar

Spice Broth Bag

  • 5 Star Anises
  • 6 Cloves
  • 1 Black Cardamom Pod
  • 1 tablespoon Fennel Seeds
  • 1 tablespoon Coriander Seeds
  • 2 Cinnamon Sticks

Pho Bowl preparation

  • 2 packs of Pho noodles
  • Bean Sprouts (pluck the roots)
  • 1 bunch of Spring Onion (finely chopped)
  • 1 Onion (finely sliced)
  • Fresh Coriander (finely chopped)
  • 600grams Scotch Fillet (very finely sliced)
  • Oxtail pieces and chicken pieces shredded
  • Optional: Beef balls

Garnish

  • Bird Eye Chilli
  • Thai Basils
  • 2~3 Lemons

The Method

  1. Remove scum: place bones and meats (chicken and oxtail) in large pot filled with cold water, bring to boil and keep it going for 3-5 mins, pour out all the scum, rinse bones and scrub with hands.
  2. Oven char onions and ginger: lay onion quarters and ginger halves on aluminium foil with all the skin sides down. Oven for about 10-15 mins at 150°C Fan Grill.
  3. Toast all spices on saucepan till fragrant (approximately 3mins) at medium heat and put in cheesecloth bag.
  4. Put bone and meat back in pot, add charred onion and ginger, and the filled up spice cheesecloth bag. Pour in boiling water fully covering bones, followed by adding salt, fish sauce and rock sugar.
  5. Cook on medium heat, and when it comes to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 8-10 hours. Sift oil fat regularly. It is ideal to divide the cooking to separate days, e.g. cook for 5 hours, turn heat off, let it cool and leave it overnight in the fridge. This will allow easier removal of the solidified fat the following day. You can then continue cooking for the remaining 3-5 hours.
  6. For the final broth preparation, remove all bones, meat pieces, spice cheesecloth, onions and ginger pieces, and sift through a sieve into another smaller pot. Make sure to save and put aside the meat pieces for plating. They are super tender and tasty and must not go to waste. (Tip: cut and wash the used cheesecloth, place it over sieve, and sift broth through for a super clean broth result). Taste broth and season if necessary. Most of the time, we simmer it over low heat and reduce broth a little without having to add further seasoning, until we reach the desired flavour.
  7. Pho bowl assembly: get pho noodles, meat slices and cooked meat pieces from the broth, meat balls, bean sprouts, onion slices, spring onions and coriander all ready in a bowl. Pour steaming hot broth over. Refer to Pho bowl preparation on how to prepare noodles and meat.
  8. Ready to serve. Add garnishes (basil leaves, chilli, lemon juice) accordingly to your liking. We love to add a specific satay sauce as well.

Pho Bowl Preparation

  1. Boil water and let it simmer, cook one serving of Pho noodles, depending on which Pho noodles you get it should take approximately 30 sec to 1 min to cook. Place cooked noodles in the bowl.
  2. On a separate pot, boil water and let it, cook one serving of sliced meat and cook slightly under to your liking. Place partially cooked meat on top of the noodles.
  3. Add the other meats, garnish to your liking and then pour the hot broth to the bowl and serve.