Phở is Vietnam’s beloved beef noodle soup, celebrated for its aromatic broth and fresh ingredients. At its heart, phở features a clear, flavorful broth simmered for hours with beef bones, spices like star anise and cinnamon, and herbs that create a rich, warming taste.
Why make homemade Pho?
1. Control Over Ingredients: You can avoid high sodium levels, MSG, and artificial additives often found in restaurant or packaged versions.
– Customizable Nutrition: You can choose your own lean protein, adjust the noodle portion, and load up on fresh vegetables and herbs.
2. Tailored to Your Taste
Perfected Flavor: You control the balance of sweet, salty, and savory flavors (using fish sauce, rock sugar, charred ginger/onions) to suit your preference.
Customized Toppings: You can add as much or as little of the traditional garnishes (Thai basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, lime, chili) as you like.
3. Meat Selection: You can choose high-quality brisket, flank, or eye round for your toppings, ensuring it is prepared exactly as you like it.
4. . Cost-Effective and Convenient
Budget-Friendly: Buying bones and spices in bulk is generally cheaper than paying restaurant prices per bowl, especially for a family.
5. Meal Prep/Freezing: You can make a large, concentrated batch of broth and freeze it in portions, providing a quick, healthy, and comforting meal later.
– Clearer Broth: By properly blanching bones and skimming, you can achieve a perfectly clear, aromatic, and deep broth.
Pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup)
Description
Phở is Vietnam’s beloved beef noodle soup, celebrated for its aromatic broth and fresh ingredients. At its heart, phở features a clear, flavorful broth simmered for hours with beef bones, spices like star anise and cinnamon, and herbs that create a rich, warming taste.
Why make homemade Pho?
1. Control Over Ingredients: You can avoid high sodium levels, MSG, and artificial additives often found in restaurant or packaged versions.
- Customizable Nutrition: You can choose your own lean protein, adjust the noodle portion, and load up on fresh vegetables and herbs.
2. Tailored to Your Taste
Perfected Flavor: You control the balance of sweet, salty, and savory flavors (using fish sauce, rock sugar, charred ginger/onions) to suit your preference.
Customized Toppings: You can add as much or as little of the traditional garnishes (Thai basil, cilantro, bean sprouts, lime, chili) as you like.
3. Meat Selection: You can choose high-quality brisket, flank, or eye round for your toppings, ensuring it is prepared exactly as you like it.
4. . Cost-Effective and Convenient
Budget-Friendly: Buying bones and spices in bulk is generally cheaper than paying restaurant prices per bowl, especially for a family.
5. Meal Prep/Freezing: You can make a large, concentrated batch of broth and freeze it in portions, providing a quick, healthy, and comforting meal later.
- Clearer Broth: By properly blanching bones and skimming, you can achieve a perfectly clear, aromatic, and deep broth.
Ingredients
Method
-
Instruction
- Char onion and ginger under broiler or over flame until blackened (5–10 min).
- Parboil bones: cover bones with water, boil 8–10 min, drain and rinse bones and pot.
- Simmer broth: return bones to pot, add charred onion/ginger, spices, salt and 6–8 qts cold water. Simmer gently 4 hours (skimming as needed). Strain, season with fish sauce and sugar. Keep hot.
- Cook noodles per package instructions; divide among 4 bowls.
- Thinly slice raw beef and place on noodles. Pour boiling-hot broth over beef to cook it.
- Serve with garnishes so each person customizes.
- But if the thought of pink beef in your soup is off-putting, it’s an easy fix – just dunk the beef into the pot of hot broth first, it will cook in 10 seconds!
Nutrition Facts
Servings 4
- Amount Per Serving
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 18g28%
- Sodium 1400mg59%
- Total Carbohydrate 48g16%
- Protein 36g72%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Note
Notes - To reduce calories/fat: use 8 oz total beef instead of 1 lb, or skim fat from chilled broth.
- To reduce sodium: use less fish sauce and taste before serving.
- For vegetarian pho: use kombu, dried shiitake, charred onion/ginger and spices; replace fish sauce with soy sauce or tamari.
