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Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

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Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

A while ago I made a turkey pho using some homemade turkey stock and leftover turkey and I really enjoyed it. Pho is a Vietnamese rice noodle dish with a broth flavoured with star anise. The classical pho is made in a beef broth and is served with beef. Ever since I made the turkey pho I had been wanting to try making the traditional beef pho (or pho bo) from scratch. I started looking for a recipe in my bookmarks and the one that caught my attention was the one for pho bo on eatingclub vancouver . From there I amalgamated what I liked from a few different recipes to come up with this one.
The first step was to make the broth which required simmering beef bones for several hours. Luckily I was able to find the beef bones pretty cheap at a local butchers shop. This recipe calls for 2 cuts of beef in addition to the bones. The first cut of beef is a cheap cut that is simmered in the broth until it is falling apart tender. This adds even more flavour to the broth and then the braised beef goes into the final soup as well. The beef broth is also made with the star of the show, the star anise, and cloves, cinnamon, charred onions and ginger, fish sauce and sugar. Just with that list of ingredients it is sounding really tasty! Nice and beefy and sweet and salty and star anise’y with a hint of spices.
Once the broth is ready you are just about done; all that is left is to cook the rice noodles and assemble the soup. To assemble the soup, you place the braised beef in a bowl and top it with the cooked rice noodles followed by the second cut of beef, which is thinly sliced, along with the bean sprouts. The broth is brought to a boil and poured over the beef and beansprouts into the bowl. The boiling broth just ‘cooks’ the thinly sliced beef and blanches the beansprouts right in the bowl. Because you are just barely cooking the thinly sliced beef you will probably want a really nice and tender cut of beef like a tenderloin. Next you throw on your condiments such as basil, cilantro, jalapenos, hoisin sauce and chili sauce.
The pho bo broth took a bit of work and time to make but it was well worth it! It was nice and tasty and I really enjoyed the star anise flavour in a savoury dish like this. Other than the star anise, what I liked most about this soup was that it was nice and light and with all of the topping is was fresh and summery. The thinly sliced ‘raw’ beef on top was just perfectly cooked and nice and juicy and tender. What a great soup to enjoy on a cold winter day! Luckily I have leftovers so I will get to enjoy it for a few more days!

Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 4 hours 10 minutes Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes Servings: 4
ingredients
  • 4 pounds beef bones
  • 1/2 pound beef (a cheap cut)
  • 1 onion (halved and charred)
  • 1 3 inch piece of ginger (cut in half and charred)
  • 9 star anise
  • 6 cloves
  • 1 stick cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon peppercorns
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce
  • 1 tablespoon palm sugar (or sugar)
  • 8 ounces rice noodles (cooked as directed on package)
  • 1/2 pound steak (good quality, sliced thinly)
  • 2 cups beans prouts
  • 1/4 cup Thai basil (thinly sliced)
  • 1/4 cup cilantro
  • 2 jalapeno peppers (sliced)
  • 1 limes (sliced)
  • 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
  • 2 tablespoons chili sauce
directions
  1. Place the bones into a large stock pot and bring to a roiling bowl for a few minutes.
  2. Drain the water, rinse the bones and the pot and fill with clean water.
  3. Add the beef, onion, ginger, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, fish sauce and sugar and simmer for 2 hours.
  4. Remove the beef and continue to simmer for another 2 hours.
  5. Strain the solids from the broth and season the broth to taste with fish sauce and sugar.
  6. Shred the beef that was simmered in the broth and divide between 4 large bowls.
  7. Divide the noodles between the bowls along with the beansprouts and place a few slices of the raw beef on top.
  8. Bring the broth back to a roiling boil and ladle into the bowls. (This will cook the raw beef.)
  9. Garnish with the basil, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, lime slices, hoisin sauce and chili sauce.
Tip: You can char the onion and ginger directly on the flame of a gas stove or under the broiler.
Similar Recipes:
Turkey Pho
Beef Ramen
Salmon Noodle Soup
Chicken Noodle Soup
Dandan Noodles (Tantanmen Ramen)
Tonkotsu Ramen
Sichuan Poached Beef (Shuizhu)

More soup recipes!
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  12. Rita says

    Kevin, I am planning on making Pho, since it’s one of Andrew’s favourites. can you tell me, with this amount, how much broth did you end up with? maybe 4 servings? I don’t want to go trough all this trouble just for a couple of cups…Thanks a lot

    Reply

  19. Elra says

    Can you believe that my sister and I will go to “Pho” restaurant once a week just have this soup? yep, we both like it so much.
    Yours look so delicious too.
    Cheers,
    Elra

    Reply

  26. Jeanne says

    Do you know I’ve never had pho?? Embarrassing admission, I know…! I love the idea of meat in a broth flavoured with star anise though 🙂 Beautiful dish too.

    Reply

  33. sugarlens says

    Your pho bo looks so so so good.

    At home I make chicken pho because it is simplier. Star anise makes all the difference!

    I want to go home and have a big bowl of noodles right now. It’s so cold outside.

    Reply

  43. Salt N Turmeric says

    This looks good. I cant believe Iv yet to go to any of the vietnamese restaurant here. The last time I had these was back home in Malaysia in 03. Maybe I should try make these myself.

    Farina

    Reply

  47. JCarson says

    Looks great, though I'm confused about steps 1 and 2. You boil the bones for a few minutes, then throw out that water and refill the pot with clean water? Do the bones go back into the 2nd pot of water?

    Reply

  48. Kevin says

    JCarson: Yes, the bones stay in the pot after the first boil. The first boil helps to ensure that you have clean bones and that nothing is present that may put off the beef flavour.

    Reply

  51. Cate Fisher says

    I would love to make this for my partner, Pho is one of his favorite foods, but he is allergic to fish. Can the fish sauce be left out? Or are there any good substitutes for it?

    Reply

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