Who wants a beef Pho? I bet you all have heard of Pho before. For those who haven’t, Pho is a delicious noodle soup topped with thin meat slices and a bunch of fresh herbs. On one hand, it’s simple as it can get, on the other hand, it’s surprisingly rich in flavour.
Pho’s origins are Vietnamese. You will find Pho at any time of the day across all the streets in Vietnam. As one of the top street foods, it is extremely popular as a breakfast dish. Slurping this tasty hot soup for breakfast…mmmm…priceless. Maybe you are a little bit doubtful now, but after you’ve tried it, you are going to love it.
Beef Pho is simple to make and fun to eat. There is just one big secret that makes the soup so delicious. The secret is in the broth. A perfect broth needs hours to be ready. In fact, it needs 6 hours of simmering to get that great flavour. However, don’t you worry, you can use a small trick and buy a good broth. And since I am not a pro, I did that as well. He he.
Moreover, what really makes it special is the mix of aromas and spices. I made my special mix with garlic, ginger, anise stars, cloves, cinnamon, lime and soy sauce. The original recipe calls for the fish sauce as well, but I didn’t use it. You can use it though. To infuse all of the aromatic spices in the broth, I stuffed all of the spices in a paper tea bag. Comes very handy when you need to remove them out of the pot.
Making a beef Pho is fun and easy. The only thing that requires cooking is beef broth. What about meat? This is just fantastic. The meat is sliced very thinly in order to cook when you pour the steamy hot beef broth over it. And you do this directly in the serving bowl.
When you go shopping for the herbs and vegetables, always search for the freshest ones. Buy the juiciest limes and the greenest herbs. And before I forget, I mentioned noodles at the beginning of this beef Pho recipe. Rice noodles are the number one choice for this dish. However, I made zucchini noodles or zoodles.
Are you ready to make this amazing beef Pho? All you need is some love, a secret broth and some tips. Let’s start!
Ingredients for 2 portions of beef Pho:
- 1 liter beef broth
- 3 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 2 anise stars
- 3 cloves
- a piece of ginger (3cm)
- 100 ml of soy sauce
- 1 lime (juice)
- a stick of cinnamon
- 1 zucchini (medium)
- 200-300 g beef (thinly sliced)
- 4 stems cilantro
- 1 stem mint
- 2 stems Thai basil
- a big handful of bean sprouts
- 1 spring onion (slices)
- 1 chili (sliced)
First of all, prepare the beef broth. Pour the store-bought beef broth in a deep pot, add the soy sauce and squeeze in the lime. Smash the garlic cloves, roughly chop the ginger and stuff them, together with anise, cloves and cinnamon, into one or two paper tea bags. Immerse the bag in the broth and let it simmer for 25 minutes.
In the meantime, I made the zucchini noodles. You can either use a spiral slicer or a sharp knife. Of course, you can use rice noodles too. Then, prepare the meat. You can ask the butcher to slice it for you or you can do it yourself. It’s 2 minutes of work. Set the slices aside.
Furthermore, wash and clean the herbs. I decided for a mix of cilantro, mint and Thai basil. All three add a fresh aroma to the beef Pho. In addition, I also sliced some spring onion and used the crunchy bean sprouts. Fresh chili is always a must. It gives that spicy kick to the dish which makes it even more perfect.
Once everything is prepared, you can start building your beef Pho masterpiece. Divide the “zoodles” between two bowls. Then add the spring onion and the sprouts, followed by the beef slices. Remove the infusion mix bag from the broth and ladle the hot broth over the beef slices. You will see them changing colour while slowly cooking.
At this moment, you can add all of the fresh herbs (chopped with some whole leaves). In conclusion, add the chili slices. You can choose either to keep or to remove the seeds. You know, they are the hot stuff!
This three-letter dish Pho (or beef Pho in this case) is a trendy and healthy meal. You are going to fall in love with it if you want to or not. Be prepared to slurp the “zoodles” and taste many flavours and textures, which will change with every spoonful. Savoury broth, tender beef, spicy chili and crunchy fresh herbs make the beef Pho a complete foodie experience.
Enjoy!
PS:
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
