Pho Soup
Ever since we tried this soup in Vietnam we wanted to make it at home. It's one of the best soups we've tried during our trips so far. It's usually served with very thinly sliced meat of your choice and a lot of fresh herbs.
If you're cooking the broth from scratch, put beef bones in a pan, cover with cold water, bring to boil and cook for about 5-10 minutes. Bones will release some scum. That's normal. After that time discard water and clean bones from any residue. Put bones back to a pan and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer for about 3 hours. Set timer to 3 hours
You can skip this step when you use a ready made broth.
Half the ginger and onion and char it in the oven over high heat or on a frying pan. Turn them from time to time to make sure it's charred well on both sides. This will add an unique taste and colour to the soup.
Place cinnamon sticks, coriander seeds, star anise, cloves and the cardamom pod to a dry frying pan. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until fragrant. It should take about 5 minutes then add it to the broth.
Add charred onion and ginger to the broth. Add fish sauce, salt and sugar and simmer under cover on medium -low heat for about 30 minutes. Set timer to 30 Minutes
When cooked strain out and discard spices, onion and ginger. Remove bones.
Meanwhile cook noodles.
Put a handful of noodles in a bowl. Add raw thin slices of the meat. Then pour simmering broth over it. Make sure the meat is covered with broth so it gets cooked.
Add fresh herbs on top and squeeze some fresh lime juice to a bowl. Use as much or as little as you like.
The easiest way to cut meat into thin slices is to put a fresh meat to the freezer for about 30 minutes and cut it across the grain. It shouldn't be thicker than 2 mm.
To easy remove spices from the soup place them into a herb sachet and tie it.
Excess of the broth you can store in a freezer for a fast and easy dinner next time.
Ingredients
Directions
If you're cooking the broth from scratch, put beef bones in a pan, cover with cold water, bring to boil and cook for about 5-10 minutes. Bones will release some scum. That's normal. After that time discard water and clean bones from any residue. Put bones back to a pan and cover with water. Bring to boil and simmer for about 3 hours. Set timer to 3 hours
You can skip this step when you use a ready made broth.
Half the ginger and onion and char it in the oven over high heat or on a frying pan. Turn them from time to time to make sure it's charred well on both sides. This will add an unique taste and colour to the soup.
Place cinnamon sticks, coriander seeds, star anise, cloves and the cardamom pod to a dry frying pan. Cook on low heat, stirring occasionally until fragrant. It should take about 5 minutes then add it to the broth.
Add charred onion and ginger to the broth. Add fish sauce, salt and sugar and simmer under cover on medium -low heat for about 30 minutes. Set timer to 30 Minutes
When cooked strain out and discard spices, onion and ginger. Remove bones.
Meanwhile cook noodles.
Put a handful of noodles in a bowl. Add raw thin slices of the meat. Then pour simmering broth over it. Make sure the meat is covered with broth so it gets cooked.
Add fresh herbs on top and squeeze some fresh lime juice to a bowl. Use as much or as little as you like.
The easiest way to cut meat into thin slices is to put a fresh meat to the freezer for about 30 minutes and cut it across the grain. It shouldn't be thicker than 2 mm.
To easy remove spices from the soup place them into a herb sachet and tie it.
Excess of the broth you can store in a freezer for a fast and easy dinner next time.
