Pho Vietnamese Beef Rice Noodle Soup Recipe

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Pho Vietnamese Beef Rice Noodle Soup Recipe

Our very first Vietnamese recipe!

Prettier picture to share as we made this again on 30 Mar 2017! Give this recipe a try. We believe you'll love it too.

Pho Beef Noodles is what will come to our mind when we think of Vietnamese food. The richness of the beef broth but yet light enough to enjoy every slurp. The soft tender beef. It's one of the food you will think of when it's a cold rainy day.

Broth Ingredients
700g Oxtail
1.5" Ginger
1 Yellow Onion
50ml Fish Sauce
4 whole Star Anise
3 whole Cloves
2" Cinnamon Stick
0.5 teaspoon Fennel Seeds
2 Bay Leaves
3 litre of Beef Stock
Salt & Pepper to taste
3 Soup Stock Bags

Step 1 Place the oxtail in a large pot and add enough water to cover and let it boil for 10mins.
Step 2 Remove the oxtail and set aside while you pour away the water, rinse the pot.

Step 3 Slice the Yellow Onion and Ginger in half and place it on a aluminium foil and char them under the broiler until lightly browned.

Step 4 Using the same pot place the oxtail in along with the Beef Stock and bring it to a boil.

Step 5 Meanwhile, toast the Star Anise, Cloves, Cinnamon Stick in a small pan over a stove on medium heat. Turn the spices a couple of times, they are ready when you can smell. the aroma and it is slightly darken. This will take approximately 3 to 4 minutes.

Step 6 Pack up all the spices, charred Ginger and Onions in the Soup Stock Bags for easy retrieval.

Step 7 When you're done with Step 5 and 6, the broth would have just started boiling. Place in the packed Spice Bags and let the broth simmer for 4 hours.
Step 8 After 4 hours, discard all the packed spice Bags. Remove the oxtail from the pot and pull the meat from the bones.

Step 9 Return the bones to the broth and continue simmering uncovered for about an hour.
Step 10 Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serving Ingredients
2 serving of Rice Noodles
1 cup of Mung Bean Sprouts
1 bunch of Scallions
1 hand full of Fresh Cilantro
1 hand full of Parsley
1 hand full of Basil
3 Limes
Chilli Paste
Thinly sliced Filet Mignon/ Brisket/ Flank or Beef Balls

Step 11 Soak the Rice Noodles in cold water for 20minutes.
Step 12 Arrange the sliced scallions, cilantro, parsley, basil, bean sprouts, lime wedges on a platter in separate piles.
Step 13 Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the drained rice noodles. Give the noodles a quick stir and cook for about a minute until tender but firm.
Step 14 Just before serving, return the broth to a full boil.
Step 15 Divide the Rice Noodles, arrange the Beef and Mung Bean Sprouts on top of the Rice Noodles.
Step 16 Carefully ladle the boiling broth over the raw beef or beef and Mung Bean Sprouts.
Step 17 Garnish with Scallions and serve immediately. Or serve the bowl of noodles immediately along with the platter of garnish.

Cooked these meal for deary and me only. The oxtail meat was sufficient portion for us, so we didn't add extra beef or beef balls. Also, as you notice from the picture we omitted Cilantro, Parsley, Basil as we don't fancy these herbs. This is the beauty of home cook food.