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.


Enjoy~!!!

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~

Deliciously Rich Tasty French Onion Soup

This is a super easy soup to make aside from the length of cooking time of needed and some stirring needed in the middle. Bringing all of you with the detail steps of the cooking process and also to keep this as a record for me to recreate this dish again.


Ingredients
Ceramic Pot with lid
900g Yellow Onions
1.5 tablespoons Butter
0.25 cup of Sherry / White Wine
3 cups of Chicken Broth
1 cup of Beef Broth
1 Bay Leaf
1 spring of Thyme
3 cup of Water
1 teaspoon of Salt
Pepper
2 slices of Baguette (Using normal bread like me is not really a good idea but it's fine)
Grated or 2 slices of Cheese (Best selections as ranked: Gruyere - classic preference, Swiss, Jarlsbeg, Parmesan)

Step 1 Pre-heat oven to 250°C.
Step 2 Cut the onions in half through the root end, and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices from pole to pole.
Step 3 Spray the Ceramic Pot with cooking spray or pour some oil into the bottom and spread it all around with a kitchen towel.
Step 4 Cut the butter into cubes and scatter it around the Ceramic Pot.
Step 5 Put the slices of onion into the Ceramic Pot and loosen them up. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt over the top.
Step 6 Cover the Ceramic Pot and place it into the oven for 30mins.
Step 7 Remove the Ceramic Pot after 30mins and take off the cover (Remember to use oven mitts!), stirring the onions and scraping down the sides. Repeat this one more time.
Step 8 The onions should just be starting to brown. Replace the cover on the Ceramic Pot but leave it slightly ajar cook for another hour.
Step 9 Remove the pot and place it on the stove over a medium high heat. Stir frequently and scrape down the sides.
Step 10 After 10-15 minutes, a dark crust should form at the bottom of the Ceramic Pot. Don’t be worried, this is fond, and it’s full of flavor. Your house would be fill with sweet onion aroma at this stage.
Step 11 After the fond is formed, pour in 1/4 cup of water and scrape the fond up from the bottom, stirring it into the onions. Repeat this 3 more times. At the end of the 4 times over the stove. The onions will be very brown and soft at this point – that’s a good sign!
Step 12 After the fourth scraping, let the fond develop one more time, then deglaze with 1/2 cup of sherry. Scrape up all the brown bits and mix it with the onions. At this point the onions should be a very dark, deep brown color.
Step 12 Pour in 2 cups of water and both the chicken and beef broths. Add in the bay leaf and a sprig of thyme. Stir to combine, then turn the heat up to high.
Step 13 When the soup starts to boil, cover the Ceramic Pot and turn the heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed.

Preparation for Storage.
- Let it cool in the pot. Transfer to your storage box by consumption portion.
- Place in fridge if you're consuming in 1-2days
- Place in freezer if you're consuming in a week or 2.

Preparation before serving.
Step 1 To prepare the soup for serving, toast slices of baguette most suitable but plain bread is fine.
***Just 1 slice per bowl is sufficient I'm just too greedy maybe cause I'm hungry after work.
Step 2 Ladle some hot soup into an oven safe bowl to warm up the soup.
Step 3 Cover the top of the soup with the toasted baguette and top the baguette slices with cheese.
Step 4 Place the bowls under the broiler. Watch it very carefully as the cheese bubbles and browns very quickly.
Step 5 Once the cheese has slightly brown take it out and serve. (Remember to use oven mitts!)


The broth is rich and deep, and the onion flavor really shines through. If you love French onion soup like deary do, do give this recipe a try.

Enjoy sipping every spoon of it~

Click here for our blog page Cooking Classes for more recipes. Hope you will be inspired~