My love affair with Pho (pronounced "fuh" not "foh") all started in the waning years of college, where cheap, fast, and satisfying meals were what my stomach (and wallet) craved. At first I thought it may just be a fleeting infatuation, but after college, as I moved my way down the East Bay with various tech jobs, I found myself turning to the comforting noodle soup, not just as a stop-gap meal, but as a soul soothing salve that never failed to put a smile on my face. The clear mahogany soup is light, and yet it has a voluptuous full bodied flavor with the earthy aroma of beef, charred onions, ginger, and warm spices. The rice noodles are satiny smooth with a remarkably elastic texture that just begs to be slurped.
In the decade since I made my exit from Silicon Valley, I've lived in areas of the world where good Pho is nearly impossible to find. That's why I've spent the time perfecting my own take on this relatively modern Vietnamese classic.
The great thing about Pho is that once you have the base broth, you can season it how you like, and top it with what you like. In the north of Vietnam, where Pho is thought to have originated in the past century, the noodles are broader, and the toppings are limited to meat and a generous sprinkle of scallions. In the south, Saigon-style Pho is sweeter and adorned with everything from bean sprouts, to limes to fresh herbs like basil and cilantro.
Although I appreciate the restrained approach of the north, which highlights the quality of the soup, most bowls of Pho in California involve a wide variety of toppings and condiments that let you change the taste of the soup as you progress through the bowl. The toppings I have listed in my recipe are merely suggestions, so feel free to change them up how you like.
To make the soup, most traditional Pho recipes call for leg and knuckle bones, but the bones and marrow don’t have as much flavor as meat, which is why many recipes have you cook both meat and bones together. I’ve found that oxtail has a nice balance of meat, fat, marrow, bone and connective tissue, which produces a marvelously beefy broth using fewer bones.
For the aromatics, it's important to slowly char them. The charring does not make the soup bitter, and it gives the broth a delightfully smoky complex flavor and mellow sweetness. While it may be tempting to speed things up by using a torch or sticking the aromatics directly on a burner, these methods tend to get you a really thin layer of char with the rest of the aromatic raw. By using a broiler, you still have enough heat to create a nice even layer of char, but you also get some caramelization under the char, which lends another layer of flavor to the soup.
Unless you live in a spice-producing region of the world, most spices take an epic journey between where they are harvested and your local store, which is why it's a good idea to toast them before adding them to the broth. If you can’t find cilantro with the roots still attached, you can use about a dozen stems instead. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can do this in a standard pot as well, but you will need to triple the cooking times (1.5 hours, followed by another 2.5 hours after removing the brisket). You will also have more evaporation loss and will likely have to add some extra water at the end when you measure out the stock.
As for seasoning, most Pho recipes call for yellow rock sugar, and indeed it does add a wonderful caramel flavor to the broth, but if you’re not near an Asian market it can be hard to find. That’s why I usually use evaporated cane juice (a.k.a. raw sugar). You get the same depth of flavor, and it’s available almost anywhere. It also doesn’t need to be cooked for long to dissolve, which makes adjusting the amount you add at the end much simpler.
If you plan on topping your Pho with raw beef, be sure to cut it paper thin so that it cooks properly when you pour your hot broth over it. I like using sliced fillet or sirloin because they tend to be the most tender, but other cuts should work as well if they're sliced thinly enough. One trick to getting super thin meat, is to get meat that's already cut for shabu shabu at a Japanese grocery store. If that's not an option, and you don't have a meat slicer at home, you can partially freeze the meat, so that it's firm enough to hold its shape. Then you can use a long sharp knife to slice it thinly against the grain.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
for stock
- 560 grams oxtail
- 275 grams brisket
- 25 grams ginger
- 175 grams onion (½ large onion)
- 5 grams cinnamon
- 3 grams star anise
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 4 cloves
- 2 cilantro roots
for pho
- 400 grams Banh Pho Noodles (dried flat rice noodles)
- ¼ cup fish sauce (to taste)
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar (to taste)
- 50 grams onion (about ¼ onion)
- cilantro
- beef tenderloin (sliced paper thin)
to serve
- bean sprouts
- lime
- Thai basil
- hoisin sauce (optional)
- sriracha (optional)
Instructions
- Bring a pressure cooker full of water to a rolling boil. Add the oxtail and brisket to the boiling water and return to a boil. Set the timer for 12 minutes, after the water returns to a boil. Prepare a bowl of cold water.
- While the bones are boiling, put the onion and ginger on a sheet pan and place directly under the heating element of your broiler, cut side up. Broil until the onion and ginger is nicely charred.
- When the timer goes off, remove the oxtail and brisket and transfer them to the water to chill. Wash the bones thoroughly to remove any congealed blood, or other contaminants that can cloud your soup. Wash the pot out well, and then add the bones and meat back in.
- Put the cinnamon, star anise, fennel seeds and cloves into a pan and roast on the stove, tossing frequently to prevent burning, until the spices are fragrant.
- Add the roasted spices to the pot with the brisket and bones and then add the cilantro roots and 8 cups of water. Seal the lid and bring the cooker up to high pressure. When it's at pressure, set the timer for 30 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, use the quick release method to release the pressure from your cooker and when the pressure has gone down, open the lid. Remove the brisket, and quickly wrap it in plastic wrap, to prevent the meat from drying out. Let this come down to room temperature and store it in the refrigerator until you're ready to use it.
- Seal the lid to the pressure cooker again and bring the pot back up to high pressure. Continue cooking the broth for another 45 minutes and then let the pressure drop naturally.
- When the pressure has dropped, open the lid and use tongs to remove the oxtail and set aside(you can pick the meat and connective tissue off the oxtails to serve on top of your Pho, or season it and press it into a terrine). Pass the stock through a fine mesh sieve to remove the aromatics and then skim off most, but not all, of the fat.
- You should now have 5 cups of stock. If you have less, add some water to make 5 cups. If you have more, you will need to boil your stock down a little more to concentrate it.
- To prepare the Pho, soak the banh pho in warm water for an hour to rehydrate. When the noodles no longer have a tough core, drain them. You can store them in a sealable plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to a day.
- Put the prepared stock in a pot and add the fish sauce and evaporated cane juice, adjusting both to taste. Keep the Pho broth warm over low heat.
- Because the noodles will get soggy quickly be sure to have your table prepped with condiments and have all your toppings prepared so you can assemble all the bowls and get them to the table as quickly as possible.
- Slice the onion as thinly as possible and then soak them in water. Slice the cooked brisket. Slice the tenderloin as thinly as possible.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. The rehydrated noodles should cook in about 1 minute, so have a strainer ready and add the noodles to the boiling water. Drain as soon as they're cooked (you'll want them to still be a little chewy as they will continue to cook in the bowls with the broth).
- Divide the noodles between your bowls and top with the sliced onions, cilantro, brisket and raw tenderloin. Bring the Pho broth to a boil and divide it between the bowls and serve with the rest of the condiments and toppings.
Marc Matsumoto says
A butcher might have them? Otherwise any bones with a lot of marrow would work.
Marc Matsumoto says
Maybe it's a regional thing? I've seen it both ways, but I like the fragrance the charred ginger imparts.
Marc Matsumoto says
Fillet mignon aside, this set me back less than $20 and it made enough stock for 7-8 bowls of pho or about $3 a bowl. Still, it does take a bit of labor I suppose.
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks, it's always nice getting some honest feedback. I'm just curious how you'd describe a soup so full of flavor?
Thomas Abraham says
how about some "constructive" criticism. if you dont have anything nice to say, dont say anything at all.
Ell says
I have a question. Is the soup transparent or dark brown? I want to know before I try out your recipe. Nevertheless, looks amazing!
Marc Matsumoto says
It's a translucent (i.e. not cloudy), dark brown.
Brenton mac says
Thank you Marc for your fabulous recipes - I have found both the beef and chicken vietnamese noodle soup recipes divine. I discovered Pho Bo while I was in Saigon a few years ago and since then I have been hooked and constantly on the look out for the perfect pho... I have since discovered that the best possible pho is the one you can make at home.. a lot of recipes use powdered stock however which is nothing like the real thing.. and your recipes provide the perfect detail for these stocks - thank you again!
Marc Matsumoto says
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! You don't need a ton of round, so if the butcher can do it on the meat slicer that would be best. As for the oxtail, it will make a difference in flavor, but $10 sounds like a lot. I usually get my marrow bones and oxtail at a Chinese butcher for a few bucks for the lot. The meat the comes off the tail has a lot of blood in it, so it has a strong taste, but it's tender and absolutely edible.
Charlie says
Thanks Marc! I'll remember that for next time. I was able to enjoy the soup all week by reheating some broth and throwing in soaked noodles, meat, and garnish at the last second... yum! I was also able to use the extra uncooked round steak for making stir fry... so it was definitely a good week! I look forward to making the chicken version of soup in a week or two.
Andy says
Hi, I'm vietnamese and and we do cook the broth with ginger. It's removed when you strain the broth.
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Triston!
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Yogicfoodie,
1) Yep, that should work, I'd substitute oxtail as it tends to have more meat than the shins.
2) Yep, if you're doubling the bones and liquid I'd double up on the veggies too.
3) Since Vidalias tend to be sweet, your stock is going to be sweeter, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Personally like my soup on the sweet side, which is why I add sugar. You may not need the sugar with these onions.
Hahaha, I know what you mean, it's hot here and I had some fantastic pho the other day in Palo Alto and have been wanting to make a batch.
Oscar Graham says
The popup ad almost make reading the post and recipe unreadable.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Oscar, I'm sorry to hear you're having problems with the site. There should not be any popups on this site. Can you please send me a screen capture of what you're seeing by email?
Geoffrey Yu says
Hi Marc, I've enjoyed your recipes for many years, but I have to agree.
I think your new hosting might be to blame, as the site has loaded much slower and the ads keep getting worse. Right now I'm seeing an animated Mazola Ad telling me to rollover for more recipes at the bottom of every single one of the images you posted.
There are not one, but two videos playing on this page which I didn't click on. One with sound. There are at least 3 other static ads.
Normally I can just ignore them but this is a little much. Hopefully you can trim them down to make the site easier to navigate.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Geoffrey, I've spoken to the hosting platform and they're working on adjusting the ads. A lot of time with these ad networks, there are rogue advertisers that are doing things they shouldn't be doing (like auto playing video ads), so it's a matter of finding them all and banning them.
Geoffrey Yu says
Got it, thanks for looking into it! I really enjoy your posts.
Joanne Pan says
this is awesome! I hope this try this sometime soon. however, I don't have a pressure cooker. how long should i boil it for without a pressure cooker?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Joanne, typically a pressure cooker reduces the cooking time by 3-4 times. So you can just multiply the time to cook the broth by 3-4. You'll also probably need to add more water at the end as you'll experience more evaporation over the cooking time.
iliana filby says
I was glad to see your use of the cilantro roots. None of the recipes I looked at (many, many tens of recipes) mentioned their use, but it seemed very right, and I had a bunch of them. I used half for my pho, and froze the rest for a grilled chicken flavor paste. Anyhow , cheers!
FYI..Others are right: the ads are out of control.
Annette says
Have tried your recipes in the past and have enjoyed them immensely. My son and I get together a great deal and cook together which I love. So thank you.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Annette, I'm happy to hear you've been enjoying my recipes with your son. I hope you're having a great week!