Beef Pho

From the kitchen of Carly

A quick-broth take on Vietnam's most famous bowl: charred onion and ginger steeped with star anise and cinnamon, then poured screaming-hot over rice noodles and paper-thin steak. The boiling broth cooks the beef at the table.

Beef Pho
Prep
15 min
Cook
45 min
Total
1 hr
Servings
2
Difficulty
medium

Ingredients

2 servings

  • 1 Lbeef stock
  • 1 largeyellow onion, halved
  • 1 thumb-sized piecefresh ginger, sliced
  • 1cinnamon stick
  • 2star anise pods
  • 1 tspcoriander seeds
  • 0.5 tspwhole cloves
  • 225 gsirloin steak
  • 1 tsppalm sugar (or brown sugar)
  • 1 tbspfish sauce
  • 1.5 tbspsoy sauce
  • 200 grice noodles (banh pho)
  • 2spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 smallbird's eye chili, sliced
  • 1 handfulfresh Thai basil
  • 1 handfulfresh cilantro
  • 1lime, cut into wedges

Instructions

  1. Wrap the steak in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes. This makes it easy to slice paper-thin later.

  2. In a dry skillet over high heat, char the onion halves and ginger slices until blackened in spots, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Move them to a large pot.

  3. In the same skillet, toast the cinnamon, star anise, coriander seeds, and cloves until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add to the pot.

  4. Pour in the beef stock plus 500ml of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer for 30 minutes.

  5. Pull the steak from the freezer and slice it across the grain as thinly as you possibly can. Lay the slices on a plate and refrigerate.

  6. Strain the broth through a fine sieve back into the pot, discarding the solids. Stir in the palm sugar, fish sauce, and soy sauce. Taste: it should be deeply savory with a whisper of sweet.

  7. Cook the rice noodles per the package, then divide between two large bowls. Drape the raw beef slices over the noodles.

  8. Bring the broth back to a hard boil and ladle it directly over the beef. The hot liquid will cook the meat in seconds.

  9. Top with spring onions, chili, basil, and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges to squeeze in at the table.

Substitutions
  • sirloin steak to eye of round, flank steak, or thinly shaved beef from an Asian market. Whatever you use, slice across the grain and freeze briefly first.
  • fish sauce to extra soy sauce + a pinch of salt. Loses some funk; the soup still works.
  • palm sugar to brown sugar or honey. Same job, slightly different sweetness profile. Honey wins for floral notes.

Pairs well with: Hoisin sauce and sriracha on the side for stirring in, Vietnamese iced coffee (ca phe sua da) afterward, A plate of fresh bean sprouts and jalapeño slices for the bowl

Adapted from TheMealDB.