We're Adam and Joanne from inspiredtaste.net and welcome to our kitchen.
Making your own fabulous bowl of Vietnamese Pho soup is not hard...
all you need is a straight forward recipe, a few secrets and a nice big stockpot.
The broth starts with the bones. We like to use beef knuckles or leg bones for this.
Add them to a big stock pot...
then cover with cold water.
Place that on high heat and bring to a boil.
You want to bowl for about five minutes. You will notice a scum will rise to the top...
drain the entire stockpot...
and rinse the bones...
this gets rid of all of that scum.
You want to rinse the stockpot too.
Place the bones back into the pot and set aside for later.
Now grab two medium onions...
quarter them...
you can leave the skins on.
Then grab a four-inch piece of ginger and cut it in half lengthwise.
Arrange everything on a baking sheet...
turn your oven broiler to high...
then slide it under and broil for ten to fifteen minutes, turning occasionally...
or until...
the onions and ginger have charred or browned on all sides.
Now for the spices...
add one tablespoon of coriander seeds, one tablespoon of fennel...
about six cloves...
six star anise...
two cinnamon sticks...
and one black cardamom pod...
to a pan.
Put it over low heat...
and toast for about five minutes until fragrant.
add the spices to some cheese cloth and tie with some butchers twine...
and set aside.
Next you'll need to measure out a quarter cup of fish sauce...
one and a half tablespoons of salt.
and you'll need a one-inch piece of yellow rock candy.
Something you can find at Asian markets.
Now that we have everything ready we can start the broth...
Add six quarts of cold water to the bones from earlier...
bring to a boil...
then if any of that scum comes to the top use a spoon...
or fine mesh strainer to remove it.
Now reduce to a gentle simmer...
add your fish sauce, the salt...
the sachet of spices...
rock candy.
and the ginger and onions from earlier.
Now cook the broth at a gentle simmer...
for about three hours.
Once the broth is done...
we want to strain it...
so first remove any of the bones...
onion and ginger from the pot...
then pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer...
into a clean bowl.
You'll notice quite a bit of fat will rise to the top of the broth...
to remove it use a fine mesh strainer or spoon...
another option is to pour the broth...
into a container and refrigerate overnight.
We prefer this...
since you can get rid of most of the fat...
it solidifies on the top...
and is easily removed.
Now we can make our bowls of pho...
bring the broth to a simmer...
grab some bowls...
then add very thinly sliced raw beef to the bowls...
bring a pot of water to a boil then cook your noodles...
add the cooked noodles to your bowls...
then cover with hot broth.
Serve your soup with fresh herbs...
bean sprouts...
lime wedges, thinly sliced onions, chili sauce...
fish sauce or anything else you love.
Enjoy!
For more Pho secerts and to see our full recipe...
visit us at www.inspiredtaste.net