There’s little I like more than settling in for a ginormous bowl of pho, the classic Vietnamese soup of long-simmered broth, rice noodles, thinly sliced meat, and fresh herbs. It’s hydrating. It’s nourishing. It tastes delicious. This version speeds up the stock making by using a homemade stock and infusing it with spices and aromatic vegetable as you prepare the other ingredients.
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Quick Pho
Pho is blessedly easy to make at home, as long you happen to have some beef stock on hand, and it comes together for a nice and quick weeknight meal. While the sweet spices like coriander, fennel, cinnamon and cloves give the beef stock its characteristic flavor as it warms up on your stove, you can prepare pho’s classic accompaniments of hot peppers, fresh herbs, bean sprouts and lime. In the end, it's a super-easy dinner that comes together in about a half hour.
Servings: 4 servings
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds top sirloin
- 1 yellow onion (halved)
- 1 knob Fresh Ginger
- 2 pods star anise
- 1 ceylon cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon coriander seed
- ½ teaspoon fennel
- 2 whole cloves
- 8 cups beef bone broth
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- 8 ounces dried Vietnamese-style flat rice noodles
- 4 green onions (cut on the diagonal into 1-inch-wide slices)
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 bunch Thai basil
- 1 bunch mint
- 2 limes (quartered)
- 2 jalapeños thinly sliced
- ¼ cup hoisin
- ¼ Sriracha sauce
Instructions
- Place the meat in the freezer, this will make the meat easier to slice thinly.
- Drop the yellow onion and ginger along with the star anise, cinnamon, coriander, fennel seeds, and cloves into a 4-quart pot and then pour the broth over the vegetables and spices. Add the fish sauce and bring it all to a simmer over medium-high heat.
- While the broth simmers, set the rice noodles in a deep mixing bowl and cover them with boiling water. Leave them in the hot water until tender but not mushy, about 10 minutes. When tender, drain them in a colander.
- While the rice noodles soak in the hot water and the broth simmers, arrange the green onions on a serving platter. Separate the leaves of cilantro, Thai basil, and mint from their stems. Arrange the herbs and bean sprouts, as well as the limes and jalapeños, on the serving platter alongside the green onions.
- Take the meat from the freezer, and then slice it against the grain into wafer-thin pieces. Arrange the sliced meat in a small bowl. Spoon the hoisin sauce and Sriracha sauce into separate bowls.
- Arrange about one-quarter of the noodles into a nest in each of four individual bowls and then strain about 1 1⁄2 cups broth over the noodles into each bowl, taking care that no spices from the simmering broth make their way into the bowls.
- Serve the bowls of steaming-hot noodle soup. Encourage everyone at the table to add herbs, peppers, meat, and hoisin sauce, individualizing the seasonings and additions in their bowl as it suits them.
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Suzy says
So if I’m understanding correctly, the meat is raw? Does the hot broth cook it?
Jenny says
Yes, the hot broth cooks it.
Danika says
So is the meat raw when it goes into the soup?
Jenny says
Yes.
Jim Ball says
My first pot of Pho stock has been simmering for a couple of hours now, and the smell is driving me nuts! I could not find Coriander seeds locally anywhere, so substituted 1/2 tsp. of ground coriander. Ditto for the cinnamon stick. For broth, I used Tone’s beef base and added three small uncooked chicken breast tenders, removing them after they were cooked. They’ll be sliced and added to the meat & vegetable tray. My local Pho restaurant included thin sliced chicken & ham with their Pho. My broth tastes quite similar to theirs. I also quartered my onion and charred all faces on a very hot griddle before adding it to the stock. I also like Vietnamese chili garlic paste in my Pho, so have it handy. 😀
Vivian says
I had an opportunity to stay in Vietnam and enjoyed Pho. Its flavour is so unique, and I absolutely love it. Thanks for your recipe. I think I will have great bowls of Pho to treat my family.
CB says
Any suggestions on how to make this meatless. I know it ain’t Pho unless a bone broth is used, but any suggestions on to enhance the flavors if no bone broth is used?
Amanda says
You can char the onion and ginger over open flame (stovetop or broiler) before adding them to some pre-made vegetable stock; this adds extra depth of flavor. Substitute soy sauce for the fish sauce. Use mushrooms (raw or cooked) instead of meat. It won’t be “traditional” but it will still very tasty.
Leisa says
Jenny,
Which Hoisin do you use? Every hoisin I’ve seen has undesirable ingredients. I’d love to know of a decent hoisin brand!! Please share!
Amy says
I have a question? I’m assuming the top sirloin is pre-cooked? How do you recommend doing this?
Amy says
Oops, I just saw the comment to Cheryl from the day before.
AJ says
Have you found any clean versions of hoisin sauce and Sriracha sauce?
Jenny says
I use these this hoisin sauce and this sriracha.
Marilyn says
The hoisan sauce contains soy — which causes anaphylactic shock in yours truly. I happen to be strangely fond of breathing. The Sriracha contains xanthan gum and sugar which I also cannot have. I am guessing that red Tabasco (which is just fermented tabasco peppers) or a version of your own fermented pepper sauce (https://nourishedkitchen.com/fermented-hot-chili-sauce-recipe/) would work here. What can be used in lieu of the hoisan sauce?
Jenny says
Hi Marilyn,
I’d recommend you avoid it.
Amanda says
Hoisin sauce isn’t necessary. The broth very flavorful on its own. Just use plenty of sliced jalapenos if you want heat.
Marilyn says
So… what can one substitute if commercial hoisan sauce and sriracha sauce cannot be on the menu?
Amanda says
I find hoisin sauce to entirely unnecessary. The broth is so flavorful, you just don’t need . If you can’t use sriracha but you want some heat, just use plenty of the sliced jalapenos suggested the recipe.
Cheryl says
This sounds so yummy. However, do you not cook the meat at all? Or did I miss something?
Jenny says
Hi Cheryl,
Traditionally, raw beef is served as an accompaniment to pho. When you add it to the hot broth at the table, the heat from the broth cooks it. That said, I do eat (and enjoy) raw meat in dishes like carpaccio or tartar.
Amparo says
Thank you for this recipe. I wonder how it can be adjusted for the Instant Pot?
Jennifer McGruther says
Hi Amparo,
There’s really no need to adjust it for the instant pot because the broth is already made, and the noodles, meat and herbs don’t handle extended or high-pressure cooking well. If you like, you can make your broth in the instant pot though, in advance.
P says
Yum! For a more complex and traditional flavor, I recommend charring the onion and ginger over an open flame before halving and putting in the pot. Thanks!
Jenny says
Definitely! When you have the time to make the true, long-simmered broth brimming with spice and charred ginger and onions it’s incredible.