I love Pho and I actually enjoy making it at home. I know what's going into my broth and the cost savings are great! Here's a quick way to make Pho at home. I hope you enjoy it!
Pho Recipe
Prep Time: ~30 minutes
Total Cook Time: ~1 hour Instant Pot or Crock pot ~8 hours
If you don’t have an Asian market near you, you can get most items at your grocery store in the Asian aisle. Brands will differ so I have put links to a few items.
Please note: I make commissions for purchases made through the following links.
Equipment
Instant Pot or Crockpot
Large pot to boil the bones
Cast iron skillet/wok to char onion and ginger and cook zucchini noodles
Small pot for noodles
Ingredients
I have linked my favorite brands but if you cannot find it at the Asian grocery store and you can use any brand.
4 lbs Beef Bones can be found at most Asian grocery stores or ask your butcher if you can't find it
1 med Onion cut in half
2 tbsp Olive Oil
4 in. thumb of Ginger
10 cups of Water or Broth
1 tsp Brown Sugar
Rice Stick Noodles (fresh/refrigerated) or dried is fine.
*For low carb, use zucchini noodles (1 large zucchini/serving)
Fresh herbs to taste (Thai basil / Cilantro / Mint)
Mung bean sprouts
Lime to taste
Fresh bok choy
Thin sliced beef ribeye/flank steak/sirloin
The Broth
Put the beef bones into a large pot, and fill with water to cover. Heat to boiling and boil for 10 minutes. While this is boiling, perform steps 2 & 3.
While boiling the bones, put loose spices in the pan and lightly toast them in a skillet on your stovetop (2-3 minutes on medium-low heat). Put toasted spices into the white bag provided and close it very tightly.
Add 2 tbsp. olive oil to the instant pot, and turn it to saute. Peel and slice the ginger, and cut the onion in half, then place into the instant pot and cook until both ingredients are browned on all sides. You want to char the onion and ginger. Once done, turn off the heat and add the bagged spices from the stovetop.
Drain and briefly rinse the bones from step 1 before adding them to the instant pot. Then, add 10 cups of water to the instant pot. fish sauce and sugar. Put the lid on, seal, and set to Soup setting and cook for one hour.
Once cooked, strain the liquid to remove all solids. We generally get about three 32 oz. ball jars of soup from this, and refrigerate or freeze. The fat renders to the top, and you can then control how much fat is in your soup (we like all of it, but some folks may not). TIP: Best to eat the next day vs. day of to allow the flavors to “marinate”. Also, let the broth cool down before capping.
Preparing to Serve
Place about 2-3 cups of broth into a pot on the stovetop with enough fat (if half the jar, then half of the fat, etc) and slowly bring to a simmer.
In a separate pot for pho noodles, add water and bring water to a boil. Once boiling, add the desired number of servings of the fresh rice stick noodles to the water for 1 minute before removing from water, straining, and adding to bowls. Note: Do not boil the noodles in the broth as the flavor profile will change from the noodle starches.
If using zucchini noodles, sauteed in the pan for about 5-7 minutes with olive oil. Zucchini should be tender.
Cut the bok choy into bite-sized chunks, and lightly saute with olive oil on stovetop in a skillet or wok (or the pot you used to boil the noodles). Then add to the bowls with the noodles. TIP: Can be sauteed at the same time if using zucchini noodles.
Cut the sliced beef into bite-sized chunks, and place them into the bowls.
Pour the soup broth, which should be just below boiling, into the bowls to cook the beef.
Serve with a side plate of the herbs and mung bean sprouts.
Season with hoisin/sriracha/sambal to taste!
Or... you can just sip the broth from a mug by itself. It's really good, it's great when you have a cold or sore throat.
