Pho bo: beef noodle soup

(serves 8-10, makes approx 5L of broth)

Recipe adapted from: Viet World Kitchen

Pho bo is this amazingly aromatic tasty beef broth soup that is served for breakfast, lunch or dinner in Vietnam - just a local staple really. It's the type of dish that a restaurant specialises in and that's pretty much all they serve up, it's quick, efficient and perfected! 

Great winter comfort food though we were eating in 30˚C weather in Hanoi...

I have been meaning to try to practice and perfect it ever since returning from our honeymoon where we had a cooking class and learnt the basics. 

Honeymooning: cooking class in Hoi an, Vietnam

I guess the tricky thing is that every region has their own variation and this is one of those dishes that you can definitely tell if you skip out on the details . So after much research and reading from Steamy Kitchen, Inspired Taste and The Food Lab@Serious Eats I felt ready to give it another go with the right meat/bones, sugar, fish sauce, condiments and handy little tips! A bit more love and attention goes a long way with pho! I have to say I was pretty happy with the final product, was totally legit! :D

Prep time: 45-60min

Cooking time: 4-10 hours (up to you, the longer the tastier!)

Ingredients:
1kg Beef shin

Getting the right cuts of meat (mix of bone, marrow, meat)
and the right fish sauce and type of sugar made a big difference!

0.5kg Oxtail
1 kg Chuck steak
2 onions
2x 5cm piece of ginger (skin on)
1 T fennel seeds
1 T coriander seeds
1 cardamon pod
6 cloves
6 star anise
3 cinnamon stick
1/4- 1/2 C fish sauce
1 inch piece of yellow rock sugar + a little extra

To serve:
300-400g flank steak (raw)
2kg thin fresh rice noodles
1 brown onion
2 stems of shallots
10-15 sprigs fresh Thai basil
10-15  sprigs fresh peppermint
200-300g bean sprouts
10-15  sprigs coriander (optional)
2 lemons or limes, cut into wedges
hoisin sauce
chilli sauce

Special equipment; 8-10 Litre pot, mesh bag for spices (optional)

Method
1. Char-grill the onions and ginger by putting under the grill for 20 minutes or over a flame for a few minutes. Remove the burnt bits, and give the ginger a quick smash to help with releasing the flavour. 

2. Roast the spices for a few minutes and place in a mesh bag if you have one.

3. Par-boil the meat, by boiling the meat for 3-5 minutes, then draining the bones and the scum that comes out. Clean the pot, then add the bones back in with 5-6L boiling water. 

Boil bones only (top right), then drain (left), clean the pot and add in the meat with the bones (bottom right)

Simmer and add the charred onions, ginger and the toasted spices into the broth. Simmer uncovered for 2 hours. Add the fish sauce and rock sugar and season to taste with both.

Time: 1.5hrs 

Optional: You can remove half of the chuck steak and place in cold water for 10 minutes before draining and refrigerating so you can serve later. This meat is chewy but firm however I found that the meat that was simmered for the whole time was softer and tastier, but this might be a personal preference!

4. Continue to simmer for another 2 hours. 
NB. It should reduce somewhat. If you want to keep simmering for longer to enhance the flavour and depth of the broth, then you can continue to simmer for 8-10 hours but you may need to top up with approx 1.5L of water.

Time: 9hrs - reduced by almost half! (left), then top-up with 1.5L of water (top right) and
simmer for another 2-3 hours before removing all the bones and marrow (bottom right)

To serve:
5. Cut the flank steak across the grain into thin 1mm slices. It may help to freeze it slightly for 15min to harden the meat to make it easier to slice.
6. Place the fresh rice noodles in a sieve and pour hot water over it to loosen.

7. Thinly slice the shallot and onion.
8. Prepare the condiments by placing the basil, mint, coriander, bean sprouts and lemon/lime wedges on a plate.

9. Prepare the bowls by putting some shredded chuck steak (that was in the broth - can reheat this in the broth first), topped with the cooked rice noodles (approx 200g), 8-10 slices of shredded flank steak, sprinkle of the shallot and onion. 

10. Bring the soup to the boil then spoon about 400-500mL of soup into each bowl!
NB. The soup MUST be boiling otherwise the meat won't cook and the dish will go cold too quickly!

Quickly toss to combine to cook the meat, then season with herbs and lemon as desired!

You can also serve with hoisin and chilli sauce, but after spending all this time perfecting the broth it seems a bit of a waste so I would recommend not letting the sauces near the table! :)