Phở Bὸ (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
- 4 lbs beef bones
- 14oz raw beef loin strip - thinly sliced
- 18oz rice noodles
- 1oz ginger - grilled
- 1 large onion - grilled
- 5 shallots - grilled
- 1 stick star anise (6cm length)
- cilantro - sliced
- 1 medium onion - sliced
- red chilies - sliced
- 3 pieces sliced lemon
- lime wedges
- mint leaf
- basil leaf
- culantro (ngo gai)
- 2 Tbs scallion - julienned
- bean sprouts
- 1 small cup yellow bean sauce
- chili sauce
- 1 Tbs fish sauce
- 4 cardamom seeds
- 10g (1/3 oz) coriander seeds
- 10g cinnamon stick
- 10g cloves
- 2 Tbs chicken bouillon powder
- 3 Tbs sugar
- ground black pepper
- 2 Tbs salt
In a dry pan on low heat, stir-fry star anise, cardamom seeds, and cinnamon stick until fragrant. Turn off heat and add coriander seeds and cloves. Stir and put into a small cloth bag. Grill onion, shallots, and ginger until juice runs out to release the pungency. Then wash them. Wash and drain bean sprouts.
Blanch beef bones in simmering water and 1 Tbs salt to clean them and to remove blood from the marrow. Discard water and transfer bones to a new pan in 6 quarts of simmering water with a little salt. Add grilled onion, shallot, and ginger and simmer for 5 hours.
Put cloth bag with spices into boiling broth. Season with salt, sugar, and chicken bouillon. Continue to boil for another hour.
Quickly blanch the rice noodles and bean sprouts and place in bowl. Top with sliced beef loin strips, sliced onion, and cilantro. Pour the boiling stock into bowl and sprinkle with pepper. By this time the raw beef should be medium cooked. Serve with chilies, yellow bean sauce, sliced red chilies, lime wedges, mint, basil, culantro, and cilantro.
Recipe from Mai Home (Saigon Culinary Art Center) 269 Bis Nguyen Trai Street District 1 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Tel: (84-8) 3838 6037 5433 Fax: (84-8) 3837 8782 Hotline: (84) (0) 908 184 448 email: sgncookeryart@vnn.vn or sgncookeryart@gmail.com