The cold season calls for comforting soup and Pho Bo is especially good this time of year.
This is how I make Beef Pho nowadays, it’s quicker and much more doable with small children. I recommend doing a mixture of different type of bones and meats, some that doesn’t require simmering the whole day. You can certainly let your pot slow cook all day if you like but not necessarily if you don’t have the time. Keep in mind that you broth will continue to built up in flavor even with residual heat after you turn off the stove. I can assure you it will still taste delicious and flavorful.
I like to use chicken bones, beef bone marrow, beef rib bones and fatty brisket. Chicken bones will produce a sweet and flavorful broth with the shortest amount of time. Remember your broth will get better with time, even with residual heat. That’s all to it, I will link to my Instagram post for a short form video. I hope you find this recipe and my tips helpful!
Base on a 12 quart pot**
5-6 lbs of beef marrow bones
2-3 chicken carcasses ( can use drumsticks instead)
fatty brisket
3-4 tendons (optional)
beef balls (optional)
1 large whole ginger smashed and roasted
4-5 shallots or 2 yellow onion roasted until charred
2 cinnamon sticks
4-5 star anise
1/4 cup of salt
3-4 quarter size chunk of rock or palm sugar
1/4 cup of mushroom seasoning
MSG to taste
Fish sauce to taste
1. Parboil all your bones, tendons, and fatty brisket with plenty of salt. Rinse well after with cold water. After par boiling rinse everything with cold water and I do another rub down with salt.
2. Add bones, tendons, and fatty brisket, roasted shallots/onions, and roasted ginger to the pot. Fill pot up with water and let it come to a boil.
3. As it’s coming to a boil, remove impurities as necessary.
4. Turn down the heat to low-medium and then add salt, rock or palm sugar, and mushroom seasoning.
5. Let pot simmer with the lid slightly on. This will retain moisture and also help you cook the brisket through.
6. Chicken will cook the fastest and I will remove that first. You can add more water to make up the loss volume. Adjust seasoning as necessary. There will also be a lot of fat rendered, remove as you like. Add toasted pho spices.
7. Continue to let the pot cook until brisket is and tendons is tender to your liking (2-3 hours). Removed from pot once tender. Shock the brisket in iced water. It’s best to sliced your brisket and tendon when it’s completely cooled. Add beef meatballs at this point.
8. Leave the the pot with the remaining beef bones on the lowest setting with the lid on for as long as you like to build on the flavor. You can eat the pho at this point, the broth will just get better with time. If you are cooking this at night . I would just turn off the heat with the lid on, the pot will continue to simmer with the residual heat.
9. For sliced beef, I use eye round and sliced as thin as you can. You can also beat your sliced meat with the back of a heavy knife to help tenderize
10. Assemble your bowl with all the meats and garnishes, enjoy!
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