We are very lucky to live so close to a couple of wonderful Vietnamese restaurants in a city that LOVES street food. So it’s no wonder we love Phở. It’s the Vietnamese version of Chicken soup. While we love going to our favorite place and we aren’t going to stop going I wanted to try my hand at it.
After some trial and error I ended up here with what I’m going to say is a good substitute. I’m not a Vietnamese grandmother nor do I have one to teach me (but if you have one willing to show me the error in my ways please leave a message in the comments… I’m serious and am willing to travel). It is pretty close to what we get at our favorite place and I suppose I know at least one issue. I couldn’t find yellow rock sugar, so I used turbinado. It’s close but not quite right.
Anyways, I love Phở when its hot, cold, rainy, or sunny so having a homemade version is a dream come true. Before we get into details I do want to take a minute to give a couple things I learned along the way. First, use one marrow bone. More, and the broth gets too greasy, less and it will be bland. Next, parboil the bones, it removes the impurities and residual blood, bone meal and fat. Char the onion and ginger. And finally, remember to toast all your spices.
Phở (about 6 large bowls)
- 3 lbs neck bones
- 1 marrow bone
- 1 1/2 large onion
- 1 4 inch piece ginger
- 5-6 quarts water
- 2 lb Sirloin or brisket (divided use)
- 5 star anise (40 star points total)
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 3-inch cinnamon sticks (I used 3 because one had the hard outerbark still attached)
- 1 Tablespoon whole fennel
- 2 Tablespoons Szechuan peppercorns
- 3 Cardamom pods
- 1 Tablespoon allspice berries
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- cheesecloth
- Rice noodles (rice vermicelli)
- bean sprouts
- basil
- cilantro
- jalapenos
- hoisin sauce
- Sriracha
Preheat the broiler. On the broiler pan (or a large cookie sheet), place the ginger (with skin), and onions (I cut mine in half. Broil until charred and fragrant (about 10 minutes). Turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Toast your spices until fragrant (DO NOT OVERCOOK they will scorch and taste bad). Allow ginger, onion and spices to cool completely before using.
While waiting for the aromatics to cool, par boil all the bones. Cover the bones with water in a large stock pot (about 2 inches over the bones). Bring to a boil and let go for 3 minutes. Drain all the water AND WASH THE POT well. Put the bones back in the pot and fill the pot with 5-6 quarts water. Add 1 lb meat.
Remove the skin off of the onion and ginger and slice each into large pieces. Add ginger and onion to the pot. Make a small bag with the cheese cloth. Put all the spices into the bag and tie it shut with some kitchen twine, leave enough extra twine to attach the bag to one of the handles so it stays towards the top of the pot. Add the spices and fish sauce to the pot and heat to a simmer. Allow the soup to slowly simmer for 2 hours. Run the stock through a fine sieve before serving.
In a large bowl add the prepared rice noodles (soaked 1 hr and boiled 2-3 minutes), thinly sliced meat, jalapenos and bean sprouts. Ladle the hot (it should still be simmering hot) broth over the ingredients in the bowl. Allow the broth to cook the meat for about 1 minute before eating. *Note if you do not like rare meat you can allow the broth longer to cook the meat or serve the soup with the meat used to make the broth.
