Pho Bo recipe (Vietnamese Cooking Series)

Pho is the quintessential soup of Vietnam and probably one of the most recognized dishes of the country internationally. Pho is a beef noodle soup consisting of aromatic beef bone broth, rice noodles, herbs and meat, typically beef (Pho Bo) but sometimes substituted by chicken (Pho Ga), prawns (Pho Tom) or other proteins. It is a really comforting recipe that, despite being based on a flavourful broth, it does not feel heavy or greasy. This Pho Bo recipe has all the tricks to reach this goal!

I learned how to cook this dish in the Vietnamese city of Hoi An, in a Vietnamese cooking class organized by Red Bridge Cooking School. If you want to have a look at my overall experience in this cooking school, have a look at my full review of Red Bridge.

Ingredients for Pho Bo recipe (for 4 people)

For the broth

1 kg of beef bones (typically neck, tail and shank with the marrow)

3 liters of water

1 piece of ginger

2 pieces of star anise

2 sticks of cinnamon

2 lemongrass stalks

1 whole white onion

1 black cardamom

1 shallot

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of sugar (rock sugar preferred)

For the pickle

1 cup of white vinegar

3 cloves of garlic (peeled)

3 shallots (peeled)

1 red chilli

1 green chilli

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of sugar

Fried shallots

1 cup of vegetable oil

1/2 cup of finely sliced shallot

For the noodles

*You can also buy them at the store (dry) and let them soak in warm water and drain them before adding the broth.

4 cups of white rice

1 pinch of salt

1 bamboo or kebab stick

For serving

Spring onions

Bean sprouts

Asian basil

Sawtooth coriander

Vietnamese celery

Lime

300 grams of finely sliced beef filet

Preparation

• Add water on a larg stockpot and bring to boil.
• Grill beef bones to reduce fat for about 4 minutes and add to stock (*Tip: after grilling the bones, add them to a separate pot with boiling water and leave them there for a few minutes to reduce the biggest chunks of fat. This will make the broth much clearer.)

• Grill the remaining ingredients for the broth for around two minutes and add to stock (*Tip: add the spices in a cloth bag to make them easier to remove when the broth is ready).

• Simmer lightly for minimum 1h (ideally overnight) skimming off any fat on the top.

• Meanwhile, prepare pickle by adding vinegar to a small bowl and adding the other ingredients finely cut. Let sit.
• Add the sliced shallot and oil (cold) into a pot. Deep fry, stirring with chopsticks, until golden brown. Drain well and set aside. Keep oil for later.
• Wash the rice in fresh water for 7 hours, changing the water at least 3 times. Drain the last water and mix one cup of the rice and one cup of water and a pinch of salt. Place in a blender and blend for 7 minutes and leave for one hour.
• Cover a pot of boiling water with a sheet of thin white cotton cloth and secure it with an elastic band. Using a big soup spoon, scoop out the rice batter and pour onto the cloth. Use the bottom of the spoon to spread the batter to form a circle. Steam the batter for 1 minute, then use the bamboo stick to lift the rice batter from the cotton. Repeat until batter is finished.

• After cooling for 1 minute, cut the rice paper in 1cm-thick noodles and place in a soup bowl.
• Place the noodles, bean shoots ans spring onions in a soup bowl with a few slices of raw beef. Cover with boiling stock and some fried shallots and drizzle with shallot oil.

• Add herbs, pickle and lime juice to taste.

Closing statement

And that’s it! I know, I know… it is not an easy recipe, but is also not difficult. All you need for this Pho Bo recipe is some time, nice ingredients and practice with making the noodles (this is the only tricky part). Until you excel at that, you can always use store bought rice noodles and you will be fine. I hope you like this delicious staple of Vietnamese cuisine and use it to warm yourself and your family and friends up during winter.

If you enjoyed this, you will probably also like:

Grilled Chicken and Banana Blossom Salad recipe (Vietnamese Cooking Series)

Thai food: Pad Thai

Hoi An food guide: 7 must-eat dishes in Hoi An → 10 Must-Try Hoi An Restaurants

Vietnamese Cooking Class in Hoi An with Red Bridge

PIN ME: