Why you are cooking this tonight
Pho is Vietnam’s gift to the planet and one of the most pleasurable bowls of food you will ever put in front of a guest. Long-simmered beef bone broth, rice noodles, barely-cooked slices of beef, a pile of herbs, a hit of lime, a splash of hoisin if you’re into that sort of thing. It is restorative in a way very few other dishes are.
It has a reputation for being a pain to make at home, which is half-true. The broth takes time (4 hours), but it is completely hands-off once it is simmering. You set it going before lunch, read a book, go for a walk, come back at 5pm and build bowls in 8 minutes. It is in fact one of the easiest weekend dinner parties you can host for 6 people.
The spice blend is everything. Char your onion and ginger, toast your whole spices, and rinse your bones. Those three steps separate muddy boring pho from clear perfumed pho. Skip them and you might as well open a can of beef stock.
What you need
For the broth:
2 kg beef marrow bones and knuckle bones. From a butcher, not the pre-packaged supermarket bags. Ask for a mix. About $15. 1 kg oxtail (optional but recommended). Adds body. 1 large brown onion, unpeeled, halved. 1 large knob of ginger (about 100 g), unpeeled, halved lengthwise. 3 star anise. 1 tablespoon coriander seeds. 1 tablespoon fennel seeds. 2 cinnamon sticks. 6 cloves. 2 black cardamom pods (optional, adds smokiness). 4 L cold water. 3 tablespoons fish sauce (Three Crabs, Red Boat, or similar). 2 tablespoons rock sugar (or brown sugar). 1 tablespoon sea salt.
For the bowls (per person):
150 to 180 g dried flat rice noodles (banh pho), or 250 g fresh rice noodles if you can find them at an Asian grocer. Not pad thai noodles, not egg noodles. 100 g eye fillet or scotch fillet beef, very thinly sliced (freezer for 20 minutes first makes slicing easier, a razor sharp knife essential). Handful of bean sprouts (blanched briefly if you are cautious, raw is traditional). Handful fresh Thai basil (or regular basil if Thai basil isn’t around). Handful fresh coriander leaves. 2 spring onions, finely sliced. 1 long red chilli, sliced. Lime wedges. Hoisin sauce and sriracha on the side for people to add at the table.
How to cook it
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Char the onion and ginger. Over a gas flame (tongs, directly), or on a very hot dry cast iron pan, blacken the halved onion and ginger on all sides. You want visible black, not brown. 5 to 8 minutes. This is what gives pho its signature dark broth and sweet smoky note.
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Toast the spices. In a dry pan over medium heat, toast the star anise, coriander, fennel, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant. They should smell like a spice shop. Tip into a spice bag, a muslin cloth, or an open tea infuser.
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Blanch the bones. Put all the bones into a stockpot, cover with cold water, bring to a rolling boil. Boil hard for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones under cold water, scrubbing any scum off. Clean the pot. This is the step that gives you clear broth. Do not skip it. Do not apologise to the bones.
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Build the broth. Put the clean bones back in the clean pot. Add the charred onion and ginger, the spice bag, and cover with 4 L cold water. Bring to a gentle simmer (not boil), skimming any foam that surfaces.
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Simmer, lid off or ajar, 3 to 4 hours. Top up with a little water if it reduces below the bones. The broth should stay at a whisper-simmer, small bubbles around the edges. Boiling hard will muddy it.
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Season. In the last 30 minutes, add the fish sauce, rock sugar, and salt. Taste. It should be savoury, slightly sweet, rich, with the star anise and cinnamon singing. Add more fish sauce or salt as needed.
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Strain. Line a fine sieve with cheesecloth or paper towel over a clean pot. Pour the broth through. Discard the bones, onion, ginger, spice bag. You will have about 3 L of clear, perfumed broth. Keep hot.
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Cook the noodles. Just before serving, boil the dried rice noodles in a separate pot for 5 to 7 minutes (check your packet). They should be tender, not mushy. Drain. If using fresh, rinse under hot water for 30 seconds.
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Slice the beef very thin. Frozen partially (20 min in the freezer) is easier. A sharp knife, paper-thin slices against the grain. You want the hot broth to cook it on contact.
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Build the bowls, fast.
- A fistful of noodles at the bottom.
- Layer of sliced raw beef on top.
- Pour boiling hot broth over (it cooks the beef in 30 seconds).
- Sprinkle spring onions.
- Serve with a plate of bean sprouts, herbs, chilli, lime, hoisin, sriracha on the side.
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Serve immediately. Guests build their own bowls: tear herbs, squeeze lime, add chilli, hoisin, sriracha to taste.
What to pour with it
Four Pillars Rare Dry Gin
G&T with extra lime. The Australian botanicals love star-anise broth.
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Fever-Tree Premium Ginger Beer
Cold ginger beer alongside if it's a hot bowl on a hot day.
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Two things that go wrong
Muddy, cloudy broth. You skipped the blanch, or you let it boil hard. Blanch the bones for 5 minutes first, scrub them, and keep the simmer gentle. Boiling emulsifies fat into the broth, which is what makes it murky.
Flat, flavourless broth. You under-salted, or you skipped the char on the onion and ginger. Pho broth needs a proper three-layer salty base (fish sauce + salt + sweetness of sugar) and the char on the alliums is flavour gold. Go back and adjust if you have time before serving.
Variations worth knowing
- Pho ga (chicken pho)Swap beef bones and oxtail for a whole chicken plus chicken wings. Simmer 90 minutes instead of 4 hours. Shred the meat, lay on top of noodles, pour over hot broth. Lighter, quicker, equally good on a Sunday night.
- Pho chay (vegetarian pho)Replace bones with charred daikon, kombu, dried shiitake, roasted carrots, and a piece of star fruit. Simmer 90 minutes. Same spice profile. Top with tofu or a fried egg. Genuinely excellent, not just a consolation prize.
- Pressure cooker phoIf you have a pressure cooker or Instant Pot, you can get a pretty good pho broth in 90 minutes instead of 4 hours. Not quite as clear or deep, but solid for a weeknight.
Leftover plan
Broth freezes beautifully for three months in labelled containers. Reheat, rebuild a bowl with fresh noodles, beef, herbs. Cold leftover rice noodles plus raw beef plus a splash of leftover broth makes an excellent next-day salad. Stir in lime, fish sauce, chilli, and a handful of herbs.