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Our Family’s Favorite Beef Pho Recipe: A Bowl of Vietnamese Comfort

Beef pho is the most iconic dish in Vietnamese cuisine, and it’s usually the first dish people try when they begin exploring Vietnamese food. My family can’t get enough of it! I make it at least once a month, but honestly, my kids could eat it every day if I made it more often. Over the years, I’ve perfected my broth recipe with just the right mix of ingredients, and I’m excited to share it with you!

How Do I Pronounce Pho?

It’s not pronounced like “foe.” Instead, think fuh, as in the start of the word “fun,” but with a soft “uh” sound at the end.

Building the Perfect Broth

In my opinion, the best bones for a rich pho broth are a combination of beef neck bones, bone marrow, and brisket. Once the broth is done, I put the cooked brisket in an ice water bath to keep it from darkening, then thinly slice it to add to each bowl. For variety, you can also use thinly sliced raw beef round or filet mignon, adding it to the bowl raw and letting the hot broth cook it. In our household, we love serving pho with slices of brisket and beef balls (BMC Bangkok brand is my favorite).

Tips for a Clear, Flavorful Broth

A clear, aromatic broth is the heart of pho. Start by parboiling the bones to remove impurities, then rinse them and transfer to a clean pot. This extra step keeps your broth beautifully clear. Skim the broth frequently, and keep it at a gentle simmer. A hard boil will make the broth cloudy and can result in an overly gelatinous texture when refrigerated.

It’s important to parboil your bones then rinse and clean the bones so the broth is nice and clear.
Charbroiling the onions and ginger gives the broth a nice hint of smokey flavor.
Skimming the scum allows the pho broth to be nice and clear, which people measure how good a pho is on how clear the broth is. 😉

To add natural sweetness and depth, I like to include carrots and daikon near the end. And here’s a pro tip: don’t add the spices at the beginning—add them in the last hour of cooking to keep their flavors vibrant and aromatic.

Lightly toast the pho spices: star anise, coriander, fennel seeds, nutmeg, cardamom pods and cinnamon sticks.

Cooking Method

  1. Bring the broth to a boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer for about three hours, skimming regularly.
  2. After three hours, strain the broth, then add carrots, daikon, and spices, and simmer for another hour.

A 24-quart pot works well for this recipe, yielding about 15 bowls. If that’s too much, don’t worry—the broth freezes beautifully. In our family of five, though, it usually doesn’t last long; we enjoy it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

Serving Suggestions

For the perfect bowl, garnish with chopped cilantro, green onions, and thin slices of yellow onion along with basil, a squeeze of lime, and fresh culantro (Mexican cilantro) if you can find it. It’s a big faux pas to add hoisin sauce directly to the broth because if the pho broth is good you never need to enhance it with hoisin sauce. I do however prefer it on the side for dipping brisket or beef balls. (Koon Chun is my go-to hoisin brand.)

Though traditionally a breakfast dish in Vietnam, pho is pure comfort food any time of day. This recipe fills our home with the warm, aromatic flavors of Vietnam—a bowl of steamy, savory goodness we can’t get enough of!

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Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup | Pho

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By: Cindy Lam Lorimer
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 5 hours
Servings: 15 bowls
Pho is the most iconic of all Vietnamese noodle soups, renowned for its fragrant, rich broth, made with tender slices of beef brisket, served with Pho rice noodles, and garnished with fresh herbs and lime.

Ingredients 

Broth:

  • 8-10 lbs beef neck bone
  • 3-4 lbs bone marrow
  • 4 lbs beef brisket
  • 1 ginger, 3-4 inches long, charbroiled
  • 2 onions, leave intact and peel skin, charbroiled
  • 3 leeks, cut green top and toss, leave bottom half intact to use
  • ⅓ cup rock sugar
  • ½ cup kosher salt
  • ½ cup mushroom powder

Ingredients:

  • 4 1 lb bag pho noodles
  • 2 cinnamon sticks, preferably Saigon cinnamon sticks
  • handful star anise, 8-10 pieces
  • 1 heaping Tbsp fennel seeds
  • 1 heaping Tbsp whole cloves
  • 1 heaping Tbsp coriander seeds
  • 2 whole nutmegs
  • 1 heaping Tbsp black cardamom pods
  • 1 pho powder bag
  • 1 whole daikon, about 16 inches, peeled, cut into one inch pieces
  • 2 lbs carrots, peeled, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 3 bags beef balls, optional

Garnish:

  • cilantro
  • culantro
  • green onions, chopped
  • onions, sliced thinly
  • basil
  • bean sprouts
  • jalapeno peppers
  • lime

Dipping sauce with meatballs/beef:

  • sriracha
  • hoisin sauce

Instructions

Parboil Bones and Beef:

  • Parboil beef bones, bone marrow and beef brisket to remove all the impurities. Do this by using a large pot big enough to fit them all in.
  • Add water, the beef bones, bone marrow and brisket, and bring to a boil.
  • Let it boil until you see all the foam of impurities float to the top. Then remove from heat and rinse with water. This will later make the pho broth nice and clear.

Broth:

  • Place beef bones in 24 quart pot.
  • Charbroil ginger and 2 whole onions until they’re charred. Add to the pot.
  • Add leeks, rock sugar, salt and mushroom powder to pot.
  • Top pot with water. Bring it to a boil, turn heat down and let it simmer for 3 hours.
  • While the pot is simmering, prep pho noodles as per the instructions on the bag.
  • Periodically, scoop off the scum off the top of the broth, as you want your pho broth to be as clear as possible. That’s the key to a good pho!
  • After 3 hours, remove everything from the broth and discard, except for the brisket.
  • Transfer brisket to a bowl of ice cold water for 10 minutes.
  • Remove brisket from water and put in fridge for it to cool. Once cool, cut into slices (this way you can cut the brisket without it falling apart).
  • Heat up a pan, then add cinnamon sticks, star anise, fennel seeds, cloves, coriander, nutmegs, cardamom pods and dry fry it (do not add oil) for a couple of minutes until its fragrant. Do not burn the spices. If you do, then start with a new batch.
  • Put spices in a teabag or cheesecloth and add to pot.
  • Add pho teabag along with cut daikons and carrots.
  • Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and let it simmer for an hour before serving.
  • If using beef balls, add it to the pot in the last 30 minutes. Turn up heat to bring broth to a boil so the beef balls will cook thoroughly.

Bowl of Pho:

  • Place noodles in a bowl.
  • Add sliced beef brisket and pour hot broth with carrots, daikon and beef balls into your bowl.
  • Sprinkle with chopped cilantro, culantro, green onions and thin slices of onions.
  • Add basil, bean sprouts and slices of jalapeno.
  • Squeeze lime into your bowl.
  • Dip beef balls and brisket in ramekin consisting of hoisin and sriracha sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1bowl | Calories: 675kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.001g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 3959mg | Potassium: 684mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 10443IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 62mg | Iron: 4mg

Equipment

  • 24 quart pot
  • 16 quart pot

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