I’ve been testing a lot of phở recipes lately to try to get the perfect bone broth taste. Since there isn’t a Vietnamese restaurant in our city I have to make it if I want to eat it, which is often! I’m slowly introducing Theodore to Vietnamese flavors so he knows what good Vietnamese food tastes like. So far he loves it and this has been the easiest and best phở broth so far. This is my own recipe so you will need to test it yourself and adapt it where you see the need. If you do make this recipe please remember to tag me in your photo! I love seeing my recipes come to life! Enjoy!
Ingredients
For the Bone Broth:
- 3 Oxtails
- 3 beef marrow bones
- 1 3-inch piece of ginger cut half lengthwise
- 1 large yellow onion, peeled and cut in half
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 3-4 beef stock cubes
Spices:
- 5 whole star anise
- 1 tbs fennel
- 1 tbs black peppercorns whole
- 1 tbs coriander whole
- 1/2 stick of cinnamon
- 1 tbs whole cloves
- 1 spice bag
Noodle Assembly:
- 1 lbs dried pho rice sticks, soaked, cooked and drained
- 1/3 lb beef (sirloin or skirt steak), slightly frozen, then cut paper thin across the grain
- 1 package of asian meatballs (use as many or as little meatballs as you like)
Garnish:
- 1/2 yellow onion sliced paper thin
- 3 scallions cut into thin rings
- 1/3 cup of chopped cilantro
- 1 lb bean sprouts (optional)
- 10 sprigs Asian basil (thai basil)
- 1 lime, cut into 6 thin wedges
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
Char Ginger and Onion:
- Preheat oven broil setting to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)
- Place the sliced ginger and onion on a small roasting rack
- Put it in the oven at the highest slot
- Should take 15-20 minutes, the tops of the onion and ginger should start to turn and char
Seasonings:
- Put all the spices in a dry pan and lightly toast them, 2-3 minutes, you'll start to smell all the wonderful fragrance of the spices when they start to toast
- Transfer the toasted spices into a cloth spice bag, seal.
Bone Broth:
- You can clean the bones first by parboiling them if you want a cleaner broth, I don't do this because I like a darker broth and any impurities I can skim at the end (optional)
- Place the bones, charred ginger, charred onion seasoning bags at the bottom of your inner pot
- Add your beef stock cubes and fish sauce
- Add water to just under the max line
- Close the lid and make sure your instant pot is sealed
- Cook on High Pressure for 30 minutes letting it naturally release for another 30 minutes (do not quick release or you'll get broth everywhere, trust me I know from experience!)
Serving:
- Prepare the noodles by soaking them in cool water for at least 10minutes, cook, drain and place into your serving bowl
- Add your thinly sliced beef on top of your cooked noodles
- Add the meatballs (if they are frozen make sure to defrost them before you add them to the bowl)
- Once the instant pot is done, remove the bone marrows and spice bag, skim off any impurities you want and season to taste (adding more fish sauce if needed)
- Pour the broth on top of the thinly sliced raw beef, the heat from the broth will start to cook the beef, I like to add an oxtail into the bowl, it's not traditional but the meat falls off the bone and it's delicious. If you want a richer broth take the marrow from the bones that you've removed and add it to the broth.
- Add fresh ground black pepper and garnishes
- Serve immediately