Pho is one of those dishes that can be a little scary for people who have never tried it before. It’s a recipe that takes a lot of time and ingredients, and it’s easy to get rid of.
But if you have a good recipe to follow, friends, there really is no limit to what you can produce in the kitchen. Executive chief of Star Sydney’s Fat Noodle, Luke Nguyen, made our Lifehacker Australia reader a solid here and shared a pretty damn impressive recipe for Beef Pho, even just in time for National Noodle Month!
See it below.
Angus Beef Sirloin and Brisket Fat Pho Recipe
What you need:
- 1 kg of oxtail (ask your butcher to cut it into 3 cm pieces)
- 1 kg beef bones
- 4 tablespoons salt
- 1 uncooked garlic
- 4 large unpolished onions
- 150 g unpeeled ginger
- 2 kg beef breast
- 185 ml (3/4 cup) fish sauce
- 80 g Rock Zocker
- 1.6 kg of fresh rice noodles (you need about 200 g per person)
- 400 g sliced sirloin, thinly sliced
- 4 Breakfast Onions (Scalions), sliced
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Coriander (Cilantro) Springer
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 1 bunch Asian basil
- 2 Villercher chili, sliced
- 1 lemon, cut into slices
Ingredients for the spice bag:
- ½ tablespoon coriander seeds
- ½ tablespoon Sichuan Pepper
- ½ tablespoon cumin
- ½ tablespoon fennel seeds
- 8 whole cloves
- 5 whole star anise
- 2 Cassia bark or cinnamon, about 10 cm long
- 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
- 40 cm square piece of muslin fabric
How do I make Angus Beef Sirloin and Brisket Fat Pho:
- In a large pot, soak the oxtail in cold water, add 3 tablespoons of salt and leave for 1 hour, then drain.
- To make the spice bag, dry bread each ingredient separately in a frying pan over medium heat until fragrant. Cool, then grind thoroughly with a mortar and pestle or small spice grinder. Add the ground spices to the muslin square and inside tightly in a knot. Lay on the side.
- Heat a barbecue grill or chargrill pan over medium heat and grill the unpeeled onion, onion and ginger evenly for 15 minutes in total until all sides are black. Now peel the black skins and discard them, then chop coarsely. This makes the garlic, onion and ginger sweet and fragrant, and adds more flavor to the stock.
- Put the oxtail, beef shanks, breasts and 6 liters of cold water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. While the broth is cooking, remove all toxins from the surface for 15 minutes (this guarantees a clean, clear broth), then reduce the heat to a simmer. Add the fish sauce, the remaining 1 tablespoon salt, rock sugar, garlic, onions and ginger.
- Cover and simmer for 2 hours. Remove the beef brisket, cover, allow to cool, then refrigerate.
- Cook the broth for another 4 hours, then add the spice bag and simmer for another 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, cut the beef into thin pieces. Blanch each serving of pasta in boiling water for 20 seconds. Drain, then transfer to a serving bowl. Put three or four slices of brisket on the pasta, followed by three or four pieces of red sirloin. Pour over the hot broth to cover the pasta and beef.
- Garnish with a tablespoon of spring onion, a pinch of black pepper and a cilantro sprig in each bowl. Add to the table chili, bean sprouts, basil and a squeezing lime.
Now you’ve got yourself beef and breast pho for days! It’s the perfect way to celebrate the rest of the pasta month (or every month for that matter).
If you decide to try this fancy pants recipe for Beef Pho, let us know how you like it! We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
When you are done, you can also check out these pasta recipes by MasterChef Reynold Poernomo.
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