This beloved Vietnamese soup is made by slow simmering bones to create a rich and deeply flavored broth that is served with rice noodles and various toppings. This version speeds up the process by roasting beef shanks, onions, ginger and garlic until charred and then combining them with store-bought beef broth. In addition to the meat from the shanks, roast beef is added at the end, making for an incredibly satisfying meal.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 15 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 2 hr |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 beef shanks with meat on them (about 2 1/4 pounds total)
- 3 large yellow onions, halved
- 1 6-inch piece ginger, halved lengthwise
- 1 head garlic, halved crosswise
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Kosher salt
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 4 star anise pods
- 3 tablespoons black peppercorns
- 3 quarts low-sodium beef broth
- 1/3 cup fish sauce
- 1 pound flat rice noodles
- 8 ounces deli-sliced roast beef, torn into pieces
- 4 cups bean sprouts
- 1 large bunch Thai basil or mint, leaves torn
- 2 jalapeno peppers (red and/or green), thinly sliced
- 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
- Hoisin sauce and/or Sriracha (Asian chile sauce), for serving
Instructions
- Make the broth: Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F. Toss the beef shanks, onions, ginger and garlic with the vegetable oil on a rimmed baking sheet and season generously with salt. Roast, turning once halfway through, until the meat and vegetables are slightly charred, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a large pot.
- Meanwhile, toast the cinnamon sticks, star anise pods and peppercorns in a small skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan, 5 minutes.
- Add the beef broth, 2 quarts water, the toasted spices and the fish sauce to the pot with the beef shanks. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook, skimming off any foam that rises to the top, until the meat is tender, 1 hour to 1 hour, 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer the beef shanks to a cutting board; strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve into another large pot. (The broth can be made up to 2 days ahead; let cool, then refrigerate in a covered container.)
- Shred the meat from the shanks with two forks, discarding any bits of cartilage, then stir back into the broth. Discard the bones.
- Cook the noodles as the label directs. Divide the broth and shredded meat among bowls, then add the noodles and roast beef. Top with the bean sprouts, basil, jalapenos and red onion; serve with hoisin sauce and/or Sriracha.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 716 |
| Total Fat | 15 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Carbohydrates | 91 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 52 g |
| Cholesterol | 73 mg |
| Sodium | 2534 mg |
Reviews
love making this! It’s an amazing dish!
I use this recipe when I have leftover ribeye bone-in steaks in place of the shanks, and deli roast beef, rare. My leftovers are almost just as good as with the shanks! Everything else I do as directed, except I may change the noodles, depends on what’s in my pantry. It’s a keeper, no matter what!
Made it as the recipe stated except I used soup bone from a side of beef we had in the deep freeze. The entire family loved it from our 6 year old up to our 18 year old. This is now a family favorite!!!!!!
this was delicious. I used oxtail as others said and only 2 star anise pods. It was a hit with my family
Made it with oxtail instead-yum!
Might want to dial back the anise just a bit, but a great recipe and dish appreciated by all ages.
For something that usually is going to take 14+ hours and this took 2, I was very impressed and happy with it.
Awesome! This was SO easy slow cooker style. I tossed in like 3 star anise pods, I had one shank, I had some homemade beef broth and beef tallow, I put in some cinnamon sticks, and I added dried Japanese peppers. We didn’t have fish sauce at home or the ginger, so it was missing that fish sauce flavor for sure, but I put everything in the crock pot in the morning, added a little brown sugar after it had cooked for a few hours, let it simmer another hour or two. Then we used store bought pho noodles and some leftover roast beef. We added scallions and finely chopped carrots on top. It was super good! Obviously you can top it however you want it. The broth was just amazing! After seeing people make pho broth on DDD, I honestly never thought it was something I could do at home, but it is so easy in a crock pot! Toss it all in and go. Great easy meal!
I was up for a challenge and made this dish and it was amazing. I substituted the shanks for ox tail and used both Sriracha and Hoisin. The hoisin did it for me. All in all great recipe.
Needs some rare beef, tripe, livers and tendons