Vietnamese Beef Pho

It was fabulous and so easy, I’ve already shared it with others !

Wow! What a tasty soup! We loved it!

Absolutely delicious and healthy, too!

I spent part of my childhood in Bangkok, Thailand. This comes close to the soups that you could purchase from the street vendors! I used regular beef broth in this batch which I think lacked complexity, but was still pretty tasty. I’m about to try my hand at homemade bone broth, so I’ll give it another try once I can make it with that.

It was amazing! Me and my daughter enjoyed making it together. However, we made some minor changes, including adding Fish flakes. We also noticed that while they did include fish sauce in their ingredients, they didn’t include it in their directions, also most pho places add cilantro to their pho, and that would’ve tasted good. But overall, I really enjoyed making this recipe and plan to make it many more times in the very near future.

Needed more seasoning,.

Ok I love Pho. I love all the different tastes that dance in my mouth when eating eat. Most of all I love the broth and just the broth. This is a great broth to just heat up and drink. It’s mild and sweet with a little bit of heat if you add a few drops of siracha to it when you heat it up. I also put the onion and spices in a spice bag. I also love that you can adjust the slices to meet your tastebuds. I love even more that this Pho takes no time at all and even tho it doesn’t use beef bones it’s still a great recipe. Thanks for sharing.

I used Harvest brand Vietnamese PHO Beef Broth Mix. Eliminated the lemon grass and a few of the spices. My son-in-law who is vietnamese, said that it was very close to the kind he is used to. Appreciate the recipe as it gave me something to start with.

Tastes great.

just add star anise! 🙂

A good pho proxy for when you don’t have time to make the real stuff. Broth tastes like pho until you have it with the herbs–then it becomes clear that the broth is thin tasting because it loses out to the taste of the basil and cilantro. Still the real stuff takes hours and hours to make, so this is good if you want a quick dinner after work.

I agree with the criticisms about the missing Star anise; if you want an exotic flavor try a few Kafir lime leaves rather than lemon grass. Also the noodles after soaking need to be placed in boiling salted water for about 30 seconds rather than go directly from soaking to the bowl.

The better broth you make the better the soup will be.

Tasted just like the beef pho from Pho Hana in California. My husband and just loved it. Yes it may not taste like the original Pho but it’s a great alternative.

I was extremely happy with this recipe. I tried a variation, using chicken broth and cooking thinly sliced chicken during the last 10 minutes before serving. Everybody loved the meal.

This is Not Pho

When I make Vietnamese soup, I only put in this: Chinese Special Spice (in a clear bag with a steaming bowl and chopsticks rendered). Called: ~ Gia Vi Nau Plu~ The ingredient list of spices on the bag are: Star Anise, Fennel, Corriander, Cinnamon, Sugar Cloves. Made by: Thanh Lqi Corp. Santa Ana, California. Made in USA. If I’m using a package or container of purchased soup I don’t add salt. If homemade, I do add Sea Salt. I only use Rice Noodles with this. I purchase this bag of spice at the local Asian Market. How I got the information of this spice was a friend and I had basically spent all our outings starting with Vietnamese soup and Vietnamese Coffee. Without my knowledge, starting with the first time we went, my friend slowly starting questioning the making of the soup, giving it high praise, and ‘notice how often we’re here”. About 6 months went by, and the owner gave in and told my friend of the spice. We thanked him profusely, bought it, and it was perfect. The exact same aroma and taste. Note: We did not abandon our favorite Vietnamese Resturant and the kind, kind owner. We just have it always.

I thought this was the perfect way to make Pho at home without making stock from scratch. I did add star anise becuse I love that flavor in Pho. Easy too!!

Other comments are right that this recipe is missing a whole lot of authentic ingredients. It tastes okay as is (I made a small batch just to test), but it’s not the same. Here’s a few tweaks to make it more authentic: 1. Use beef STOCK instead of BROTH, if you can. Broth is beef stock with added vegetable stock and herbs. Pho is made from straight stock. 2. Add the following spices along with the peppercorns and cinnamon: 5 Star Anise (regular anise works as well. Both contain anethole, which is what gives it its flavor) and 5 whole cloves. 3. Other recommended spices you might add are: 1 cardamom pod, 1 tsp coriander or cilantro, dash of nutmeg, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 bay leaf. 4. Put your spices in a mesh bag or one of those reusable mesh balls used for loose tea, to make it easier to remove. 5. Many recipes recommend using shallots, a small, mild sort of onion with a somewhat garlicky flavor. Char them in the broiler first (about 10-15 mins, turning once), or on a grill, and then boil them along with the spice mesh. 6. Garnish with chopped scallions if you have some available. One last note: Lemon grass is very hard to find if you don’t have an Asian grocer nearby. I checked 3 grocery stores and none of them carried it. I substituted with a few dashes of dried lemon peel I found in the spice section. Seemed to work okay.

I have tried this a few times and find that the canned beef broth works the best. Homemade or the cubes just don’t cut it. I usually serve with fresh spring rolls so half a serving is enough

I made this version of Pho for my husband because I did not have the ingredients for a more traditional version. I put out a platter with Cilantro, green onions, Limes, bean sprouts, mushrooms, jalepinos and onions then set the table with Sriancha, fish sauce, and soy sauce. He loved this and wants it again soon!