Beef Pho Southern Style
Serves 10
Ingredients
3 onions, skins on
200g ginger, unpeeled
2 tablespoons fish sauce
500g dried pho noodles
150g bean sprouts
500g topside steak, thinly sliced
For the spices
10 star anise
5g cloves
3 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed, pods discarded and seeds only
1 cinnamon stick
For cleaning the meat
2 lemons, halved
5 tablespoons salt
For the broth
500g oxtail
500g beef marrow, chopped into 7cm pieces (ask the butcher to do this)
2kg beef brisket on the bone
500g beef flank
500g beef ribs
1 daikon, peeled and halved
120g salt
200g yellow rock sugar or rock sugar, crushed
To serve
200g coriander leaves
200g spring onions, chopped
200g Thai basil leaves
200g sawtooth herb (optional)
4 limes, cut into wedges
5 bird’s eye chillies, sliced
sriracha sauce, for dipping
hoisin sauce, for dipping
Beef Pho Southern Style
On an open gas flame, char the onions and ginger until the skins are blackened. If you don’t have a gas stovetop, then roast in an oven preheated to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas Mark 4 for 20–25 minutes. Remove, allow to cool enough to handle, then peel the skins off. Rinse in cold water and set aside.
Dry toast all the spices in a small frying pan for 3–5 minutes over a medium heat, until aromatic. Take the pan off the heat and leave to cool. Put the spices into a spice strainer (breaking up the cinnamon stick if necessary) and set aside.
Next, prepare the bones and meat. Squeeze the juice of the lemons into a stockpot, throw the lemon halves in and fill with plenty of cold water. Soak the oxtail, marrow, beef brisket, flank and ribs and bones in the water, then add the salt. Stir well and leave for 1 hour.
Discard the lemon halves and set the pot over a high heat and parboil the bones and meat for 5 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water and leave to dry.
Rinse the pot used for cleaning the bones and meat and fill with 8 litres of water. Add the par-boiled meat. Blast at extremely high heat for 3–4 minutes to force all the impurities to the surface, then skim off the scum until the water looks clear. Reduce the heat to low, partially cover with the lid and simmer for 3 hours.
Add the prepared onions and ginger along with the daikon to the broth along with 120g salt. Stir in the sugar, then continue to simmer for a further 2 hours. Carefully remove the daikon and onion from the broth, add the spice strainer along with the fish sauce. Cook for a further 3 hours.
Taste and adjust the seasoning to your preference. In the north of Vietnam pho is a little saltier, and in the south it is a little sweeter.
Take the pot off the heat, remove the bones and meat, and allow to cool. Skim off any fat that has risen to the surface, then carefully and slowly strain the broth through a large sieve into a clean stockpot. Don’t rush this process if you want to produce that signature clarity to the broth.
Soak the noodles in a bowl of cold water for 30–45 minutes. Drain and set aside.
For the meat, debone and tear the brisket meat into strips. Cut the flank into thin slices. If you like, tear the meat off the ribs, or serve it on the bones.
Bring a saucepan of water to the boil, then blanch the bean sprouts for 5–10 seconds and drain. Divide the bean sprouts between serving bowls.
Fill the pan with fresh water and cook the soaked noodles for 3–5 seconds, then drain and add to the bowls with the bean sprouts. Add the assortment of cooked meat, then arrange the slices of topside steak on top.
Bring the broth to the boil and ladle between bowls. Add the marrow to the bowls, or leave on the side for guests to help themselves. Finish with the herbs and serve with lime wedges and sriracha and hoisin sauces for dipping the meat.*
Finally, enjoy your first spoonful of broth… You deserve it chef!
*Do not add the sauces into the broth. Think of the hours you have spent perfecting it.