Making Phở at Home

What is Phở

From my reading, Northern Vietnam created Phở. The word Phở (pronounced “fuh”) is Vietnamese for, what some writers think, is 1) a particular type of rice noodles or 2) a type of rice noodle soup made from a meat stock (usually beef), to which thinly sliced meat or mushrooms are added.

Around my area, when ordering “fuh,” the assumption is you are asking for Phở bò (beef broth). What you will get is a large bowl of a beef bone broth, rice noodles and toppings, including: Thai basil, bean sprouts, chopped scallions, sliced limes, and thinly sliced jalapeno peppers.

But many restaurants will ask if you want beef, or Phở ga (chicken broth).  I have been told this is often a breakfast dish in Vietnam. There is also a Phở chay (vegetarian pho) most often made with a mushroom-based broth.

Oxtail Phở

Oxtails are used in recipes from Italy, Russia, British, Asian, African, Jamaican, and Spanish cuisines. I find it is generally a meat that is braised slowly and served as part of a stew or soup. So it should not have been a surprise that phở đuôi bò (oxtail broth) existed.

Mise en Place

I have been wanting to make my own Phở so early this past Saturday morning I went to my local meat market to get some fresh (grass fed) beef knuckle bone. They only had one, frozen knuckle bone left, so I bought that and then saw they had some oxtails and took 1# of the larger sized ones. I thought, combined, they would make a good broth. (At this time I did not know that there was a history of this combination, per usual here I thought I was creating something new only to find out I was not. Sigh!)

When I got home I put most things up and kept some on the counter to be used. Then decided to brew a pot of Earl Gray tea. During all this time I mosied around the kitchen to turn the slow cooker on high and added 4C water to heat up, while I pondered the other things I needed to get ready for cooking soup. After sipping some tea, and looking out the window at the rain and winds, I set the oven to 475F and placed some parchment paper onto a baking sheet.

• Meat station: I did not plan on doing a lot of meat prepping, since all could be done on the baking sheet. But I knew afterwards I would need to get the meat from the bones for other purposes. So I set up the meat cutting board, and a steel bowl.
• Veggie workstation: This consisted of my wooden cutting board, chefs knife, bench scraper, damp rag for cleaning up messes, and a discard bowl.
• Garden: I went out and cut some Thai basil. Since I do not grow cilantro, basil was the only herb I grew that would be needed.
• Pantry/Fridge: I collected all the sauces, veggies, spices and seasoning, mainly so I could tell if I had everything I needed.

The Meat Prep

I put the beef bone and oxtails (which I was told were not from oxen, but beef as well) on the parchment paper lining the baking sheet, and seasoned (salt and pepper, but mostly pepper) both sides. Then plopped the pan into the hot oven and set the timer for an hour. About midway through, I took the pan out and flipped the bones over using tongs, so both sides were exposed directly to heat.

When I pulled the pan out, after an hour of cooking. There was a lot of rendered fat that I kept in the tray for the next (veggie) phase. The bones and tails were dropped into the slow cooker water using tongs. I noted the time, for I wanted to cook this broth for ~8 hours, so that it would be flavorful and the oxtail meat not too tough.

Meat Questions

Why did I roast at this high temp? I roasted the bone and tail at a high heat to help render some of the fat and marrow. I want the meat charred a bit, but do not want all that fat. As a result, I did not have to skim the broth at all, and while there was some remaining fat, it was not too much and added the right flavor and mouthfeel to the broth.

Why not braise longer than 8 hours? I did not cook beyond 8 hours as I was concerned about the meat turning tough. I have tasted tough oxtail before and did not like it, so thought limiting the time would help. Usually I would braise oxtail ~3 hours max but since I wanted a particular broth taste, I needed it to simmer longer. However, if I was not concerned about using the meat I would have cooked the broth much longer, up to 48 hours like I would normal beef bone broth.

Why use cooked meat, and not raw in Phở: The real dish is served with raw meat (like is shown in the photo above) that cooks in the hot broth. However, I do not feel comfortable serving raw meat so always cook my meat first before serving. Usually, in fact, I do not serve meat in this dish, but prefer mushrooms.

That said, if I do serve raw meat it would be only very thinly sliced beef my butcher could cut (paper thin). Then I would place the noodles and meat in the center of the bowl, pour very hot broth over it to cook the meat and garnish with veggies and herbs.

The Veggie Prep

While the bone and tails were cooking in the oven I prepped the veggies.

• Brushed dirt off shiitake mushrooms, and sliced stems and all.
• Sliced lengthwise a ~2″ piece of older ginger, and made as many slices as I could which was ~5.
• Quartered a yellow onion, skin and roots and all. (If no yellow onion is available, use red and it will work.)
• Halved several elephant garlic, skin and all.
• Diagonally sliced scallions (white and green parts).
• Gathered the sauces I was going to use: fish, worcestershire, and tamari sauces.
• Gathered spices: star anise, peppercorns, + Korean Chili Garlic paste
• Prepped another 4C of water ready to add to the slow cooker when and if needed.

I put the onion and elephant garlic onto the greasy baking sheet and, after turning the heat down to 400F, put the pan back into the oven. I set the oven for 15 min and checked until done. I wanted those veggies charred a bit, but not mush. Once out of the oven I used tongs to put the veggies into the slow cooker. All the remaining fat and parchment paper were disposed.

The Broth

At a middle point, I tasted the broth and it tasted a bit like fatty water with hints of other flavors but nothing unified. So I added the sauces to up the flavor and kept on cooking.

Noodles

Traditionally Phở is served with banh Phở noodles, which are flat rice noodles. Only those soups served with these noodles and the Phở broth are considered a “fuh” dish. Other similar looking soups are named something else.

For instance, I sometimes use ramen (wheat) noodles (see photo below) for one soup dish and for another used the banh Phở (rice) noodles . Both were great with the broth, even though the noodles taste and texture were different.

Veggies + Plating

Really there is no limitation on what to serve in a bowl of broth and noodles. It all depends upon what you have and what you like. I have used baby spinach, seaweed, broccoli, carrots, scallions, pickled ginger, bean sprouts, Thai basil, diakon, mushrooms, etc.

Each bowl of “fuh” needs to be constructed individually. The way to plate is to first add the cooked noodles, any raw or cooked meat, then 1-2C broth; topped with little bits of veggies, and perhaps some pickled veggies or ginger around the perimeter of the bowl. I want the soup to smell, look, and taste good.

A Phở Dinner Party

In the center of the table have bowls of: fresh Thai basil leaves, chopped fresh cilantro leaves and stems, bean sprouts, lime slices, thinly sliced jalapenos, thinly matchstick carrots, sliced scallions, sliced mushrooms, and a dish of Korean chili garlic sauce. Then serve each person a dish containing noodles and thin slices of raw or cooked meat, and broth. Everyone can add what they want to their bowl. This makes for a fun dish to share and a great conversation starter.

• For protein variations: Serve with sliced shiitake mushrooms, or slices cooked chicken meat, skirt steak or pork belly. All the meats and faux meats will work here.
• For veggie broth: I would make a veggie broth and add the faux chicken powder to it for flavor (see my Stuffing for All post for more info on this powder)..
• For gluten free: Use rice noodles not egg noodles or ramen unless it is advertised as gluten free ramen.

Soups + Broths Recipes

Here are recipes for many broths which are part of soups that I have cooked and regularly use.

Beef bone Stock
Chicken bone Stock
Dashi (Japanese kelp + dried bonito flakes broth)
Phở Broth + Options (Vietnamese beef + oxtail broth and soup)
Kombu Mushroom “Dashi” (Japanese veggie/vegan kelp + mushroom broth)
Miso soup basics ( Japanese the basic description of Miso soup)
Miso Ramen Noodle Soup ( Japanese quick version)
Veggie Broth (American version)

— Patty