How to make pho?

Question

How to make pho?

Answer 1

You first need to make a base, either by boiling meat and soup bones, for a few hours, to extract the flavors, or shortcut it by using bouillon (avail in the soup bases in asian markets).

As for the noodles, they can be purchased fresh or dry from asian markets.

Meat: Ask the butcher to slice it very thin, or in most larger asian markets, they are prepared already very thin sliced. You can get various cuts of chicken, beef, pork, i've even seen emu/ostrich, which are fabulous.

The vegetables: You can use almost anything. I usually use bok choy cooked in the broth, and bean sprouts, thai basil, jalapeno, and mint on the side when I eat it.

Boil the broth for a long time, get it nice and hot. Add the bok choy (or whatever leafy green you're using). Cook the noodles on the side. Once the greens and noodles are cooked, put the noodles in a bowl, place your meat on top (raw), and pour the broth over the top. The meat is cut super thin so that the HOT broth will cook it almost instantly. If you feel you need to, you can put the meat in the broth to cook, but it's not needed.

Garnish with your peppers, sprouts, basil, and mint. Don't forget the Sriracha!

Answer 2

Pho requires alot of ingredients and a bit of fiddling around, but if you are looking for a recipe this looks good:

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/17677/be...

I remember speaking to a Vietnamese colleague a few years ago and she said 'the older the bones, the better!'

Pho really is a tasty dish, have fun!