Bowl of beef pho thai with sriracha

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Vietnamese beef noodle pho is a simple soup to adore.

Those chewy noodles, delicious broth, tender cuts of beef. Those spic , crunchy, herby garnishes that we get to toss on top.

On a chilly night, after a rough day at the office, on a lazy weekend afternoon - a plate of piping warm pho is always a good idea.

Bowl of beef pho thai with sriracha recipe

1H 20MIN

4-6 Serves

Ingredients

QUICK BROTH:

2 large onions
4-inch piece fresh ginger
2 whole cinnamon sticks
2 whole star anise
3 whole cloves
2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
6 cups low-sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce (substitute tamari if making gluten-free)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 carrots - peeled and roughly chopped

TO SERVE:

1/2 pound sirloin steak, round eye, or London broil
8 ounces dried rice noodles
3 scallions
1 chili pepper (Thai bird, serrano, or jalapeño)
1-2 limes
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup fresh herbs - cilantro, basil, Thai basil, mint, or a mix
Hot sauce, Sriracha, or hoisin sauce, to serve

Preparation Method

Prepare the onions together with ginger
Peel the onions and slice them into quarters through the root.
Peel the ginger and then slice it into quarters down its length.
Char the onions with ginger
Char the onions with ginger on each sides over high flame on a gas stove or on a baking sheet placed straight away under the broiler ( around 5 minutes on all sides ) until the onions and ginger bits clearly show charred areas. Wash the parts under cold water to take out all loose, gritty, overly charred pieces.
Dry-roast the spices
Put the cloves, cinnamon and star anise with coriander seeds in the bottom of a dry 2-quart saucepan. Then dry-roast over medium-low heat for 1-2 mins until toasty and very aromatic. Stir regularly to avoid the spices from scorching.
Mix the broth ingredients
To the pot with the spices add the broth, soy sauce, fish sauce, chopped carrots, along with the charred onions and ginger.
Cover and simmer the broth
Bring the broth to a boil over medium-high temperature and then decrease the heat to medium-low. Cover and keep simmering for half an hour to give time for all the spices and aromatics to infuse in the broth.
Freeze the beef
When the broth is simmering, place the beef on a dish, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 15 mins. The sides of the beef should become firm to the touch, however the beef should not be frozen through. That makes it much easier to cut the beef thinly.
Cut the beef
Take out the beef from the freezer and instantly use the sharpest knife to cut the beef into really thin slices. Cut across the grain and aim for slices no thicker than 1/4-inch. After sliced, keep the beef covered and refrigerated until ready to serve.
Prepare the noodles
Bring another saucepan of water to a boil, drop in the rice noodles and then prepare based on package directions (usually 1 min for very thin noodles or around 4 minutes for wider noodles ). Strain the noodles then run them under cold water to end cooking. The noodles will start to stick with each other after cooking, so either separate them right away between serving bowls or toss them with some neutral-tasting oil to avoid sticking.
Put together the pho toppings
Thinly cut the scallions as well as chili pepper.
Chop the lime into wedges.
Put the bean sprouts in a dish.
Roughly cut the herbs or rip all of them with hands. Prepare all the toppings on a dish and put it on the table.
Strain the broth
Once the broth is ready, put a strainer over an extra bowl or saucepan, and strain the solids from the broth. Discard the solids. Put the broth back oversmall heat and keep it just below a simmer. You should notice a good amount of steam, however the broth should not be boiling. The broth should be quite hot to cook the beef.
Prepare the pho bowls
If you haven’t already done so, divide the noodles between serving bowls and top with a couple of pieces of uncooked beef. Arrange the beef in a single layer to ensure that the slices will cook evenly in the broth – pieces that are stacked or even clumped may not cook right through.
Ladle the hot broth over top
Ladle the very hot broth into every bowl, pouring it evenly over the beef in order to cook it. The beef should quickly begin to opaque. Fill every bowl with as much broth as desired.Serve the pho at the table and let every person top their dish as they love.