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Vietnam, like other countries of the East, is distinguished by its national cuisine, where the priority is rice, fish, soy sauce and a large amount of vegetables and herbs. The most commonly used meat is pork or chicken, but there are also dishes with beef. One such dish is Pho Bo soup. The recipe for Vietnamese Pho Bo soup contains all those products that are unique to eastern countries: Pho rice noodles, meat and a large amount of herbs.
Vietnamese Pho Bo soup is a classic version; you can often find other recipes for Pho soup with chicken (Pho Ga) and fish (Pho Ka). Pho noodles themselves are made by hand in the homeland of this dish. Today you can buy it ready-made in the store.
To prepare Vietnamese Pho Bo soup according to the classic recipe, they mainly use beef from the hip section, as it is softer. To cook the broth, take beef thigh bones or ribs.
This Vietnamese soup is served in two versions, where the meat can be boiled or raw. When serving raw meat, it is cut into very thin layers and poured with broth, just removed from the heat. This is how it reaches the finished state.
Another feature of serving this Vietnamese soup is the addition of lime wedges, fresh pepper and lettuce.
Nutritional value and ingredients
Depending on the amount of ingredients used, the calorie content of Pho Bo soup and its content of fat, protein and carbohydrates can vary significantly.
One 100g serving of Vietnamese Pho Bo soup contains:
- calories – 54 kcal;
- fat – 2 g;
- proteins – 5 g;
- carbohydrates – 5 g.
The classic Pho Bo soup recipe consists of three main components:
- bouillon;
- Pho noodles;
- meat.
Each of the components is prepared separately, and when served, they are combined together.
Ingredients for cooking broth:
- beef bones (it is advisable to use thigh) – 600-800 g;
- salt;
- sugar;
- fish sauce;
- 5 liters of water (2 liters for the first cooking and 3 liters for the broth).
Spices for broth:
- 1 medium onion (you can take half a large onion);
- anise (star anise) – 5-6 pieces;
- cloves – 5-8 pieces;
- cinnamon – 4 sticks;
- cardamom boxes - 3 pieces;
- ginger root.
For filling:
- beef tenderloin;
- rice noodles;
- 1.5 liters of water for cooking noodles;
- half an onion;
- green onions;
- mint;
- cilantro;
- basil.
The following are used as additional ingredients:
- red chili pepper;
- lime;
- fish sauce or lychee sauce.
Greens, sauce, red pepper and lime are added when serving in any quantity as desired. Often, when cooking beef shanks, carrots are added along with onions. It gives a pleasant taste and colors the dish in an appetizing color.
Method for preparing the classic recipe for Pho Bo soup with raw meat
The process of preparing Vietnamese Pho Bo soup with beef begins with long cooking of the broth. To do this, take beef bones and wash them thoroughly. Place in a saucepan, add 2 liters of water, and put on fire.After boiling, the bones are boiled for about 10 minutes, then this water is drained. This is necessary so that the yushka is transparent.
After the first boiling, the bones are washed again under running water, placed in a saucepan and filled with 3 liters of water. Add salt, sugar and fish sauce to taste. Place on the fire, bring to a boil, skim off the resulting foam. Reduce heat and leave to simmer for 5-12 hours.
After boiling the beef bones for about 5 hours, start preparing the spices.
All spices should first be baked or fried in a pan without oil for about 2 minutes so that they release their aroma.
The fried spices are transferred to gauze folded in several layers, tied and lowered in this form into the pan. This is done so that after cooking the spices do not end up in the finished soup.
While the broth and spices are boiling, you should boil the noodles. This is done immediately before serving.
Place a saucepan with 1.5 liters of water on the fire. After boiling, place the noodles in water and cook for 2-3 minutes until fully cooked.
While the noodles are cooking, prepare the greens. Gradually chop green and onions into a bowl.
Add lime.
Add cilantro.
Chop the basil.
Prepare mint.
The finished noodles are washed and placed in a bowl with chopped herbs.
Before pouring the broth, cut the beef tenderloin into very thin layers.
To cut the meat as thinly as possible, it is advisable to first freeze it.
Place the meat cut into thin pieces on the noodles and pour hot broth over everything.
If the meat is raw, it must be poured with boiling broth so that it reaches the desired degree of readiness.
Vietnamese Pho Bo soup according to the classic recipe is quite easy to prepare at home if you correctly follow the sequence of preparation and cooking of all ingredients.
A variant of preparing Vietnamese Pho Bo soup with boiled meat
To prepare Vietnamese Pho Bo soup recipe with boiled meat at home, you will need the same list of ingredients as in the classic recipe. The only difference in this option is that the meat is not served raw, but pre-boiled.
Cooking method:
- Beef shanks are washed, placed in a saucepan, pour 2 liters of water and bring to a boil, cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the stove and drain the water. The bones are washed and filled with water again, salt, fish sauce and a pinch of sugar are added to taste. Place on fire and let it boil. After boiling, collect the foam, reduce the heat and leave to cook for 5 hours.
- While the beef bones are boiling, prepare the spices in the same way as in the first recipe, after frying them in a dry frying pan.
- Cut the meat tenderloin into 1-2 cm pieces.
- Onions, spices and beef fillet are added to the boiling broth. Then cook the broth for another 2 hours.
- As soon as the broth is ready, remove it from the stove. Fish out pieces of boiled meat and remove the bones (if there is meat on them, it should be cut off). Strain the broth and put it back on the fire until it boils (the ingredients are poured with boiling broth).
- Before serving, prepare the rice noodles. It is cooked for about 2-3 minutes. The finished noodles are transferred to a colander and washed under cold running water so that they do not stick together.
- Chop greens: green onions, basil, cilantro, mint. And put it in a deep bowl.
- Add noodles and pieces of boiled meat to the chopped greens. Add lime wedges and hot pepper to taste. Pour boiling broth over everything.
Sometimes chicken is used instead of beef tenderloin. The recipe for Vietnamese Pho Bo soup with chicken is also based on beef bone broth, but instead of beef fillet, chicken is added.
Little tricks:
- To prevent this Vietnamese dish from being too fatty, you can cook the broth in advance, cool and remove the top layer of fat, and before serving, bring it to a boil again;
- before cutting the greens, you can mash them well so that they release as much essential oils and juice as possible;
- Instead of salt, you can add soy sauce.
Vietnamese soup Pho is statistically one of the most popular first courses in Vietnam. You can try it not only in Vietnamese restaurants, but also on the street, where they cook the soup in large pots and pour it into small portions.
This national Vietnamese dish is appreciated by both the local population and tourists.
The main feature in Vietnamese cuisine when preparing Pho Bo soup is that the broth can be cooked for up to 12 hours. They eat it not only at lunch, but throughout the day for breakfast or dinner. Seafood is often added to the dish and garnished with sprouted young soybeans.
The recipe for Vietnamese Pho Bo soup is very simple. Although the cooking process is lengthy, the result is worth the wait, because the dish turns out to be very nutritious, rich and high in calories with a pleasant subtle aroma and delicate taste.
