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Vietnamese soup (pho)
Pho (pronounced ‘fahr’) is a light, fragrant soup eaten for breakfast and all through the day. It is one of the Vietnamese’s most loved dishes. The secret lies in the quality of the stock – along with the beautiful spices.
Pho is comfort food for chef Luke Nguyen, who demonstrates how to make pho in Hanoi. You might also like Phil Lees's speedy chicken pho recipe.
Ingredients
Stock
2 onions
10 cm piece ginger
2 ½ kg beef soup bones
5 star anise
6 garlic cloves
8 cm piece cassia bark
450 g beef brisket or chuck steak
1 ½ tbsp salt
80 ml fish sauce
1 tbsp palm sugar
For bowls
1 kg dried or fresh pho noodles (rice sticks)
225 g beef sirloin, finely sliced across the grain
1 onion, finely sliced
4 spring onions, green part only, finely sliced
⅓ cup chopped coriander
black pepper
Garnishes
lime wedges
sliced chillies
Thai basil or Vietnamese mint sprigs
bean sprouts
Preparation
To prepare the stock, sear the onion and ginger over a naked flame or under a grill for about 15 minutes. Remove any charred skin and set aside.
Place the bones in a large pot and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil and cook vigorously for 3 minutes. Discard the water and rinse the bones in warm water. Wipe out the pot, return the bones to it and add 6 litres of water. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Skim off any scum. Add the onion, ginger and remaining ingredients and cook for 1 ½ hours. When the meat is cooked (slightly chewy but not tough), remove it and set aside in a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes. Remove from the water and refrigerate. Leave the broth to cook for a further 1 ½ hours. Strain and refrigerate. Skim off the fat when cold.
To serve, reheat the stock. Thinly slice the cold meat. Soak dried noodles (if using) in hot water for 15–20 minutes, until soft. If using fresh noodles, briefly heat them in boiling water. Arrange the noodles in the bottom of deep serving bowls and add slices of cooked meat and raw sirloin on top. Garnish with onion, spring onion and coriander. Season with pepper. Ladle over the hot stock.
To eat pho, taste the broth first, then add lime juice and chilli to taste followed by generous amounts of basil or mint and bean sprouts.
SBS cook’s notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55–60 g, unless specified.
Vietnamese Restaurants
Displaying 10 of 276 Vietnamese Restaurants.
| Restaurant | Suburb | |
| 1. | Le Bich | Balmain |
| 2. | Thy Thy 1 | Richmond |
| 3. | Kinh Do | Macquarie |
| 4. | Pho Phu Quoc | Dickson |
| 5. | Tu Do | O'Connor |
| 6. | Phi Yen | Northbridge |
| 7. | Viet Hoa | Perth |
| 8. | New Saigon Vietnamese | Adelaide |
| 9. | Vietnam Restaurant | Pennington |
| 10. | Green Papaya | East Brisbane |
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