Pho, the tasty Vietnamese noodle soup, is something I am embarrassed to admit I didn’t try until I recently moved to California. Ok, that’s sort of a lie. I tried it at a place in Silver Spring but hated it so swore it off for good. Fast-forward a couple of years on a rainy evening in San Jose and I find myself craving Ramen only to get to the so-called best Ramen place South Bay to find out they don’t allow take out. I called my dear friend CL to ask where can I get a noodle soup and she suggested this Pho place. I decided to not use the Silver Spring place as a barometer for all things Pho and give it another shot. I picked up Pho to go from Pho-Khang and never looked back.
I’ve discovered the secret to this bone-warming soup is in the broth. It HAS to be right. I scoured dozens of recipes online- no set standard and, in my usual style, decided to take some elements and wing it.
I bought a package of local oxtail at Lunardi’s, some veggies and star anise and was on my way. I was going to make the best Pho a girl-on-her-first-time-ever-after-only-eating-it-about-5-times-and-reading-about-it-even-less could make. (It turns out more promising than it sounds.)
I have to say the broth turned out to be quite fantastic. Really, it did. Unfortunately I made the fatal flaw of purchasing the wrong noodles and they soaked 85% of the broth up. Don’t do that. Do not use bean thread noodles, it will not work.
So, in actuality I’m giving you a recipe for Pho broth, not the actual completed dish, but if you know anything about Pho you know it’s a self-serving dining experience where you add what you like. So here it goes…here is the broth, and add what you like.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs. oxtail, 2 inch sections
1 large yellow onion, halved
1 large carrot, chopped into 1 inch chunks
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole star anise
2 1/1 inch nub of whole, fresh ginger
4 whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
6 cups of water
olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Siracha, to taste
Preheat oven to 450F. Drizzle about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of a dutch oven. Add the oxtail, onions and olive oil and place in the oven. Brown, about 20 minutes. Remove and place the dutch oven on the stove-top. Add the water and cardamom. Place the cinnamon, star anise and cloves inside an infuser or cheesecloth and submerge. Place on stovetop over medium-low heat. Simmer without boiling over for at least 2 hours.
Remove from heat. Remove spice pouch and discard. Remove meat, bones and vegetables (for future use or discard, but I recommend for future use.) Strain broth thoroughly.
Add noodles, sprouts, Siracha, salt and pepper to your liking and enjoy!
So Forking Good 