Plenty of home cooks look up Pho Bo to feed the whole family at the weekend. The broth has to be clear and fragrant without turning heavy. The tricky part is timing the spice bag, since leaving it in too long turns the broth bitter.
The bag of star anise, cinnamon and black cardamom sits in the pot only for the last 1 to 2 hours. The leg bones are blanched for 10 minutes and scraped clean, and the broth is skimmed constantly through the first 30 minutes.
This batch weighs about 8kg, at roughly 71 calories per 100g.
Method
Soak 1.5kg beef leg bones in lightly salted water for 30 minutes to draw out the blood. Put them in a pot of cold water, bring it to a boil and blanch for 10 minutes, discard the water, then rinse each piece under cold running water and scrape it clean.
Char 2 large onions, halved, and 80g mature ginger, bruised and left unpeeled, directly over the flame for about 5 to 7 minutes a side until the skins blacken, and leave the char on. Toast 4 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick about 8cm long and 2 cracked black cardamom pods in a dry pan over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, then tie them into a cloth bag.
Put the blanched bones in a pot with 4 liters cold water, bring to a boil, then lower to a bare simmer and add the charred onion and ginger. Skim constantly through the first 30 minutes. After 1 hour, add the 500g piece of brisket and cook it for 60 to 90 minutes until a chopstick slides in easily, then lift it out into ice water. Add the spice bag for the last 1 to 2 hours and season with 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 13.5g kOBE Monk Fruit Blend and 1 teaspoon salt.
Bring a separate pot of water to a boil, dip 800g fresh pho rice noodle for 30 to 60 seconds, then rinse quickly under cold water. Slice the cooled brisket across the grain into 2 to 3mm pieces and slice 300g tenderloin into 1 to 2mm pieces. Rinse 200g bean sprouts, chop 1 bunch of spring onion and cilantro, and cut 1 lime into wedges.
Put the noodles in a bowl, lay the cooked brisket and then the raw tenderloin on top and scatter over the spring onion and cilantro. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and ladle it straight onto the raw beef at 95C or above, stirring gently until the meat turns pinkish brown. Serve with bean sprouts and a squeeze of lime.
Tips
The bag of star anise, cinnamon and black cardamom belongs in the pot only for the last 1 to 2 hours, since longer makes the broth heavy and bitter.
Wrapping the tenderloin and freezing it for 20 minutes firms the surface, which gives thinner and more even slices.
Skimming constantly through the first 30 minutes is what keeps the broth clear.
Dropping the cooked brisket into ice water firms the meat so it slices cleanly rather than shredding.
Char the onion and ginger until the skins blacken and leave them as they are, since scraping the char off costs the aroma.
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The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.