Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef soup)

Pho is considered Vietnam's national dish. Phở or pho is a Vietnamese soup consisting of broth, rice noodles, herbs, and meat. First of all, I love Pho. And secondly, thanks to the rice noodles, Pho is basicaly gluten-free.

Vietnam has an interesting and unfortunately also very bloody colonial history behind it. But in the Vietnamese cuisine there are many dishes with mainly French influence. But the French influence on this dish is not clear. It is rather the case that Pho has developed from many local similar dishes. Today you can find Pho everywhere in the world.

The two faces of Pho

There are actually two approaches to preparing Pho. The right one, which takes a lot of time, and the not quite right one, but which is much faster.

After all, Pho is basically all about one thing: a tasty broth.

I have to admit that I fall back on the second, faster option here.

Of course, this recipe is also gluten-free.

Ingredients

for 8 people

250 g thin rice noodles (labeled "vermicelli" or "rice sticks")

1,5 l of rich beef (or chicken stock)

4 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

1 cm chunk peeled fresh ginger

1 onion, quartered (don't bother to peel)

4 cloves

500 g boneless sirloin or tenderloin, cut into 16 thin slices

2 tablespoons gluten free fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam)

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Salt to taste

2 limes, cut into wedges

4 scallions, minced

Several Thai or other chilies, stemmed, seeded and minced

A heaping plate of mixed herbs, washed and dried: basil, cilantro and mint are most important. Add also mungo beans, pak choi and others.

Preparation

Combine stock, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, onion and cloves in a pan. Bring it to a boil, cover the pan and let it cook for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The longer the cooking, the deeper the flavor.

Bring pot of water to boil. Add noodles, add them to pot, and boil for 2 minutes; drain well. Divide the noodles among the bowls.

Turn the heat at the soup to medium, and add beef; stir once, and then turn off the heat. The meat is traditionally left rare; if you want to cook it more, go ahead, but these slices will cook through in less than 1-2 minutes. Add fish sauce and plenty of pepper to the soup. Taste, and add salt or more seasoning, if necessary.

Top noodles with broth and meat, and then bring to the table. Add now limes and the herbs, everyone can add them to taste.