It’s been getting chilly lately so we’ve decided why not make some soup. Not just any soup though, let’s make some Vietnamese Pho. It’s gonna be pho freakin’ nominal for this weather.

#ProTip
If you want to take this to work I'd advise 3 containers. 1 for precooked noodles, 1 for the broth and meat, and one for the herbs and garnishes. When you're ready to eat, heat up broth and noodles seperately then add together along with garnishes.

Episode

Ingredients

How much are we making?
Servings
+
-
564
Calories
Serving
=
Total Calories
4512
Ingredient
Amount
Beef Bones
3 lbs
Brisket
1 lb
Ginger
1 inch piece
Large Onion
1
Cinnamon Sticks
2
Star Anise
3
Cloves
10
Fennel Seeds
1/2 Teaspoon
Ground Coriander
1/2 Teaspoon
Brown Sugar
1/8 Cup
Fish Sauce
2 Tablespoons
Kosher Salt
1 Teaspoon
Rice Noodles
14 oz package
Cilantro
1 Small Bunch
Thai Basil
1 Small Bunch
Bean Sprouts
1 handful
Limes
3
Serrano Chile
1
Sriracha or Chile Paste
Optional
Total
19  Items

Steps

  1. Prep Broth
    1. Take beef bones and place in a pot then cover with water. Bring to a boil. Instant Pot filled with beef bones and covered with water starting to boil
    2. Slice ginger and onion in half. Onion and ginger root sliced in half on cutting board with chef's knife
    3. While bones are starting to boil, start toasting half of the onion and ginger in a pan until well browned and slightly charred. Charring onion and ginger halves in cast iron skillet
    4. Then add star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves, fennel seeds. Toast for another minute or so until the spices become fragrant. Remove from heat. Star anise, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and fennel seeds added to charring onion and ginger halves in cast iron skillet
    5. Boil bones for 10 minutes removing the stuff that rises to the top. It’s not that tasty. Using spoon to skim top of boiling beef bone broth for Vietnamese pho
    6. Drain and wash bones under running water and remove any hair or anything unpleasant looking. Boiled bones in colander being rinsed under faucet of sink
    7. Add bones, toasted spices, coriander, brisket, and enough water to the instant pot to fill it to about the 10-11 cup line/ Filling Instant Pot with water to cover beef brisket, bones, spices for Vietnamese pho
    8. Add 1 tablespoon of fish sauce to pot. Shaking fish sauce bottle over instant pot to add fish sauce to Vietnamese Pho
    9. Place lid on instant pot and set to the vent on the top to sealed. Set the mode to Manual, High Pressure, for 42 minutes. Instant Pot with lid on and turned on with timer set to 42 minutes
  2. Final Steps
    1. Once the timer has gone off, press the Keep Warm/Cancel Button to turn off the Instant Pot. Pressing the keep warm/cancel button on Instant Pot of Vietnamese Pho
    2. Bring a medium sized pot of water to a boil and add about 1/4 of the noodles per serving (about 3-4 oz dry is plenty for 1 bowl). Set a timer according to the package’s instructions. Mine were about 6 minutes. Boiling rice noodles in small pot
    3. While boiling noodles prep the garnishes. Wash herbs and beansprouts. Slice limes. Thinly slice serranos, and the other half of the onion. Then place on a dish to serve alongside soup. Using faucet to rinse beansprouts in colander over sink Vietnamese Pho garnishes prepared on decorative plate (cilantro, beansprouts, lime, Thai basil, sliced serranos, and onion)
    4. When the noodle timer is up drain and place in serving bowl. Draining rice boiled noodles in colander over sink
    5. Release pressure from pressure cooker. Using large spoon to release pressure valve on Instant Pot
    6. Remove brisket and thinly slice Slicing beef brisket on cutting board after removing from Vietnamese Pho broth cooked in instant pot
    7. Remove bones and spices as best you can. You could also strain it here, but I didn’t want to dirty up anymore dishes. Spooning bones and spices boiled in Vietnamese Pho broth out of Instant Pot
    8. Add the rest of the fish sauce, then add salt until it’s tasty. You can add more fish sauce if you like instead of the salt, I’m just not the biggest fan of it. Using spoon to carefully added fish sauce out of bottle to Vietnamese Pho broth in Instant Pot Sprinkling Kosher salt into instant pot full of Vietnamese Pho broth
    9. Place slice of brisket in the serving bowl with the noodles. Then add broth to cover. Sliced beef brisket placed in bottom of bowl with noodles and broth added on top
  3. Eating
    1. When you’re ready to eat, place any and as many of the garnishes as you want into your bowl. It’s your pho, you have it your way. Enjoy! Completed Vietnamese Pho recipe in large bowl topped with beansprouts, cilantro, lime, chili paste, Thai basil, and sliced serrano peppers with garnish plate beside. Looks delicious! It is!