Pasta · Recipe · Vietnam · Reference page
Phở bò (beef noodle soup)
Phở bò
A clear beef broth simmered 3 hours from oxtail and brisket with charred ginger, shallot and garlic, toasted spices, fish sauce and rock sugar, poured over fresh rice noodles and raw sirloin. Luke Nguyen's family recipe for SBS Food serves eight.
- Servings
- 8
- Preparation
- 35 min
- Cooking
- 3 h 50
- Resting
- 1 h
- Total
- 5 h 25
- Difficulty
- Involved
Equipment
- Stockpot of at least 8 litres
- Grill or gas flame for charring; dry frying pan
- Mortar or spice grinder; 40 cm square of muslin; fine sieve
Ingredients
Broth
Spice pouch
To serve
Method
Soak the oxtail in cold water with 3 tablespoons of salt for 1 hour. Drain.
Why Soaking draws out blood, which would cloud the broth.
Timer · 1 h60:00Dry-roast each spice separately in a pan over medium heat until fragrant. Cool, grind coarsely and tie in the muslin.
Grill the unpeeled garlic, shallots and ginger over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes, until blackened all over. Peel off the skins and chop roughly.
Why Charring gives the broth its sweet, smoky depth.
Timer · 15 min15:00Put the oxtail, brisket and 6 litres of cold water in the stockpot and bring to the boil. Skim for 15 minutes, then lower to a gentle simmer.
Why Thorough skimming at the start is what keeps phở clear.
Timer · 15 min15:00Add the fish sauce, the remaining tablespoon of salt, rock sugar, charred aromatics and the spice pouch. Cover and simmer 3 hours, until the stock has reduced by about half.
Timer · 3 h180:00Strain the stock through muslin. Lift out the brisket, let it cool and slice it thinly.
Blanch each portion of noodles in boiling water for 20 seconds and drain into a bowl. Top with 3 or 4 slices of brisket and 3 or 4 slices of raw sirloin and pour over boiling stock to cover.
Why The boiling broth cooks the thin raw beef in the bowl.
Garnish each bowl with a tablespoon of spring onion, a pinch of pepper and a coriander sprig. Serve with chilli and lime at the table.
Substitutions
- Rock sugar → White sugar, a little less.
- Fresh rice noodles → Dried flat rice noodles (bánh phở), soaked and boiled as the packet says.
Common mistakes
- Boiling the broth hard after skimming: it turns cloudy and greasy.
- Pouring merely hot stock over the raw sirloin: it must be at a rolling boil to cook the beef.
Storage & reheating
Strained broth keeps 3 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen; store noodles and meat separately.
Safety
The sirloin is cooked only by the boiling broth: use very fresh beef, slice it thin and pour the broth at a full boil. Cool broth quickly in shallow containers before refrigerating. Allergens: fish (fish sauce).
Allergens
Fish
Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.
Dietary
dairy-free · gluten-free
A family broth
Luke Nguyen's recipe comes from his family's phở restaurant in Cabramatta, Sydney, where he says he ate a bowl every day as a child; his father still refines the technique and adjusts the spices. It is a family version with oxtail and brisket in the broth and raw sirloin in the bowl. The atlas has not yet opened a documented history of phở's beginnings, so it makes no claim here.
Clarity and char
A clear broth is the aim. The oxtail is soaked for an hour in salted water, the pot is skimmed for 15 minutes after it boils, and the simmer stays gentle for 3 hours as the stock reduces by half.
The flavour comes from charring and toasting: garlic, shallots and ginger are blackened in their skins, and each spice is dry-roasted on its own before going into a muslin pouch. Fish sauce and rock sugar season the broth while it cooks.
How it connects
Place
- origin Vietnam In preparation
Recipe
- related Laksa lemak (Malay curry laksa)
- related Bún chả
