Pho soup is a classic of Vietnamese cuisine. This dish appeared at the beginning of the 20th century in the north of Vietnam and gradually became popular all over the world. Each Vietnamese family prepares pho bo in its own way. But there are also classic recipes that are widely used in restaurants, including abroad.

Pho bo soup

Pho bo is one of the most popular versions of pho and is actually a synonym for it. It consists of rich meat broth, pho-noodles, onions, cilantro, bean sprouts, basil and a variety of spices. Chili pepper, star anise, anise, cinnamon, cloves - this is not a complete set of seasonings for a fragrant soup. Always hot and spicy, it not only satiates, but also invigorates for the whole day.

There are such types of pho:

• northern (pho tank);
• southern (background).

The southern one has a sweeter and spicy taste, as well as the addition of hoisin sauce. The northern one, on the other hand, is prepared with a small amount of exotic spicy ingredients.

At the beginning of the last century in Vietnam, pho soup was carried by street vendors on special rockers. On one side there was a vessel with beef and noodles, and on the other - a brazier with coal. Since then, little has changed. Pho bo is still mostly sold on the streets, where the Vietnamese themselves eat it starting at six in the morning.

Vietnamese breakfast can be cooked for days, and this is not an exaggeration. It is cooked in large pans, because Vietnamese practically do not eat at home and buy food mainly in restaurants or street cafes. A plate of national soup costs only $ 1-3, which is available not only for tourists, but also for the inhabitants of the country of dragons and fairies.

Varieties: pho bo, pho ga, fo ka

phở bò - beef noodle soup
phở gà - chicken soup

Pho soup with chicken

The famous pho has many varieties. The classic pho bo is always made from beef. Boiled or semi-raw meat is poured with broth, which is cut into thin slices. Soup with boiled water carpaccio is ordered less often than with ordinary boiled beef. There is also a combined version, which is considered the most delicious.

Another variation - pho ga - is made with chicken. Chicken broth cooks much faster than beef broth - in just an hour. At the same time, chicken fillet is cooked in the oven, which is then cut and added to the soup. The rest of the cooking recipe is completely identical. The finished dish is seasoned in the same way with a lot of herbs and a spicy sauce.

Another type of soup is fo ka. It is made in a traditional meat or fish broth, but at the end, seafood is always added, in particular shrimp and octopus. Lemongrass stems are very suitable for the fish version of pho, as well as traditional spices: star anise, ginger, cloves, peppercorns. If the soup is made on the basis of fish, then the broth is cooked for no more than an hour. Fock fish is considered the lowest calorie of all Vietnamese signature dishes. It is ordered with pleasure by tourists who are looking for exotic cuisine and have already tried the classic version - pho bo soup.

Specificity of preparation and use

The main thing in pho soup is, of course, the ingredients. The meat is selected very carefully, as after cooking it should be soft and easy to cut. For cooking, beef is bought (for example, the thigh or muscles of the hind leg of a cow, as well as the marrow bones).

The main ingredients of the soup:

• beef (350 g);
• rice noodles (300 g);
• one onion;
• ginger root;
• a bunch of cilantro, green onions;
• bean sprouts (30 g);
• lime or lemongrass;
• spices (cinnamon, saffron, cloves, 3 star anise stars, etc.);
• fish, spicy and other types of sauces.

Real pho is brewed with the addition of black cardamom, star anise and, oddly enough, cinnamon, which add a special flavor to the meat broth. Pho soup is believed to have at least five scents. The more unexpected the combination, the better. In addition to cinnamon, the Vietnamese boldly throw fennel, hot chili peppers (without seeds), and other oriental spices into the broth. They are specially lightly fried without oil, just like onions and ginger for flavor and beautiful color.

Rice noodles are bought ready-made. They are called noodles-fo or ban-fo. If you manage to buy fresh, rather than dry, noodles that are sold in supermarkets, the dish may taste much better.

Another unexpected ingredient is sugar. It is used for the southern version of pho and is added directly to the broth, and in a fairly large volume - up to 50 g. The broth is considered ready when the meat lags well behind the bone.

Serving Secrets

The dish is served in the north and south of Vietnam - the same way. First, put the cooked rice noodles in a heap in a plate. On it are laid out onion rings and chopped meat, followed by chopped green onions and cilantro. Then everything is poured with boiling broth, after which sprouted beans, spices, garlic, fish and other types of sauces are added.

As mentioned above, the meat in the soup is served in two types: well-cooked and half-cooked. In the second case, the meat is first placed in a saucepan and kept in a hot broth for literally a minute. After that, it is put into the prepared soup.

There is not much liquid in real pho soup - noodles form the basis of the dish, which takes up most of the plate. The Vietnamese joke that for them this is both the first and the second course at the same time. This unusual soup is eaten with traditional wooden sticks. Most of the liquid is absorbed into the noodles, and the rest is drunk from a bowl, like from a regular cup.

Ripe lime is always added to pho bo in the south of Vietnam. It is cut into large slices and served separately with the soup. Sometimes a couple of drops of red hot sauce are poured into the broth, so that it turns red. They eat soup in Vietnam very early - from 6-8 in the morning. Soup is served in large or small bowls, and you can always order a supplement.

Vietnamese pho soup recipe

For real pho, you need rice noodles.

Preparing pho soup is not difficult, but you need to spend time both searching for ingredients and cooking meat broth, which takes at least two to three hours.

Having purchased the products, let's start cooking:

Step 1. Prepare the meat broth. Place the beef bones in boiling water and cook over medium heat. The first broth is drained after boiling. Then the water changes, the bones are washed, soft beef is added, which will then be cut into the finished soup.

Step 2. Boil the fo noodles according to the prescription on the package. Next, we rinse it in a large amount of running water. If rinsed poorly, the noodles will clump and ruin the whole dish.

Step 3. Cut the onion into rings and fill with water. We also finely chop green onions and thinly beef (if you plan to add scalded meat to the soup). Add cilantro, mint, basil, red chili (no seeds).

Step 4. Put the noodles in a bowl... Add the onion and all the chopped ingredients.

Step 5. Fill everything with boiling meat broth. Add bean sprouts, onions, herbs to taste, fish sauce. You can sprinkle the finished soup with lime.

The cooking time of the broth is different for each housewife, but the more the meat is cooked over low heat, the better. The secret ingredients at this stage are roasted ginger, licorice root, anise. You can also add a couple of tablespoons of fish sauce to the broth itself, which has a rather specific taste.

The Vietnamese have their own soup making secrets.

Pho noodles, for example, are boiled in boiling water only until they are medium cooked. Then it is rinsed in hot and cold water to make it elastic and shiny.

To prepare the soup, onions are not fried in oil, as is customary in Russia. The onion is cut into two halves and grilled for a minute, and then the charred onion is dipped into the broth. But oil is not used at all - this is the rule for making Vietnamese soup.

To make the carpaccio perfect, it is actually turned into minced meat, smeared on a cutting board. Thanks to this, the meat instantly changes color as soon as it enters the boiling broth.

Each country has its own specificity of pho preparation. For example, in France it is made with meatballs, and in the USA with chicken. In Russia, instead of rice noodles, they sometimes use ordinary noodles, and in Thailand, shrimps are often added to the finished broth. To decide which option suits you best, you need to cook pho yourself at least once.

This is exactly the dish that I liked the most in Vietnam. A rich broth, with well-chosen spices, a subtle taste of beef, noodles, a lot of herbs, and even the best choice itself, always raw beef. National Vietnamese soup. Pho is chicken and beef. Chicken cannot be compared with beef, so I was not even interested in the chicken recipe.

This recipe was created from the information that I got from our English-speaking Vietnamese guide. To my wild delight, he knew a lot about cooking and considered himself a gourmet. Also, I reread the recipe from a book about Vietnamese cuisine, which I bought in Saigon. As a result, my husband said that my "Pho Bo" was the most delicious of all tasted :-), which is very pleasing. But as I often say, how many good things are generously put into a dish, it is unlikely to be bad.

For the preparation of broth, it is better to use not only beef bones, cook for yourself :-). The meat is very much felt in the broth. I advise you to take the drumsticks, and next time I will tell you how you can make a wonderful dish from boiled meat. (You just after straining the broth, save the meat and put it in the refrigerator, taking 200 ml of the broth and also cool and save).

In the original, the broth is boiled with the addition of black cardamom. It, together with star anise and cinnamon, gives a special characteristic flavor note.

They brought it to me from India. I also saw him in online stores in Ukraine. I think there will be no problems to find it in Runet either. If you still haven't found it, it's better to skip it, but don't replace it with the usual green one. Their aroma is completely different.

Palm sugar also imparts a distinctive aroma and flavor. But if you don't find it, feel free to replace it with reed.

For the "faint of heart", for those for whom "carpaccio" sounds like a curse, you can boil the beef, which is already put in a bowl as a side dish, in broth, but this will certainly not be the same. The beef will lose its tenderness and the soup will no longer be so similar to the Vietnamese Pho Bo. And it is better not to do this, because if the beef is thinly sliced ​​and so "cooked" under the influence of boiling broth, which you pour in noodles and meat.

5-6 servings

For broth:

• 1.5 kg beef drumstick
• 3 star anise stars
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp coriander kernels
• 1/2 tsp fennel seed
• 2 boxes of black cardamom (you can skip, do not replace green)
• 4-5 pcs. carnation
• 15 cm ginger root, coarsely chopped
• 50 grams palm sugar (can be substituted with cane sugar)
• 100 ml fish sauce
• 2 onions, wash, cut in half

For filing:

• 1 bundle green onions (only the white part)
• 1/2 bundle basil, coarsely chopped or torn by hand
• 1/2 bundle mint, coarsely chopped or torn by hand
• 1/2 bundle cilantro, coarsely chopped or torn by hand
• 1 chili pepper, remove seeds, chop finely
• 1/2 pack of rice noodles
• 300 grams the freshest beef tenderloin or back

1) Place the drumsticks in a large saucepan, add water and quickly bring to a boil. Drain, wash the meat with bones well. Also wash the pot and fold the drumsticks back. (After this manipulation, the broth will be cleaner).

2) Burn the slices of onions and ginger a little over high heat so that they char a little (This will give a beautiful shade and a pleasant aroma to the broth). Place with meat. Add spices and pour over 3.5 liters of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for about 2 hours, from time to time skimming off the resulting foam with a slotted spoon. The meat should fall well behind the bone, and the broth should become rich.

3) Strain the broth into a clean saucepan, add palm sugar and fish sauce, mix well. Taste and, if necessary, add a little more fish sauce to add salt.

4) Place the noodles in a deep bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes and drain.

6) Cut the onion into feathers.

Calorie content: Not specified
Cooking time: Not indicated

There are several varieties of Pho soups in Vietnamese cuisine. Pho bo - with beef, Pho ga - with chicken and Fo ka - with fish. Today we will cook the classic Vietnamese Pho Bo soup, which is loved by all Europeans - with well-cooked beef. A classic northern homemade recipe with a photo of Vietnamese Pho soup is made from rice noodles or noodles, with the addition of a lot of greens and green onions, served with lime. Also pay attention to this one.

- beef ribs - 800 g,
- beef meat - 300 g,
- rice vermicelli - 200 g,
- onion - 1 pc.,
- large carrots - 1 pc.,
- bay leaves - 2 pcs.,
- hot pepper - 1-2 pcs.,
- star anise - 1 asterisk,
- cardamom capsules - 3 pcs.,
- coriander beans - 1 tsp,
- peppercorns - 6-7 pcs.,
- cinnamon stick - 1 pc.,
- salt - to taste,
- ginger (root) - 2 cm,
- fish sauce - to taste,
- green onions - 1 pc. per serving,
- parsley - 1 bunch,
- cilantro - 1 bunch.

Recipe with photo step by step:

Try to choose beef ribs with meat and bone, then the broth will turn out to be delicious. Boil water, put beef ribs in boiling water. The fact is that if you put beef in cold water, when it boils, it will begin to emit too much foam of a dark color, and if you put it in boiling water, the protein will immediately curl up and you will not have to collect the foam for a long time. Let the meat simmer for a bit, collect the remaining foam.




Peel carrots and onions. Cut the carrots into large pieces, cut the onion crosswise. Add vegetables to the meat, put bay leaves and ginger in a saucepan. If the stalks of the parsley and cilantro are long, cut them off, tie them with a string, and place them in a saucepan the same way. Boil the broth for 50-60 minutes.




Put the spices in a frying pan, heat them over low heat, as soon as the delicious aroma comes out, add the spices to the pan.




Place the sliced ​​beef fillet in a saucepan. Cook the broth over low heat for at least 1.5 - 2 hours. Salt the dish to taste, add hot pepper.






When the broth is rich, thick and flavorful, boil the rice noodles or noodles. As a rule, according to the instructions, 3 minutes. Throw the noodles in a colander and rinse with cold water, the noodles should not stick together when serving.




Taste the broth to see if there is enough salt.




Catch the meat from the broth, disassemble into fibers. Strain the broth, put on a low heat. When serving, the broth should be boiling.




Chop the green part of the onion very finely, cut the white part of the onion lengthwise into thin strips.






Place rice noodles or noodles in a deep bowl, add meat, green onions and chopped parsley and cilantro. I also think you will want to cook.




Pour boiling broth over everything, add fish sauce to taste and lime.




Incredibly delicious, very aromatic soup, be sure to cook it, I recommend it.

Not only Russians indulge in borscht and cabbage soup, but also prepare delicious Pho bo soup according to the Vietnamese recipe. There are 3 types of similar dishes:

1. Pho bo with beef.
2. Fo ka with different fish.
3. Pho ga - chicken.

If you take the original recipe, then only rice noodles are used there. If you don’t find it, any other will do. Of course, the taste will be slightly different. But hardly much worse. And those who are not lazy, run to supermarkets, will definitely get some rice noodles and embody the original recipe.

How did the Vietnamese soup recipe come to our area? During the Vietnam War, many residents fled and left those territories, and of course, they treated new friends and generously shared the recipe for a delicious national dish. Pho has been traveling the world since the 60s of the XX century.

In Vietnam, the dish is served in 2 main varieties: southern and northern. In the southern soup, a variety of herbs float and lime is added. In the north, there is a lot of green onions and wide noodles are added. Each province has its own, modified recipe.

Many traveling compatriots who visit Vietnam for the first time like this dish very much. They note that the aromatic herbs, wonderful beef, delicious noodles are perfectly felt, and, in addition, raw beef is present in the original recipe. They say that chicken pho is significantly inferior in taste to beef.

The soup is very satisfying and at the same time light for the stomach. It is eaten frequently throughout Asia from South to East. In Vietnam, beef is 2 times more expensive than pork. Therefore, soup is eaten on weekends, holidays, and is treated to dear guests. And on weekdays, you can cook it easier, with chicken or fish. The recipe is passed from mother to daughter, granddaughter, daughter-in-law, etc.

To make the dish tasty, you need to choose the right beef. They say that the best thing to buy is brisket. Others argue that the rich broth is obtained from drumstick meat. Whom to believe? Try both options and draw your own conclusions. The broth will need to be filtered. The recipe says that 1 glass is required. Let the rest of the broth cool on the stove, then hide it in the refrigerator. Prepare on its basis another soup, borscht, cabbage soup or a second dish.

According to the original recipe, black cardamom must be added to the broth. With cinnamon and fragrant star anise, it will give the soup the desired aroma and flavor characteristic of this particular soup. Palm sugar is also thrown here, which also gives its own special touch. If you don't find one on sale, replace it with an ordinary one.

Some people are panicky to eat specially cooked raw beef "carpaccio". You can boil the meat a little, of course, you will not know what the real taste of pho bo is, but the choice of technology is yours. Don't be afraid to eat this beef. It is already welded when it is poured over with a bubbling broth.

Composition:

• 200 g beef brisket;
• rice noodles, which are located like a "nest" in each plate;
• 3 medium limes;
• 4 hot chili;
• 100 g of greens;
• fish sauce.

For broth:

• 0.5 kg beef drumstick (meat with bone);
• 100 g fresh shallots;
• ground aromatic cinnamon with star anise;
• 50 g ginger;
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Cooking

It takes 2.5 hours to cook and makes 6 servings.

1. Rinse the meat under cold running water. Then pour a little liquid and add all the spices there or selectively to your taste. Vietnamese most often marinate meat with cinnamon and fragrant star anise. Put water in a 3-liter saucepan, light a high heat first, and when it boils, make a small one. Throw in the meat and let it cook for 2 hours. You need a rich broth.
2. After the meat is boiled in the broth, take 200 g of brisket and put it in the freezer. According to the cooking technology, the piece should freeze slightly. This is so that you later cut it thinly, neatly in portions.
3. When the broth is completely cooked, you can take a piece of meat out of the freezer and, as planned, cut it into beautiful (about 0.3-0.5 cm) pieces. If you are concerned about eating raw meat, marinate it. To do this, you need to take pepper with lemon juice. Place the meat in thin slices in the mixture, and let it stand for a while in the refrigerator.
4. There is a nuance that the greens are first washed under running water so that there is no dust, dirt, and then rinsed in pre-salted and laid out on a plate. Rice or other noodles are also placed here. The flip flops themselves are sometimes taken instead of rice noodles, for example, spaghetti. Therefore, do not hesitate, there is no rice - replace with an ordinary one. In one province, soup is prepared with these ingredients, in another with different ingredients. Therefore, the Vietnamese themselves are calm about the substitutions in the recipe.
5. Chop the chili as small as possible. Squeeze out the lime juice gently. There are already noodles with herbs on the plate. Place the meat nearby and pour lime juice over the top. Chopped chili is also here. Let it pass a couple of minutes, and you can pour in boiling rich broth.
6. Now add 2-3 drops of fragrant fish sauce to each of them. If you are not very fond of fish, fish oil, then you will not get used to the smell of fish sauce right away. To tolerate its rich aroma, try adding 1 or 2 drops at the beginning or at the end of cooking in any soup. It will take 1-2 months, and you will get used to its specific smell. If you like fish, you will find it tasty and aromatic.
7. Pho in the south is served with a slice of lime and a slice of chili. In Vietnam, this dish is prepared both in famous restaurants and is sold by merchants right on the street to everyone from a large saucepan. He is very invigorating.

Most often, locals and foreigners order miso, then minestrone, and pho comes in third place of honor. Having tasted this dish, in half an hour you will feel a surge of strength and an increase in mental and physical performance. Vietnamese enjoy this soup at any time of the day, some for breakfast, some for dinner. Therefore, when you want to cook, try it for the first time - purchase all the ingredients and do not hesitate: get started! The result will not disappoint you. Great recipe. Bon Appetit!

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1. Wash the bones well. To fill with water. Let it boil, boil a little, drain this water, rinse the bones and the pan well. Pour water over again and cook. This will already be the broth for the pho bo soup.

2. Cut the onion and ginger in half, fry well, straight until black. Also fry all the spices (star anise, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, coriander), so they better give their aromas. Add them to the broth. When it appears, remove the foam from the broth. Cook the broth for 4-5 hours (or more) over low heat. Add the beef meat 40 minutes - 1 hour before the broth is ready.

3. Finally, salt the broth, add sugar and fish sauce. The broth is ready, we leave it on low heat, we need a hot broth.

4. Boil the rice noodles according to the instructions on the package. I had it written: put the noodles in boiling water and cook until tender. Then rinse the rice noodles with cold water.

5. Cut the boiled meat into thin slices. You can also add raw beef to the pho bo. It is clear that in this case you need to take high-quality meat, freeze it slightly and cut it very thinly, it will be cooked directly in a plate with hot broth.

6. Prepare the green onion - cut off the white part, if it is dense enough, you can cut it lengthwise and throw it into the boiling broth for a minute. Grind the green part.

7. Prepare greens, wash and dry everything. Cut the lime into slices. You can also add ginger, cut into strips. Cut the chili into slices.

8. You can start serving the dish. Heat the noodles in the broth. Put it on the bottom of the plate, on top of the meat, the white part of the onion, green onions, chili, ginger, mint leaves, basil, parsley.