Pho Tai / Rare Beef Noodle Soup
When people think of Vietnamese food, the first dish that usually comes to mind is phở, and at the heart of it all is pho tai. This traditional version, topped with thinly sliced rare beef, is the foundation for every other style of phở and is often considered the gold standard. Whenever Hanna and I
- Prep time
- 1 hr
- Cook time
- 6 hr
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 3 lb Beef Eye of Round
- 8 quarts Water
- 4 lbs Beef Bones (Marrow and Knuckles)
- 1 Yellow Onion
- 2 inch knob Ginger
- 1 medium Daikon
- 4 tbsp Fish Sauce
- 2 tbsp MSG
- 1 inch nub Rock Sugar
- 1 Dried Cinnamon Stick
- 1 Dried Cardamom Pod
- 3 Dried Star Anise
- 1 tbsp Dried Coriander Seeds
- 1 tbsp Dried Fennel Seeds
- 1/2 tsp Dried Cloves
- Beansprouts
- White Onions
- Green Onions
- Cilantro
- Sawtooth Culantro
- Thai basil
- Jalapeno
- Lime
Instructions
- 1
Prep:
- 2
Partially freeze the eye of round for 2 hours. Then slice the beef against the grain as thinly as possible
- 3
Parboil beef bones for 10 minutes. Thoroughly rinse and scrub under cold water to remove any scum
- 4
Char the whole onion, a knob of ginger under an open flame, a broiler on high, or a dry pan on the stovetop. Then peel and chop daikon
- 5
Toast pho spices until fragrant, then add to a spice bag
- 6
Thinly slice white onions and submerge them in cold water to remove the bite. Chop up cilantro, green onions, jalapenos, and cut lime into wedges
- 7
Broth:
- 8
To a clean pot of water, add cleaned beef bones. Add charred aromatics, daikon, and toasted spices
- 9
Bring up to a rolling boil, skim off any impurities, and reduce the heat to a simmer for 1.5-2 hours
- 10
Remove aromatics and spice bag. Let the broth simmer covered on low for another 4-10 hours. Occasionally, skim off any impurities that rise to the top
- 11
Then remove the beef bones and daikon from the pot. Optionally, filter broth through a fine mesh strainer
- 12
Season broth to taste with rock sugar, MSG, fish sauce, and salt
- 13
Serve:
- 14
Cook rice noodles to the desired doneness
- 15
Assemble the bowl by adding noodles and thinly sliced beef. Ladle in broth and garnish with green onions, cilantro, and white onions. Serve with bean sprouts, Thai basil, culantro, jalapenos, and limes