Quick Vietnamese beef pho with charred onion, ginger, and warm spices, rice noodles, and thin-sliced beef. Mung bean microgreens stay crunchy in the hot broth.
INGREDIENTS
- 1.5 l - beef broth (6 cups)
- 1 - yellow onion (150 g)
- 30 g - fresh ginger
- 2 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 cloves, 1 tsp coriander seed
- 2 tbsp - fish sauce
- 2 tsp - sugar
- 200 g - wide rice noodles
- 250 g - beef eye of round or sirloin
- 30 g - mung bean microgreens
- to serve: lime, Thai basil, fresh chili, hoisin sauce, sriracha, bean sprouts if you like
STEPS
- Put the beef in the freezer for 20 minutes. Halve the onion, slice the ginger lengthwise, and char them cut side down in a dry skillet for 5-7 minutes, until blackened in spots.
- Toast the star anise, cinnamon, cloves, and coriander in a dry skillet for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
- Pour the broth into a pot, add the onion, ginger, and spices, and simmer covered over low heat for 30 minutes. Strain and season with the fish sauce and sugar.
- Soak or cook the noodles according to the package, drain, and divide between the bowls.
- Slice the chilled beef paper-thin and lay it raw over the noodles.
- Bring the broth to a hard boil and ladle it over the beef: the meat cooks in the bowl within a minute.
- Top with the mung bean microgreens and serve the lime, basil, chili, and sauces on the side.
Mung Bean Microgreens in Pho Bo
Pho bo is a Vietnamese soup of clear, spiced beef broth, rice noodles, and thin slices of beef. It comes with a side plate of herbs, lime, chili, and bean sprouts, and everyone adds what they like to their own bowl.
Mung bean microgreens and mung bean sprouts are the same plant at different stages. Sprouts grow in water for a few days and are eaten whole. Microgreens grow longer in a growing medium and are cut above the roots once the leaves open. They have the same crisp, juicy stems, and the leaves add a fresh flavor close to green peas. In pho they do the same job as bean sprouts: they stay crunchy in the hot broth.
About the Ingredients
Mung bean microgreens: 30 g for two bowls. You can serve them alongside classic bean sprouts.
Broth: traditional pho broth simmers from bones for 6-8 hours. The quick version starts with store-bought beef broth and builds it up with spices, charred onion, and ginger in half an hour.
Beef: lean eye of round or sirloin. Freeze it for 20 minutes so you can slice it paper-thin.
Spices: star anise, a cinnamon stick, cloves, and coriander seed. Toast them in a dry skillet for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
Technique: Char the Onion and Ginger
Halve the onion and slice the ginger lengthwise, then char them cut side down in a dry skillet or over a gas flame until blackened in spots, 5-7 minutes. Charred onion gives the broth a deep, slightly sweet flavor and a golden color. It’s what separates pho from a plain beef soup.
Variations
- Pho ga: chicken broth and poached chicken breast instead of beef.
- With meatballs: halved beef meatballs simmered in the broth for 5 minutes.
- Spicier: sriracha and fresh chili right in the bowl.
- Vegetarian: vegetable broth with shiitake mushrooms and tofu.
Serving and Storage
Assemble and eat pho right away, while the boiling broth finishes cooking the beef. Serve the herbs, lime, and microgreens on the side so everyone adds as much as they want. The broth keeps in the fridge for 4 days or in the freezer for 3 months; store noodles and beef separately. How many microgreens it makes sense to eat in a day is covered in our wiki: how many microgreens per day.
Another noodle soup with microgreens: chicken ramen with pak choi microgreens.
CHEF'S TIPS
The broth has to be boiling when it goes over the beef. Anything cooler won't cook the meat, and the slices stay raw.
Taste the broth after the fish sauce: it should be a little saltier than seems right, since the noodles dilute it.
