There are so many things going on in pho. You’ve got savoriness from the broth, piquancy from the spices, and freshness from the herbs—and that’s not even all of it. This complexity is achieved through hours of building the broth. But you don’t always need to leave the pot on for seven hours just to get the Vietnamese soup. This instant pho gets you a light, flavorful pho, except it only takes 45 minutes to put together.
Granted, any instant pho, including ours, won’t replicate the exact same experience as traditional pho. But what this recipe promises is a similar experience; one that mimics traditional pho, without the same time-consuming process. And we do this through a bouillon cube and a ton of aromatics and spices to make up for what’s lost in the time.
How to Make Instant Pho
The ingredients list is intimidating. And at this point, you might be asking, “How can something “instant” need so many things?” As we mentioned, these are what we need to build a broth that delivers the same mix of flavors present in regular pho. Anyway, there’s not a lot of work that needs to be done here. Most of what’s listed go into the pot at once, then you can already forget about them.
To start, place your ginger and onion on an open burner. Roast the aromatics until charred, then set aside. Alternatively, you can roast them in a 400F oven, as well. This step releases their natural juices, lending that flavor and smokiness into the broth.
In a large pot, add water, then bring it to a boil. For more depth of flavor, you can also use boxed beef broth. Drop your bouillon cube into the boiling liquid and give it a stir to completely dissolve it.
Next, add the charred vegetables, star anise, cinnamon, coriander seeds, cloves, fish sauce, and brown sugar. The coriander seeds and the cloves are optional, but we encourage you to put them if you can find the spices in the supermarket.
Give the broth a quick stir, then reduce the heat to low. Keep the soup at a simmer for 45 minutes to bring out the flavors of the ingredients and allow them to get to know each other in the pot.
Meanwhile, prepare your flat noodles according to package instructions and set them aside.
Once the broth is ready, season it with more fish sauce or brown sugar as needed.
Now you can start assembling your bowls. Divide the noodles into four bowls, alongside the thinly sliced beef, onions, red chilies, spring Thai basil, and spring onions.
Yes, the beef is raw. The hot soup is meant to cook it, which it does fairly quickly—as long as the beef is very thinly sliced. And we can’t stress this enough. (Imagine Chinese hot pot or shabu-shabu restaurants where you simply dip sirloin into the broth to cook it in a few seconds. Same banana.)
Pour the hot broth into the bowls, making sure it hits the beef.
Garnish the bowl with slices of lime or lemon and cilantro and serve with Sriracha and hoisin sauce on top. The Sriracha gives it a kick of heat, while the hoisin sauce ties it together with a little salty-sweet action.
You can also turn this instant pho recipe into chicken pho. To do it, just swap the beef cube with chicken cube (and the beef broth with chicken broth, if using). Then use thinly sliced chicken (breast is the safest since it cooks fastest), instead of sirloin
The post Instant Pho Recipe: How to Build the Vietnamese Soup in 45 Minutes appeared first on Pepper.ph.
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