Being Vietnamese, ph贸 was a stable on our house. Not to mention, my parents had a restaurant so it was available to me 24/7 #SCORE
When other people would ask me what IS ph贸, it never occurred to me that I didn’t know too much about my own culinary culture. To be honest, what got me digging MORE into the background of this culinary staple was marrying my husband馃お
Us Asians show love and acceptance by feeding others and my husband definitely go the full experience. I brought him to meet my parents around Christmas. There was an abundance of “off the menu” foods; ph贸 being the main course. He had a bite and said it touched his senses on many different levels.
What is Ph贸?
Ph贸 starts out with the simplicity of the broth. It is traditionally made with beef bones and thinly sliced eye of round (beef). But, as more generations grow up in America, we have other ways to improvise on the traditionally LONG process (I can FEEL my mother’s eyes glaring down at me as I type this, ha). The ingredients remain somewhat the same, but with the invention of the instant pot, it is a game-changer.
Without further adu, let’s get started with this ph贸-nominally easy recipe
Let me start out by saying the recipe starts out with my Instant Pot Chicken broth recipe, but you can substitute it with the beef bones. We used chicken just because it was what we had on hand. Still tasted AMAZING
**Most of the items listed can also be found at your local grocery stores
Instant Pot Pho
Equipment
- 8 qt Instant Pot
Ingredients
Broth Recipe
- Linked here https://balancingboysandbonesinourhome.com/the-only-chicken-broth-you-need/
- 1 tsp dry cloves
- 1 tsp dried fennel seeds
- 2-3 star anise
- 2-3 cinnamon stalk
- 2-3 cardamon pod
- 3-4 tbsp MSG
- salt and pepper to taste
Meats
- Thinly sliced eye of round (raw)
- Brisket (cooked and sliced thin)
- Vietnamese meatballs (unthawed and cooked in ph贸 broth)
Condiments
- Chopped cilantro
- Thinly sliced red onions
- Chopped green onions
- Basil Leaves
- Bean Sprouts
- Lime wedges
- Hoisin Sauce
- Srirachi Sauce
Instructions
- Start out with my Chicken broth recipe. If you have the beef bones, use that instead of the chicken bones. Or if you're vegetarian, you can omit bones altogether (won't be as "fatty")
- After you have made the broth and released the pressure. Add your toasted spiced wrapped in cheesecloth and cooking twine. Let it sit for at least an hour
- Add 3-4 table spoons of MSG, salt and ground pepper to taste
- Prepare the noodles according to the directions
- Pour broth into bowl with noodles
- Add meats and other condiments to your liking
Notes
- I like to add to my broth after the initially pressure cooking time the meatballs cut into fourths and the brisket. That way it will incorporate the spices into the meats聽
- The way I layer my ph贸 is to: Add the cooked noodles into the bowl, add the eye of round (raw) on top, pour on top the boiling pho broth with other meats, and top with the cilantro/red onions/green onion mix聽
- Hubbs like to add to his the hoisin and srirachi sauce, but I just do the lime wedge because it cuts through the fattiness聽
A lot of the times it is hard to find the spices in the store. So will link everything down below that you can get an Amazon
