Sliced Beef Pho

Although I’ve traveled all across Asian, the best pho I’ve ever had was in a strip mall in Virginia. Go figure. I’ve been trying to recapture the delicious flavor of their broth for years, and this recipe comes fairly close.

This recipe requires charring vegetables on top of the stovetop directly on the grate. But I always find that so messy that I like to use my barbecue vegetable grill pan. If you don’t have a gas stove, you can broil the vegetables until charred.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)
1 large vidalia onion, peeled and quartered
1 2-inch knob of fresh ginger
8 cups homemade turkey bone broth
3 tablespoons fish sauce, plus more to taste
2 star anise
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 pound sirloin steak
salt and pepper
five spice
1 (1-pound) package dried rice vermicelli

FOR GARNISH (all optional)
Bean sprouts
Thai basil
Jalapeño, thinly sliced
Limes, quartered
Chopped cilantro
Fresh scallions, thinly sliced
Fried shallots
Sriracha
Oyster sauce

PREPARATION
Place the onions and ginger on a grill pan directly over a high flame on your cooktop. Cook until charred, turning the vegetable pieces until charred on all sides, about 6 -7 minutes. Set aside to cool. Chop the onions. Cut the ginger into thick slices.

In a large soup pot, add the stock, onions, ginger, fish sauce, star anise and brown sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for one hour.

Generously season the steak with salt, pepper and five spice. Using a grill pan, sear both sides until you have grill marks. It’s okay if steak is still very rare, it will continue to cook in broth later. Allow to rest and cool for ten minutes. Thinly slice and set aside.

Cook the rice noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain and set aside.

Place the garnishes on a platter: bean sprouts, Thai basil, cilantro, jalapeño, limes and scallions. Place the fried shallots in a small bowl. Pour some Sriracha in a small bowl and pour some oyster sauce in another small bowl.

Remove the star anise and as much ginger as possible from the pot. Add in the sliced beef and return soup to a simmer. Adjust seasoning to taste, adding fish sauce, sugar or salt to taste.

Place some rice noodles into large soup bowls. Ladle the soup over the noodles.

Serve accompanied by platter of garnishes. This way people can garnish their soup bowls to their own tastes.

Note: If there are leftovers, try to keep the rice noodles separate from the soup. The noodles will absorb too much of the broth overnight and get gummy if they are mixed together.