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Pho Bo (Beef Pho)

Name: Pho Bo (Beef Pho)
Total time: 60 min
Yield: Serves 2
Cuisine: Vietnam
Ingredients: 150g Thinly sliced beef; 200g Pho rice noodles; 1 tbsp Beef bone broth base; 1/2 Onion; 1 knob Ginger; 1 Cinnamon stick; 2 Star anise; 2 tbsp Fish sauce; To taste Cilantro; 1/2 Lime; 1 bag Bean sprouts; 800ml Water

Noodles

⏱ 60 min

👥 Serves 2

Difficulty ⭐⭐

Clear, fragrant beef broth over rice noodles and thin-sliced beef — Vietnam's iconic breakfast.

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📖 The Story Behind This Dish

Pho is believed to have emerged in Hanoi in the late 19th or early 20th century, during the French colonial period. The soul of the dish is its broth — beef bones and spices like cinnamon, star anise, and cloves, simmered for hours starting before dawn at street stalls. Northern-style pho tends to be lighter, while the southern style is heartier and sweeter.

🌆 Where it's eaten: A Hanoi back alley at 6am: people on their way to school or work perch on low stools over steaming bowls, adding their own lime and chili to taste.

🥕 Ingredients (serves 2)

Thinly sliced beef 150g
Pho rice noodles 200g
Beef bone broth base 1 tbsp
Onion 1/2
Ginger 1 knob
Cinnamon stick 1
Star anise 2
Fish sauce 2 tbsp
Cilantro To taste
Lime 1/2
Bean sprouts 1 bag
Water 800ml

👩‍🍳 Instructions

Char the onion and ginger under a broiler or in a dry pan until lightly blackened.
Simmer the water, beef bone broth base, charred onion and ginger, cinnamon, and star anise for 20 minutes.
Season with fish sauce and strain out the solids.
Cook the rice noodles according to the package and drain.
Slice the beef paper-thin; pour the hot broth over it to cook it through (medium-rare is best).
Assemble the noodles, beef, and broth in a bowl, and serve with bean sprouts, cilantro, and lime.

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