Vietnamese Pot au Pho
Ingredients
5 L good quality beef broth, unsalted
4 cups (1 L) cold water
3 large onions, peeled
2 fresh lemongrass stalks
50 g fresh ginger root
3 cloves
3 star anise
2 Asian cinnamon sticks
1 cardamom pod
To taste salt, sugar and pepper
Fish sauce (optional)
Preparation
- To a pan add cloves, star anise, Asian cinnamon sticks, and cardamom. Toast until it smokes and aroma starts to develop.
- Brown the onion and ginger, transfer to a big pot, combine all above ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 2 hours.
- After 2 hours, discard all onions, ginger, lemongrass and spices. Strain broth through a fine sieve.
- At this point, you should have 5 litres of broth. If short of 5 litres, add cold water to make it enough for 5 litres.
- Bring broth back to a boil and add in seasonings (salt, sugar, pepper, and fish sauce, if using). Taste for final adjustment.
- Best served with: Sliced beef, fresh pho noodle, basil, lime, beansprouts, green onion, cilantro, hoisin sauce, sriracha, fresh cracked black pepper
