Spicy Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup

I took a lot of liberties with this recipe but absolutely love this spice combination! This my favorite recipe for making soup base. I used 2 qts beef broth + 1qt vegetable broth as I didn’t have ingredients on hand to start from scratch. I sautéed the onion in a bit of oil and broth then added the spices until fragrant. I put the onion and spices in the crockpot then added the remaining broth. I put it on high for an hour then turned it on low overnight. In the morning I added the liquid seasonings and sugar and since we had a snow day, returned the crockpot to high for an hour then back on low for the rest of the day. My add-ins were rice noodles, jalapeños, bean sprouts & cilantro. (Alas, I forgot the basil - but it was totally yum anyway)

This is actually a pretty elaborate process to make this delectable broth, well worth the trouble to find the actual whole seed/pod spices and beef cuts because they are what makes this unique flavor. Definitely needs more salt, like another reviewer i seriously up the fish and soy sauces. My daughter is a pretty picky eater but this is one recipe she says You can make this Again! And i have, and we always have seconds! (and leftovers fortunately for all the work...)

I made the broth yesterday as written and am having this for dinner tonight. As is it's pretty good but it's lacking a major ingredient... SALT! It's just a spiced up water otherwise. I added some beef bouillon and some salt. With that addition it's an inexpensive way to enjoy pho anytime. With just a little planning that is.

Pretty darn good ! I didn't have any of the seed spices so I used ground spices instead. I grated two inches of ginger into the broth and added grated carrot to the bowl before serving.

I cook the broth for ten hours and it was unbelievably good

This is a great recipe.

I added about 5 more table spoons of fish sauce and another couple of soy sauce then it was perfect. I also throw in beef tendon.

Very non-traditional way of making Pho (which by the way is pronounced "Fa"). Browning of the meat is not done, spices are supposed to be toasted as well as the onion. Bay is not generally used. Though it was creative, it should have simply been called beef soup. As the chef stated, more beef generally is better and the longer the cooking time, the better. I made this recipe and and found it somewhat bland and the flavor itself did not reflect that traditional Pho flavor.

wonderful soup!

Delicious, thanks!

Our family loves pho. I’ve always been too intimidated to make it as I know it takes hours to cook, includes spices I know nothing about and just didn’t think I could pull it off. Then here comes Chef John, again with the win! I did use ox tail but only one pound. Next time I will be sure to trim as much fat as possible from the beef shanks. I started it in the morning before work on the stove, then transferred it to crock pot and cooked it on high for 10 hours. I strained it through a cheese cloth and added the final ingredients. Other than using the crockpot and adding salt, I followed the recipe to a tee. That is why Chef John is my go to! I really never have to tweak his recipes & I always learn great tips from his videos. It was amazing & my entire family loved it! Living in Houston, with a very large Vietnamese community, we are lucky to get amazing pho here but it gets pricey for our entire family. It’s good to know I can whoop this up for 1/3 of the cost. Thanks Chef John!

I added additional fish sauce & soy sauce, along with a little beef broth. It was excellent. Tasted like what we had in a Pho restaurant.

Turned out amazing. I added the ox tail for flavor. I will make it again.

have been making this for years. Like the spices very good recipe

Really enjoyed this recipe and expect it will become a favorite meal for years to come.

Awesome!!!!! Better than a restaurant!!! Will make as written again…

I def had to add more salt and I braised the meat prior to putting it all in the crock pot in high for about 5 hrs.