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I had some beef bones in the freezer that I had wanted to use when the weather finally got cooler. So the day after we all got our flu shots and were feeling a little bleh, I tough why not pull out those beef bones and make some pho soup.

This soup is the pretty easy to make once you have all the spices, and the spices are key, even forgetting one throws the whole flavor off. Besides the spices and protein, you need an onion, a head of garlic and some ginger, see fairly simple.

I threw the bones in a big soup pot, filled it with water and turned it on high to get it to a boil. While the water was heating, I got together my spices and put them in a reusable tea strainer, and chopped up my onions ginger and garlic. I threw everyhing I and brought it to a boil for about 5-10 minutes, then I let it simmer on medium low for 2-3 hours.

So if you want to make it super simple on yourself that is all you have to do, but if you want to have a really pretty, clear broth a little more effort goes in, but not much. A few recipes I found said to skim the foam off the top after the boil. At first I never did, but one day when I had a little extra time I did it, and I noticed a huge difference in the broth and even flavor.

A few other recipes say to strain the broth and remove the onions, ginger and garlic; sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. When I do strain them out I wait until they are VERY soft, at least a few hours, or right before serving.

If I had to choose between the two, I think I would honestly skim the foam off the top after the boil, and once it it simmering keep skimming every half an hour or so. That made the broth super clear and really tasty.

One more thing that I have changed from the more traditional recipes is the fish sauce. My husband can’t stand it, I have tried every single trick I could find; adding it when the broth is cold, only at the very end, emuslified with I don’t even remember what now, and he still couldn’t get over the smell. So one day I left it out and subbed soy and Hoisin sauce, and the flavor was still really good.

Spice Ingredients

• 2 star anise
• 6 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cardamom pod
• 2 tspn fennel seeds
• 2 tspn coriander seeds

Main Ingredients

• Beef bones (chicken thighs are really good too)
• 2″ ginger
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 onion
• Rice noodles ( glass noodles )
• 2-3 Tbspn soy sauce
• 2-3 Tbspn Hoisin sauce
• Salt, to taste

Garnish

• Cilantro, chopped
• 2-3 green onions, chopped
• Serrano pepper, sliced
• Fresh basil, sliced
• Bean sprouts

Ingredients

• Put your beef bones in a soup pot, fill with water, and turn on high.
• While the water is heating put all your spices in a reusable tea strainer ( or a cheese cloth would work to) and rough chop the ginger, garlic and onion and put in the pot when finished chopping.
• Let boil for 5-10 minutes. After at least five minutes you should see some foam that you can skim off the top.
• Let it simmer on medium-low for at least 2-3 hours. Add your soy and Hoisin sauce, taste to see if you need more salt. If you added a lot of water to your pot, you will have to add more salt/ soy accordingly. I like to simmer it until the meat falls off the bones.
• Skim the top of the soup for any additional foam or fat, every half an hour or so.
• If you are going to strain out the ginger, garlic, and onions do so after the have become very soft.
• When ready to serve add the rice noodles to your bowl and pour the simmering broth over the noodles and add your garnishes to taste.

For a long time, if didnt have all of the fresh garnishes, I wouldn’t make the soup. But one day I was really craving it and all I had for the fresh garnish was some cilantro and a green onion in the fridge. Just that little bit of freshness on top of the soup was still amazing.