Is it me or has Phở just blown up in the last 10 years? Growing up in the Seattle area you quickly learn the difference between Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and Vietnamese food. There have been phở places around for what seems like forever, but you still had to go find them. Then all of a sudden there seems to be a pho place on every corner.  Our secret soup is now everywhere and it’s become hard to find a good one. My favorite is a hole in the wall called Yeh Yeh’s in Lynnwood, WA. Now that we’ve moved 4.5 hours east of my favorite spot, it’s much harder to fill the phở sized hole in my heart.  One of the cons living in Spokane is that there is hardly any decent asian food around. So, I set out on a mission to make my own phở. Not to toot my own horn, but I think my version is pretty damn close to my favorite spot.

Beef Phở:                                                                                                                                            Yield 4 servings

Soup:

1/2 pound of Beef Stew Meat

1T Oil

2c or 1/2 a quart of Asian Beef Stock

2c Water

1/2 a medium white onion (divided)

2 inches of ginger

1/2 a bunch of cilantro stems

2 star Anise

1t ground Cardamom

4 cloves

5 dashes of fish sauce

4oz or 1/2 a bag of phở noodles, can be found in Asian Markets

Toppings:

Jalapeno, Sliced thin

Bean Sprout

Cilantro

Green Onions, sliced thin

Thai Basil

Hoisin

Sriracha

White onion, thinly sliced

Thinly sliced raw beef, I get this at the Asian stores

The Soup:

Step One:  In a 8qt pot add oil and brown the stew meat in until it is a deep golden brown. Salt and pepper to season before browning.

Step Two:  Add everything into the pot except fish sauce, bring mixture to a boil then reduce to a simmer, skimming any scummy foam off the top.

Step Three:  Boil for a couple of hours or until the meat is fork tender. Strain the mixture discarding everything but the meat.

Step Four:  Return the broth (but not the meat) to the pot add fish sauce and bring to a simmer.

Assembly:

To Start:  Prepare noodles by bringing water to a boil, placing noodles in a large bowl and cover noodles with the boiling water and let soak until tender.

Step One:  Place a pile of noodles at the bottom of your serving bowl place a few white onions and raw beef on top of the noodles and cover with broth.

Step Two:  Serve imminently with bean sprouts, slices of Jalapeno, chopped cilantro, Thai basil and green onions on the side.  Add as much or as little hoisin, Sriracha, and herbs as you want and slurp it in to your face hole!