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Vietnam, like other countries of the East, is distinguished by its national cuisine, where rice, fish, soy sauce and a large amount of vegetables and herbs are in priority. Of the meat, pork or chicken is most often used, but there are also dishes with beef. One of these dishes is Fo Bo soup. The recipe for Vietnamese Pho Bo soup contains all those products that are inherent in Eastern countries: Pho rice noodles, meat and a large amount of greens.
Vietnamese Pho Bo soup is a classic version; you can often find other recipes for Pho with chicken (Fo Ga) and fish (Fo Ka). Fo noodles themselves are made by hand in the homeland of this dish. Today it can be purchased ready-made in the store.
For the preparation of the Vietnamese Pho Bo soup according to the classic recipe, mainly beef meat from the hip is used, since it is softer. To cook the broth, take beef bones of the thigh or ribs.
This Vietnamese soup is served in two versions, where the meat can be boiled or raw. When serving raw meat, it is cut into very thin layers and poured with broth, only removed from the heat. So it comes to a finished state.
Another feature of this Vietnamese soup is the addition of lime wedges, fresh pepper and lettuce leaves.
Nutritional value and ingredients
Depending on the amount of ingredients used, the calorie content of Pho Bo soup and the content of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in it can vary significantly.
One 100 g serving of Vietnamese Pho Bo soup contains:
- calories - 54 kcal;
- fat - 2 g;
- proteins - 5 g;
- carbohydrates - 5 g.
The classic Pho Bo soup recipe has three main ingredients:
- bouillon;
- Pho noodles;
- meat.
Each of the components is prepared separately, and when served on the table, they are combined together.
Ingredients for cooking broth:
- beef bones (preferably using a thigh) - 600-800 g;
- salt;
- sugar;
- fish sauce;
- water 5 liters (2 liters for the first cooking and 3 liters for the broth).
Spices for broth:
- 1 medium onion (you can take half a large onion)
- anise (star anise) - 5-6 pieces;
- cloves - 5-8 pieces;
- cinnamon - 4 sticks;
- cardamom boxes - 3 pieces;
- ginger root.
For filling:
- beef tenderloin;
- rice noodles;
- 1.5 liters of water for cooking noodles;
- half a onion;
- green onions;
- mint;
- cilantro;
- basil.
The following ingredients are used as additional ingredients:
- red chili;
- lime;
- fish sauce or lychee sauce.
Herbs, sauce, red pepper and lime are added when serving in any quantity as desired. Often, during the cooking of beef shanks, carrots are added along with onions. It gives a pleasant taste and gives the dish an appetizing color.
How to prepare the classic recipe for Pho Bo soup with raw meat
The very process of preparing Vietnamese Pho Bo soup with beef begins with a long boiling of the broth. To do this, take beef bones and rinse them thoroughly. Put in a saucepan, pour 2 liters of water, put on fire. After boiling, the bones are boiled for about 10 minutes, then this water is drained. This is necessary in order for the saucer to be transparent.
After the first boiling, the bones are washed again under running water, placed in a saucepan and filled with 3 liters of water. Salt, sugar and fish sauce are added to taste. Put on fire, bring to a boil, remove the resulting foam. Reduce heat and leave to simmer for 5-12 hours.
After boiling the beef bones for about 5 hours, they begin to cook the spices.
All spices should be pre-baked or fried in a pan without oil for about 2 minutes to release their aroma.
The fried spices are transferred to gauze folded in several layers, tied and lowered in this form into a saucepan. This is done so that the spices after cooking do not come across in the finished soup.
While the broth is boiling along with the spices, boil the noodles. This is done just before serving.
Put a saucepan with 1.5 liters of water on the fire. After boiling, put the noodles in water and cook for 2-3 minutes until fully cooked.
While the noodles are boiling, prepare the greens. Step by step cut green and onions into a bowl.
Add lime.
Cilantro is brought in.
The basil is sliced.
Prepare the mint.
The finished noodles are washed and placed in a bowl with chopped herbs.
Before pouring the broth, cut the beef tenderloin into very thin layers.
To cut the meat as thin as possible, it is advisable to pre-freeze it.
Spread the meat cut into thin slices on the noodles and pour everything over with hot broth.
If the meat is raw, it must be watered with boiling broth so that it reaches the desired degree of readiness.
According to the classic recipe, Vietnamese Pho Bo soup is quite simple to cook at home if you correctly follow the sequence of preparation and cooking of all ingredients.
An option for making Vietnamese Pho Bo soup with boiled meat
To make homemade Vietnamese Pho Bo soup according to a recipe with boiled meat, you will need the same list of ingredients as in the classic recipe. The only difference between this option is that the meat is not served raw, but pre-cooked.
Cooking method:
- The beef shanks are washed, placed in a saucepan, poured in 2 liters of water and brought to a boil, boiled for 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the stove, drain the water. The bones are washed and re-poured with water, salt, fish sauce and a pinch of sugar are added to taste. They put it on fire, let it boil. After boiling, collect the foam, reduce the heat and leave to cook for 5 hours.
- While the beef bones are boiling, the spices are prepared in the same way as in the first recipe, after frying them in a dry frying pan.
- Cut the tenderloin into 1-2 cm pieces.
- Onions, spices and beef fillet are added to the boiling broth. After that, the broth is boiled for another 2 hours.
- As soon as the broth is ready, it is removed from the stove. Pieces of boiled meat are caught, bones are removed (if there is meat on them, it should be cut off). The broth is filtered and put on the fire again until it boils (the ingredients are poured with boiling broth).
- Rice noodles are prepared before serving. It is boiled for about 2-3 minutes. The finished noodles are thrown into a colander and washed under cold running water so that they do not stick together.
- Cut greens: green onions, basil, cilantro, mint. And put it in a deep bowl.
- Add noodles and pieces of boiled meat to the chopped greens. To taste, put lime wedges and hot peppers. Pour everything with boiling broth.
Sometimes chicken meat is used instead of beef tenderloin. The recipe for Vietnamese Pho Bo soup with chicken is also based on beef bone broth, only chicken is added instead of beef fillet.
Little tricks:
- so that such a Vietnamese dish is not too fatty, you can cook the broth in advance, cool and remove the top layer of fat, and bring it to a boil again before serving it;
- before cutting the greens, you can mash it well so that it releases as much essential oils and juice as possible;
- soy sauce can be added instead of salt.
According to statistics, Vietnamese Pho soup is one of the most popular first courses in Vietnam. You can try it not only in Vietnamese restaurants, but also on the street, where soup is cooked in large pots and poured into small portions.
This national Vietnamese dish is appreciated by both locals and tourists.
The main feature in Vietnamese cuisine when preparing Pho Bo soup is that the broth can be cooked for up to 12 hours. They eat it not only at lunch, but throughout the day for breakfast or dinner. Often they add seafood to the dish and decorate with sprouted young soybeans.
The recipe for Vietnamese Pho Bo soup is very simple. The cooking process, although long, but the result is worth the wait, because the dish turns out to be very nutritious, rich and high-calorie with a pleasant subtle aroma and delicate taste.
