Have you ever been intimidated by certain words? As the borders between countries shrinks and the world gets closer and closer, there are “foreign” words that have now become part of the lexicon. Some of them are easy to pronounce and some of them are downright difficult. I had an assistant during my advertising days who was adorable and used to pronounce Versace as”Versaitch.” I’m not immune myself and designer names such as Loewe (lo-EH-veh) and Hermès (air-MEZ) have flummoxed me.
One of the most brutal places to learn whether your pronunciation is rubbish can be at a restaurant. My Chinese language skills are extremely limited (ok they’re pretty much nothing) and I’ve lost count of the number of times where I’ve tried to order something only to be given a blank look. Tones count in Chinese and apparently I’m tone deaf.
After my recent trip to Vietnam, I’ve become a little bit obsessed with Vietnamese food. And one of those flummoxing words is Pho. Eager to know more about it, I sat down with Vietnamese Australian chef Luke Nguyen from Red Lantern restaurant. My first question, before I embarrassed myself any more was how was Pho pronounced. According to Luke it is pronounced as “fur” but the end of the word goes up as if it were a question.
Phew! Now that I had that out of the way and I had practiced the word I asked him what makes a good Pho. “The hero of any pho is the broth” he says. “I was taught from a very young age to put a lot of love into the broth…for me if I have a bowl of pho and try the broth and I can see that it has been simmering for only two hours, I get very disappointed” he says shaking his head. “It needs to be at least eight hours – at least. Some are simmered for 20 hours.” He explains the time is necessary to extract all of flavour from the bones and vegetables.
The produce used in them is also very important as well as the treatment of the vegetables. “Put a lot of love into roasting your vegetables” he says. Luke chars “then chars the hell out of” the vegetables on the grill and which brings out the flavours and then removes the blackened parts so that it doesn’t colour the broth. And interestingly he uses pineapple to lend a sweetness to the broth. He also talks of a variation on the traditional beef pho, a salmon pho which his partner Suzanna, a pescatarian makes. It is simmered for less time than a beef pho and uses more lemongrass and ginger as the main flavours.
One need to use “good quality bones with lots of meat and lots of marrow in them too” he adds and unlike some advice which says to blanch the bones in boiling water he doesn’t as he feels that it washes away the flavour and instead he spends more time skimming the broth.
Pho is a dish that he often eats when he is sick. “A lot of families put in about five or so herbs, I put in around 13. Not only the cassia bark, cinnamon and cloves but I put in a lot of a selection from Chinese herbal medicine.” He uses cassia bark instead of cinnamon as he finds that there is more flavour as well as the Vietnamese cardamom pictured below and sawtooth coriander. He makes weekly trips out to Cabramatta which is where Red Lantern gets much of their produce from.
Inside the Vietnamese or black coriander
There are differences in the pho from the north and south of Vietnam. Luke’s family is from the south but he describes the north Vietnamese pho as “very clear, they don’t use a lot of the spices. In the south they pack in a lot of flavour and it’s a little bit darker.” The north pho is less likely to have the herbs, bean sprouts or sauces as it is colder there whereas they grow these abundantly in the south. “It’s very minimal in the north, they like to appreciate the flavours” he says. And Luke talks about the French influences with pot au feu being a similar dish to pho.
This recipe for Pho came from a cooking class I did in Vietnam at the Sheraton Nha Trang which was one of the best cooking classes I have taken. Chef Hung took great pains to teach me all of the fiddly details that ensure the success of a dish even giving me exact gram measurements for things. To make it as authentic as possible, Christie and I went for a day trip out to Cabramatta to get some harder to find ingredients such as eryngo (Vietnamese or French sawtooth coriander), cassia bark which is larger than cinnamon and resembles a large fold of tree bark and Vietnamese cardamom which comes as black oval pods rather than the green cardamom pods.
It does take some time and most of that time is really in the making of the broth which, if done well, is layered and deeply flavoured with hints of star anise, cardamom, ginger and cassia. Many purists will say not to rush it and I can imagine that it would certainly affect the flavour of the broth as I saw it change over time. But once it is simmering you really don’t have to do much except for skimming it once every hour or so and it makes a lot of soup-I ended up with about 4-4.5 litres of it which was perfect for freezing and using if you are in need of a hit of pho. There is a deeply sustaining fragrant beef broth, thinly sliced beef tenderloin which is served raw but then cooks in the steaming hot soup. This contrasts with the soft beef shin meat, heat from the chilli and freshness from the sheaf of mint, Thai basil, eryngo and green onion.
Luke recalls times making the pho broth. He would start it the evening after service had been completed as he needed the whole kitchen for it. He would then leave it overnight with the lid on on low heat. “I’d come back in the morning and as I came down Crown Street I could smell it. I’d turn the alarm off and open it and it’s my favourite part of the day opening the broth up and eating the meat that has been braising.”
So tell me Dear Reader, what is your favourite Vietnamese dish? And if you could sit down with a chef and talk to them, who would it be?
Pho Bo
Recipe adapted from Chef Hung at the Sheraton Nga Trang
For soup
- 2 kg beef shin bones
- 5 litres water
- 4 eschallots
- 1/2 onion, charred (to help bring out the flavour)
- 50-60g ginger, peeled
- 1 fat cassia stick (Vietnamese cassia looks like tree bark)
- 3 pods of Vietnamese cardamom, crushed lightly so that they are opened (quite different from regular cardamom)
- 4 star anise
- Chicken powder, salt, sugar and fish sauce to taste
- 300g beef tenderloin
- 500g fresh rice noodles
- Thai purple basil
- Mint
- Eryngo (Vietnamese or French coriander, different from other coriander, use coriander if you cannot find this)
- 1 x lime, quartered
- 1 large red chilli, sliced
- Green onions
- Some of the soft meat from the beef shin
1. Put a kettleful of water on to boil and pour it over the beef shins to get rid of any bones and dirt. In a very large pot (I used my largest pot that could fit 10 litres), put 5 litres of water on to boil. Once boiling, add the bones and simmer for 3 hours. Every hour or so skim the fat from the top and remove the scum using a slotted spoon. There will be quite a lot of fat coming from the shins from the marrow etc.
2.After three hours, add the eschallots, onion, ginger, cinnamon, Vietnamese cardamom and star anise and simmer for two and a half hours. I asked Chef Hung if I should add these at the beginning but he recommended against it as he said that it would be too strong. When this is done, do a final skim for fat and scum and strain the soup. Remove some of the meat from the shin bones and keep the broth hot.
The final broth ready
3. Slice the beef tenderloin very thinly, as thin as possible as you want the hot soup to cook it. It is easiest to do this when it is frozen or partially frozen. Place a handful of fresh rice noodles and the thinly sliced beef tenderloin in a bowl. Add a little of the meat from the beef shin. Ladle over with the hot soup which will cook the raw beef and change it from pink to grey. Serve with fresh Thai basil, mint, eryngo, lime, chilli and bean sprouts and add these as you feel like.
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81 Comments | Add your own
You find the neatest dishes. Have I ever told you that?
Vietnamese food is so wonderful. Your pho looks delicious! What gorgeous flavors.
I’m bookmarking this recipe.
cheers,
Rosa
Oh, no … I have totally been pronouncing this wrong
I am so showing this post to a friend of mine who I recently had a discussion with on what was the correct pronunciation of Pho!
A great looking “fur”. My fave Vietnamese dish is the rice paper rolls.
Pho is my fave food but it’s something i find difficult to prepare too. thus, the cheat version. keke
If i were to sit down and talk to a chef, it would be thomas keller.
How interesting. I used to be neighbours with a Vietmanese family who made the best Pho ever, but they pronounced Pho as “Fuh.” They’d say the word with a heaviness or longness, on the uhhhhhh. As in, “Fuhhhhh” said very fast. To be honest, it sounded pretty darn close to that nasty F word, minus the ck on the end.
Ye gads, I have a feeling I didn’t explain what I was trying to explain very well at all! lol
This is a fabulous post Lorraine! I had the pleasure of trying Luke’s Pho at World Chef Showcase a couple of years ago and nothing compares to his Pho now. There’s so much flavour there from the meaty bones and charred veg. Yum!
I was so excited to see this post go up! I’ve always wanted to make pho – I wonder if you could shorten the cooking time by using a pressure cooker? Hmm. Thanks for the recipe, Lorraine! x
I would love to have a chat with the beloved Keith Floyd but, as he is no longer with us, I’d say Tetsuya. They’re both gorgeous people who LOVE to eat and so passionate about food. They have polar opposite personalities, which I find endearing. Keith Floyd was a very generous man with his food, of course drink and his hospitality, not many people are aware of that. I just loved that he was out there, quirky and funny.
Oh i love it! I was always unsure of how to say Pho haha. Only recently did I learn and even then Im sure they giggle when they walk away lol. Iv always wanted ot make Pho – thanks so much for the recipe Lorraine
Do you think it would be freezable?
Wow – and you’ve got the authentic bowls too!
Just adore Vietnamese food of any description after going on a cycling tour of Vietnam in the mid 90′s. The food we were served from sun up to sun down was just the best.
I live close to Cabramatta, so we visit regularly. I wouldn’t even begin to try to recreate their amazing food – it’s cheaper to go there to eat! Plus so much choice, no need to leave the country when we have our own mini Vietnam on our doorstep. First stop for brother in law out from UK on hols is always Cabra, he just loves the menus with 300+ different dishes!
yummmm this is the best soup it just makes you feel good – i know it is not traditional but sometimes i roast a bit of pork belly and use that instead of the tenderloin and OMG it is to die for!!!
I need a bowl of Pho right now, coughing, sniffling & snuffling away while I read your blog, glad I now know how to pronounce it.
Vietnamese cuisine is delicious – having many Viet friends, I am more often than not exposed to it
Wonderful dish filled with awesome flavour!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Dear Lorraine,
Great tip about simmering the stock for a very long time. I think this is so important in extracting beautiful flavours and aromas from all the ingredients. The broth is certainly the most important thing to pho but I think there are so many slight variations to the basic few herbs and spices that would change the taste and flavour altogether.
That is my ALL TIME FAVOURITE Vietnamese dish. I will definitely bookmark this recipe and make a huge batch as soon as it turns a bit chillier (in the fall, that is). I love everything about this dish.
I lovvvve pho but can never be bothered to make it for myself – I’ll have to try now I’m craving and there’s no where around here to buy
So heartwarming indeed to have a pot of such gorgeous flavours simmering away all day! Just love it!
If I could sit down and talk with a Chef, it would be someone like Luke or David Thompson, as I’m always striving to get that perfect balance of flavours that comes across in Thai and Vietnamese food. I’d also ask if I could work in their kitchens for a while to get priceless practical experience.
Great photos! Your beef pho looks delicious. I have always shied from making this due to the time involved, but you have explained it so well, it seems possible (after one gets the essential spices).
I’ve had people argue about the pronunciation of Pho too! I’m glad you’ve got that all taken care of.
Your dish looks devine! I would like some today. It’s cloudy.
Just gorgeous. I will have to make the commitment to make this glorious bone broth one time.
I’d always said “faux” in my head until recently when someone told me how it is pronounced – although I still have difficulty saying it even after reading this!
I’ve also never tried Pho – but I’m bookmarking this post
I have a friend who married a guy with the surname ‘Versace’ and he pronounced it ‘Versaitch’. Disappointing really. I have never made a Pho and I thought it was pronounced ‘Foe’. There is a Vietnamese restaurant near me but it’s French Vietnamese so doesn’t serve Pho. If I can scrounge the ingredients I’ll give this a try. Love the plate! xx
You could not have written a more wonderful post for my feeling world today! Absolutely love pho, have watched Luke Nguyen make it both N and S styles, have a lot of quite differing recipes for it from other chefs and am cooking my own broth much longer these days [tho' 8 hours: probably not
!] Have never used eryngo and get the Vietnamese cardamom pods from Herbies’ [for Oz readers] in Sydney. And Luke Nguyen truly would be the chef with whom I would most like to have a good chinwag 
!
Yes, I get intimidated by words…especially certain wines. I don’t want to sound stupid, so I just order Merlot!
Lorraine, nobody rocks as much as you, your stories, your food, your humor, & adventures….
btw, i’d want to meet YOU & that hot looking Australian guy. What’s his name? Um, he’s blonde & HOT as hell. I want him to cook for me so I can stare at him haaa
Xxx
LOVE Vietnamese food, TRUE!
This bowl of Pho certainly warmed me today JUST looking at and could almost smell the aromatic flavours too!
Meeting Tets is on my Bucket List!
Hoping one day, the experience will not be missed!
My favourite Vietnamese noodle dish is bun bo hue, it’s like the spicy version of pho.
I’m Chinese/Vietnamese so I know how to pronounce pho but sometimes I have to pronounce it the wrong way in front of people so that they know what dish I am talking about because most people pronounce it as it is written – po!
Well I’ve been embarrassing myself with that one too. Must practice my pronunciation. I love fresh Vietnamese spring rolls. My dad actually makes really good ones.
I was in Vietnam for Easter this year, and I loved the pho (opps I’ve been pronoucing it ‘foe’), thanks for the recipe now I can have it all the time, although Vietnamese friends in Canberra assure me there are some really authentic places for pho here too!
@ CJ – me too! Pho for lunch today now, though!
I was lucky to learn the pronoucation before I went to Vietnam- I was saying it so wrong! I love the south’s version of Pho- packed with flavour. My Hubbys mum takes 20 hours to cook her’s and it is fantastic Im too scared to replicate. Brilliant recipe.
You must have a lot of patience! The photos are lovely
That is just one of the best posts ever (no offence, please!). To choose what dish I’d like to cook I need to go to Vietnam as I don’t think I’ve tried the real deal yet. 20 hours to make broth?! I can only imagine the taste of that pho, slow cooking does bring the best from the meat.
Gaash. Love Pho. Thankfully you didn’t have to simmer for longer than 3 hours…but I can see why 20 hours would be worthwhile. The gas bill would sky rocket! This is lookin good and perfect timing too.
Think I’ll stick with going out for it
OK… will have to practice my Pho pronunciation as i love it so much
Looks delicious Lorraine
Oh wow, there’s so much to know! I’m a later-comer to Pho, and have been helped by having a Pho Pasteur right next to my work. It’s replaced Tom Yum as my go-to sick soup.
Looks delish Lorraine!
Can’t wait to try it.
Oh pho! I periodically crave this like crazy, then forget about it. It’s always been an eat-out kind of dish for me, though. As ever, you put me to shame
I am so excited to use this recipe! Perfect season for pho
I used to pronounce it as ‘faux’ until my Vietnamese friend corrected me with ‘fur’ which I still giggle when I try to utter it ^^” yeah tones in Chinese matter 
such a hard language to master, I picked it up again recently
Wow, looks great! I’m a huge fan of Luke Nguyen – how lucky of you to get cooking tips from him!
This recipe is a keeper and I must make this one day. We eat pho almost every week and my family always wish that I can cook this… It seems like a lot of work, which is the only reason why I haven’t tried yet (and within $25-30 our family can eat pretty good pho outside too). Thank you so much for the recipe. Definitely keeper and hoping to try!
You know, reading your post I was trying to remember the last time I ate Vietnamese food, and I just don’t… and I don’t seem to recall any dish I could call as a favorite, so will definitely have to experiment a bit to find one
I’ve stayed in Saigon a few times in the last two years and my
Such an involved process, but totally worth it for the aromatic taste sensation! And it’s great you can freeze a batch too. It was fun trying to find the more obscure ingredients in Cabramatta – almost like a treasure hunt!
pho is definitely on my list of wonderful dishes that are intimidating to make and hard for vegetarians to adapt. I would like to ask about making stock for a vegetarian pho if I spoke to Luke Nguyen – does it take as long to make broth without meat or has he never attempted it because it is just not cricket (or whatever the vietnamese equivalent of cricket is). I have had it on my to do list for ages and every summer I want to make it and never quite get around to it
BTW love your tablecloth or placemat in the photos
nothing beats home pho yes
ive never liked going out to eat pho!
Thanks for sharing this! I love Pho and I have attempted to make it only once before…it wasn’t toooo bad, but I’d prefer to buy one out and know I was getting a good one! Haha…I’ve never pronounced it right…nowhere near!
LOOOOOOVE pho, but I think I’ll leave the making of it to the experts – too much effort for me! Yours looks wonderful
One unique combo! The photographs are just mind blowing.
My favorite Vietnamese dish is Pho. It serves to all my preferences in food (meat, carb, greens, spices and chili peppers with lime) in one bowl. Like it is made for me.
If I could sit down with a chef and have a chat I’d like it to be René Redzepi. I like eating seasonal and fresh food and I hear he is an expert in utilising this type of ingredients.
That tenderloin looks gorgeous! I first heard of Pho on Top Chef when Dale made it for a fondue challenge. He said it was a PHO-ndue. wa wa wa…
I heard about Pho but never try one, in Peru we don’t have Vietnames restaurants.
It looks delicious and as wnter is just comming this kind of dish is perfect for cold days.
And yes, if we cook with love, everything will taste fantastic.
I absolutely LOVE pho, but have always been so scared to try making it at home…it just seems so complicated and time consuming when I can buy a beautiful bowl for only $7-8…
kudos for making it so well! It looks delicious!
The pho looks delicious and it IS one of those words that I avoid saying out loud for fear of sounding foolish.
Now I know.
I’ve been mispronouncing pho for years –– like “fe fi pho fum” The fur is a nice reminder (but how do you make it into a question??). Oh well. Dish looks divine with all those colors and flavors.
Thanks for a breakdown of the traditional method.
I most always make faux pho – using a big peice of chuck & braising with the spices etc in the slow cooker & starting with a pre-prepared “normal” beef stock.
You can buy pho spice packs in asian grocers that have cassia, star anise & cloves in one packet.
Also at Valley View Spices on the Appian Way at Bankstown – they are middle eastern but sell most spices by the scoop, including those needed for pho.
You would also find the fresh herbs in Bankstowns’ China Town.
I live near to Bathurst so do a vast majority of my shopping over there when I visit my parents who live near there.
Looks fantastic Lorraine! I really do need to learn the recipe off my dad. He adds his own touch to it which is why I love eating it at home rather than out.
Wow! You made Pho at home that’s really impressive! I ve never thought it was possible as you have to place a lot if time and effort and the ingredients are a little scary to me hehe ~ well done you were able to make it and it looks so delicious!
I made pho recently, but I charred the onion and garlic with skin on before adding it to the broth… This added a unique dimension to the finished broth.
I love this post! I am such a HUGE fan of Luke Nguyen and of his beautiful style of Vietnamese cooking. I’ve never attempted pho at home but I’d like to. These are great tips.
Vietnamese food makes me go a little mental with excitement! I do love a good Pho…although my fav is and always will be Bun Bo Xao…it’s rice noodles with braised beef cooked in lemongrass and garlic with lettuce and cucumber and a yummy dressing….kind of like the most delicious salad ever
I’m going to have to go fossic around in the Kingsford asian grocery shops…I know you can get the cassia bark…but the cardamon…we’ll have to see…I must make PHO!!!
Look what you’ve done to me!
This is just spectacular.
I’m days behind and chose this blog to read as I love watching Luke cook. Glad I did as I’ve been pronouncing pho incorrectly!
I visited hanoi last year and ate all the pho I could! LOVED it. Never tried making it myself at home. Surely going to give your recipe a try.
@NomesFog – you can buy the black cardomom from Herbies. He has an online store also.
Living in a country area that was until VERY recently still eating meat & 3 veg with the odd spaghetti bolognaise thrown in for variety, and coming from Sydney, I have become quite efficient at sourcing ingredients.
Wow, love this one. Vietnam is my all time favourite travel destination and while we were there we ate pho EVERY day – usually for breakfast. I make a very basic, unauthentic version for my daughters, but this reminds me that that dish really shouldn’t called pho at all. I’ve just bought a slow cooker, perhaps a trip down Victoria St or out to Springvale for the vital ingredients and an experiment with the slow cooker could be in order. Oh and as for the Chef, I think Luke would be up there for me too – actually I like him to take me on a tour of Vietnam, do you think that’s asking too much? I had amazing calamari balls at a tiny street vendor in Hue, I’d love to know how to make them.
That broth must be so flavorful and complex! Delicious!
How lucky of you to have met Luke Nguyen! I absolutely love Pho and recently bought a HUGE stock pot so I can double my normal quantities and put some away in the freezer. I tend to simmer the bones for about 3-4 hours. I read somewhere that cooking them for longer would make the soup taste “boney”, if you know what I mean. So I’m not sure about 12 hours … But I like Luke’s tip about not blanching the bones. I’ve also felt that this would remove some of the flavour and I’m glad I’m not alone in these thoughts!
All these years and Ive been pronouncing Pho like a clueless westerner! Thanks for educating me now Im going to be craving Pho all weekend until I cave!
I’ve never tried cooking Vietnamese food even though I love it. Maybe now’s the time to start!
You sat down with Luke Nguyen?? He’s my answer to your question, and my cooking idol. Hell, my everything idol. What I wouldn’t give to taste his pho, oh man. Insanely jealous!!
I never knew the tone went up at the end of the pho!
This recipe looks fantastic. I need to find some time and a cooler day to make it!
You’ve done it much better than the one in the restaurant. Looks really appetising and nice colour too.
Wow, fabulous Pho (pronounced foe ha ha)! We have a wonderful little Vietnamese restaurant near our house that we go to often and oddly enough I have just started ordering the Pho every time I go. It is the perfect meal. Now I wonder if I have the courage to make my own from this recipe. I mean, yours is gorgeous!
Great description of a beloved dish for those of us who have never made it.
just discovered this site
wonderful wonderful wonderful
a tip i learnt in the 70′s for making chicken soup and cooking it for a long time was to leave it in low oven overnight
it works a treat.
Absolutely wrong. It is not pronounced “fur”; it is closer to “fuh” with an emphasis on the uh. Trust me because Vietnamese is my native tongue.
As for cooking pho broth, it is definately something that takes some trials to get right, even with a great recipe. I would also argue that the minumum simmering time is 4 hours (6 is perfect).
Tuoihong, you’ll have to take that up with Luke Nguyen re the pronunciation. And Vietnamese is his native tongue too!
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