Instant Pho
Few soups do that as well as a heaping bowl of pho. The Vietnamese beef-bone based soup is usually chock full of noodles, fresh herbs and any number of toppings like cilantro, bean sprouts, thinly sliced round eye or even meatballs.
Ingredients :
- 4 lb. beef bones
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 8 to 10 cloves
- 4 green cardamom or 1 black cardamom pods
- 2 to 3 star anise pods
- 1 large onion, peeled and halved
- 1 large piece ginger, roughly chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, smashed
- 2 1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
- 1/3 cup fish sauce
- Kosher salt
- 1 lb. beef brisket or chuck, cut into large pieces
- 3/4 lb. flank steak or round eye
- 1 lb. banh pho noodles
- 1 bunch cilantro, half roughly chopped and half left whole
- Green onions, green parts thinly sliced
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced and soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
- Lime wedges
- Bean sprouts
- Hoisin sauce
- Sriracha
Directions :
- Fill a large pot enough to cover bones and bring to a rolling boil. Add bones and cook 10 minutes. You should notice a good amount of scum and cloudiness in your water. Since the bones are going to cook in a pressure cooker, there won’t be a chance to skim the top of the broth of the scum, so parboiling the bones helps to reduce cloudiness in the final soup. Strain the bones and wash them under cold water, making sure to scrub away any remaining scumminess.
- Set your Instant Pot to sauté. Once the cooker has heated, add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and star anise. Toast spices for 3 to 4 minutes, until fragrant. Turn off Instant Pot. Add bones, onion, ginger, and garlic to the Instant Pot, then cover with 6 cups of water. Add brown sugar, fish sauce, and a big pinch of kosher salt, and give it a slight stir to combine. Top everything with the brisket and add just enough water to cover without going above the max pressure line in the Instant Pot.
- Place the cover on Instant Pot and close it. Move the steam release valve to the “sealing position” and set the Instant Pot to “Pressure Cook” on high for 1 hour. It should take 10 to 15 minutes for the pressure cooker to seal properly.
- When the soup is done, carefully release the steam valve and allow for the Instant Pot to depressurize and for the steam to release. This can take a little while, so just be patient!
- When done, set aside the cooked brisket and strain the broth through a fine mesh strainer into a pot or move the broth to a container and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- OPTIONAL: For an extra clear, less fatty broth, allow the broth to cool in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight and remove the layer of fat that will have solidified on top of your broth.
- To slice the beef, place in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove and slice against the grain as thinly as possible. Move the slices to a place and set aside.
- Move your banh pho noodles to a large heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 15 to 20 minutes or until they have reached your desired texture. Strain and rinse with cold water, set aside. While the noodles are soaking, bring the broth to a boil in a large saucepan.
- To serve, add some noodles to the bottom of each bowl. Add a bit of chopped cilantro, green onion, and onion. Next, add a few slices of the raw beef. Cover everything with boiling broth, which will cook the raw beef. Serve the bowl alongside more cilantro, scallion, and onions, as well as lime wedges, bean sprouts, hoisin, and sriracha.
