Phở Bò — Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup
Vietnam's national dish: a crystal-clear beef broth perfumed with charred ginger, onion, star anise and cinnamon, poured over silky rice noodles and paper-thin slices of beef. Finished at the table with fresh herbs, lime and chili.
Servings
Ingredients
Nutrition
Per serving
Steps
Cook without limits
Every recipe unlocked, full methods included · Hands-free cooking mode with step timers
Start your free weekContinue with free accessBlanch the bones
Place the bones in a large stockpot, cover with cold water and bring to a hard boil for 10 minutes. Drain, then rinse the bones and the pot to remove all the grey scum. This step is the secret to a clear broth.
Char the aromatics
While the bones blanch, char the onion halves and ginger directly over a gas flame or under a hot grill until blackened in spots, about 5 minutes. Toast the star anise, cinnamon, cloves and coriander seeds in a dry pan for 2 minutes until fragrant.
Simmer the broth
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Season and strain
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Prepare the bowls
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Ladle and serve
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Blanch the bones
Place the bones in a large stockpot, cover with cold water and bring to a hard boil for 10 minutes. Drain, then rinse the bones and the pot to remove all the grey scum. This step is the secret to a clear broth.
Char the aromatics
While the bones blanch, char the onion halves and ginger directly over a gas flame or under a hot grill until blackened in spots, about 5 minutes. Toast the star anise, cinnamon, cloves and coriander seeds in a dry pan for 2 minutes until fragrant.
Simmer the broth
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Season and strain
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Prepare the bowls
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
Ladle and serve
This step is part of Foodie Premium. Subscribe to unlock the full method, cooking mode and every recipe in the library.
The Story Behind the Dish
Phở emerged in northern Vietnam in the early 1900s, around Hanoi and the textile province of Nam Định. Historians usually point to a meeting of influences: Chinese noodle-soup traditions and spice trading on one side, and the French colonial appetite for beef on the other, which made bones and cheap cuts newly available to Vietnamese cooks.
Street vendors carried it through the city on shoulder poles — a pot of simmering broth hanging at one end, noodles and herbs at the other. After the country was divided in 1954, northerners who moved south took phở with them, and Saigon cooks added the plate of fresh herbs, bean sprouts and lime that many people now consider essential.
When Vietnamese communities settled abroad after 1975, phở travelled again. Today it is one of the most recognised soups on earth.
⭐ Why It's Famous
Phở is the everyday dish of Vietnam — eaten at tiny plastic stools on the pavement as much as in restaurants. A great bowl is judged almost entirely by its broth: clear, deeply beefy and fragrant with spice, the result of hours of patient simmering.
💡 Fun Fact
In Hanoi, phở is traditionally a breakfast food. Many of the city's most famous phở shops open before dawn and close by mid-morning once the day's broth is gone.
Hanoi & Nam Định, Northern Vietnam
21.03°N, 105.85°E
Related recipes
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!