Pho Tai Chin Recipe, Brisket and Eye of Round Beef Pho

I have only made pho on my own a total of two or three times ever.  Mostly because making it means committing to having a giant pot's worth and babysitting the broth either overnight or the entire day.  But, it was starting to feel like fall recently and so, I bit the bullet.  Plus, we had help in town to finish up some of it!

Pho bo, or beef pho, is relatively simple to make.  Probably the hardest part is acquiring all the ingredients and scheduling some time to make the broth.  And having a giant pot.  I bought all the ingredients at my local Vietnamese grocery store and it costs less then $30!!! Can't beat that.  Although braving the parking lot and streets in Chinatown are no joke.  I literally had to translate Vietnamese/English for a lady who hit an old man's car while trying to back out of her parking spot. They were trying to file a police report as I was walking into the grocery store and flagged me down to help.  Thank goodness APD has a translator on staff because my Vietnamese ain't thaaaaat great.

-side note-I bet you pictured the lady being the Asian one...but you are wrong.  It was an African-American young woman who backed into an older Vietnamese guy. Who did have insurance.

Simmering beef bones and brisket with charred onions and ginger plus some key Vietnamese herbs and spices is the key to a flavorful broth.  And it made the house smell amazing.  Why hasn't anyone thought of making a pho-scented candle?
J/K, someone has thought of it: Pho Scented Candle

Ingredients:
Broth:

• 1 onion
• 1 5" piece of ginger
• 1 pre-made spice packet like Old Man Que Huong Pho Bac Spice Seasoning 1.5 oz or:
• 5 star anise
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tbs. coriander seends
• 1 pod cardomom
• 1 tbs. fennel seeds
• 5 lbs. beef bones (knuckle and leg bones)
• 1 quart chicken broth
• 2 tbs. salt
• 1 chunk of rock candy*
• 2-3 tbs. of fish sauce (nuoc mam)
• stems of cilantro (see below)

Arranging bowls:

• vermicelli noodles (look for "banh pho" on the package), prepared as per package directions **
• eye of round beef, thinly cut across the grain ***
• reserved brisket from broth, sliced thinly
• salt and pepper
• white or yellow onion, thinly sliced and soaked in cold water, then drained
• shallot, thinly sliced and soaked in cold water, then drained
• fish sauce, if needed
• green onion, chopped
• cilantro, leaves roughly chopped

Let each eater personalize bowls with:

• thai basil
• culantro (ngo gai)
• fresh bean sprouts, washed and dried
• lime wedges
• Sriracha and hoisin sauce

notes: 

*rock candy can be found at an Asian grocery store.

**if available, I prefer fresh noodles, sometimes found at select Asian grocery stores

***if you cannot find this or ask a butcher to do it for you, freeze the meat to enable thinner slicing

Directions:

Broth

1. Grill or broil the onion halves and peeled ginger.  You want a nice char around the outer layers of onion and the ginger to be slightly soft to touch.  DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP.  This is essential for imparting that distinct pho flavor.  I had Reid do this on our outdoor grill, but I also did this on the top rack of my oven, in a top rack sheet pan for about 5 minutes on broil.  I've also done this on the naked, clean stove grill, but that works better if you have a gas range (works well on electric, too, but grilling or broiling is easier/less likely to set off your smoke alarm)
2. In the biggest pot you have (no really, I use my crawfish boiling pot...needs to hold at least 8 quarts of water),  parboil the beef bones.  That means bring the water to a boil, then dump everything over a strainer and run a little cold water over it.  This helps get the 'yuck' off the bones and make the broth taste cleaner.
3. After you scrubbed the pot out a little, place bones, onion, ginger, and brisket in and add about 5 quarts of water and 1 quart of chicken broth.  Bring to a boil.
4. While you ware waiting for that, in a separate large pan over medium-high heat, roast the contents of the spice packet or actual spices.  Tie in included bag or in cheesecloth and place in large broth pot.  Add rock sugar, salt, and fish sauce
5. Bring to a simmer.  Skim off scum from top of broth every ~30minutes to an hour.
6. After 1-2 hours of simmering, remove brisket and spice packet.  Reserve brisket for later.
7. Continue to simmer broth for an additional minimum of 2 hours.  Sometimes I let the broth simmer all night.  Continue skimming off scum.  Remove all large bones (you can reserve to eat if people like to eat marrow or cartilage/ligaments). Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a large (but not humongous) pot.
8. Cool slightly before refrigerating for minimum of 5 hours.  Remove most of fat solidified at top.  I like to save about 1-2 inches diameter worth of fat for flavor.  

Serving

1. In each bowl, layer vermicelli noodles, sliced brisket, and raw eye of round.  Add a shake or two of pepper and a dash of fish sauce if desired.  Add sliced onions and shallots and green onions.
2. When ready to eat, ladle over broth and SERVE IMMEDIATELY.  This keeps the vermicelli noodles from expanding too much and becoming soggy.
3. Serve alongside bean sprouts, herbs, lime wedges, and Sriracha and hoisin sauce.