“I-Cheated” Pho

Bahan-bahan

• 4C Beef stock

• 1 Onion, sliced

• 2T Fish sauce

• 1t Sugar

• Rice stick noodles

• Hot pot style sliced beef of your choice

• Bean sprouts

• Thai basil

• Lime

• Cilantro

SPICES

• 5 Star anise

• 1-2 Cinnamon quills, depends on size

• 4 Cardamon pods, break open

• 3 Cloves

• 1.5T Coriander seeds

Arahan

• Toast spices in the pot for a couple minutes over medium heat.

• Add beef stock, onion, and sugar to the toasted spices, bring to boil, cover & let simmer for 30 minutes. Add fish sauce.

• Cook noodles according to package instructions & place beef on top of the noodles & ladle hot soup over it to cook the beef for medium rare. Serve w/ vegetables on the side.

Nota

• I cheat w/ store brought beef bouillon (Costco) since I don’t normally keep beef stocks. This is definitely not the “authentic” pho, but it will give you the similar taste in about 30 minutes.

• If you can, find Ceylon cinnamon (aka “true” cinnamon) instead of Cassia cinnamon that is commonly sold in the grocery store . Ceylon cinnamon has better fragrance, sweet mellow taste & without the sharp taste that you normally get with Cassia cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon barks are normally rather large, so only use 1 stick.

• You can boil beef meat balls w/ the soup base after it came to boil.

• Cook the beef & bean sprouts in the hot soup for 1 minutes for children under the age of 10 & elderly.