Instant Pot Beef Pho Recipe (Phở Bò Tái Chín)

METHOD

• 1)

  Roast the bones, brisket, onion and ginger

  Preheat your oven to 450°F. Place a some foil on a baking sheet and lightly oil the the foil, place the brisket, bones, onion and ginger on the foil and put the baking sheet on the middle rack of your oven. Roast them for 30 minutes. Place the onions into a large cotton soup bag (link here) or wrap them up in a fine cheese cloth to prevent your broth from getting cloudy.

• 2)

  Add The Spices

  Use a large soup / spice bag and add 5 Whole Star Anise Pods, 3 Whole Cloves, 1 Cinnamon Stick, 1 Black Cardamon Pod, 2 Tablespoons of Coriander Seeds and 2 Tablespoons of Fennel Seed & seal the bag well.

  Or use Que Huong Pho Bac Spice Seasoning instead using the above spices – I only use 3 cloves in my recipe – so remove extra ones from the bag

• 3)

  Cook the meat

  Fill the Instant Pot about half way with filtered Water, add the onion, ginger, spices, 2 Tablespoons of Kosher Salt and 2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar or Rock Sugar to the pot.  Place all the bones in first and the meat last into the pot, add more water to cover the meat and bones if needed. Set it to Manual / High Pressure for 1 Hour, after the timer is up and you hear the beep, wait 20 minutes then switch the knob to Venting to release the rest of the pressure. Remove all the meat and oxtail if you used any and place into a large bowl of ice water, after the meat has cooled place into sealed container and store in the refrigerator. It’s easier to slice the brisket when it has firmed up in the refrigerator.

• 4)

  Make bone broth:

  This extra cooking time will extract more collagen and minerals adding more nutritional value and flavor to your broth. Using a fine mesh strainer / fat skimmer (purchase here), skim the broth if there is any scum – this helps keep the broth clear. Fill it to the max line with more filtered water. Set it to Manual / High Pressure for 1 Hour, after the timer is up and you hear the beep, wait 30 minutes then switch the knob to Venting to release the rest of the pressure (or do a full Natural pressure release – but this can take over an hour). Remove the bones, onions, ginger and spices. You can skim some of the fat off, but don’t remove it all or your pho will taste bland.

  ***Save some of the fat to serve as an accompaniment to the pho – in restaurants it’s called Nước béo or fatty broth- you add a little to your bowl of pho and it really boosts the flavor

• 5)

  SEASON your broth

  I purposely left this recipe under seasoned so you can customize it to your taste. You’ll have to taste several times and keep adding salt and sugar a little at a time until perfectly seasoned. If you’re not against using, MSG add 1 Tablespoon of it, pretty much every pho restaurant uses MSG in their broth.  The broth should taste slightly salty, since it will balance out after you add the noodles.  If your broth tastes bland after you add noodles, you didn’t season enough – you should not have to add any additional seasoning to your broth at the table.

• 6)

  Cook your pho noodles

  Prepare the noodles according to the directions on the package.  Times will be different for dry or fresh noodles. Add a portion to each serving bowl.

• 7)

  Create your bowl

  Thinly slice your brisket against the grain, and place on top of each bowl.  If you used any oxtail place those in the bowls as well.  Top with boiling hot broth and garnish with plenty of scallions, cilantro and thinly sliced onions. Add a splash of Fish Sauce for that extra boost of umami.  The rest of the garnishes are optional and can be served on the side.