🍜 Pho bo (beef pho)

Name: Pho bo (beef pho)
Total time: 240 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Vietnam · Hanoi
Ingredients: 1.5 kg beef bones and 500 g beef brisket; 300 g beef sirloin, very thinly sliced; 400 g flat rice noodles; 1 onion and a 5 cm piece of ginger, charred; 3 star anise and 1 cinnamon stick; 3 tbsp fish sauce, salt and a little sugar; Bean sprouts, Thai basil and lime wedges to serve

Origin: Vietnam · Hanoi

475kcal

per serving · 500 g

95kcal

per 100 g

30 gProtein6 g / 100 g

10 gFat2 g / 100 g

60 gCarbs12 g / 100 g

Pho bo is the classic beef version of Vietnam's noodle soup. Beef bones simmer for hours with charred onion and ginger, star anise and cinnamon, and the broth is seasoned with fish sauce for depth. It is ladled over flat rice noodles and sliced beef and served with bean sprouts, Thai basil and lime, so every bowl can be adjusted at the table.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

Not vegetarianbecause of: beef, fish sauce

Not veganbecause of: beef, fish sauce

Not keto12 g carbs per 100 g

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Fish

What it is made of

rice noodlesbeefstar anisecinnamonfish saucebean sproutsbasillime

Recipe

4 servings240 min

Ingredients

1.5 kg beef bones and 500 g beef brisket
300 g beef sirloin, very thinly sliced
400 g flat rice noodles
1 onion and a 5 cm piece of ginger, charred
3 star anise and 1 cinnamon stick
3 tbsp fish sauce, salt and a little sugar
Bean sprouts, Thai basil and lime wedges to serve

Method

Blanch the bones for 5 minutes, drain and rinse.
Simmer the bones and brisket in 3 litres of water with the charred onion and ginger, star anise and cinnamon for 3 hours, skimming often.
Slice the brisket, strain the broth and season with fish sauce, salt and a little sugar.
Divide the cooked noodles, brisket and raw sirloin between bowls.
Pour over boiling broth and serve with sprouts, basil and lime.

How to make it lighter

Skim the fat from the chilled broth before serving.
Fish sauce is salty — add it gradually and taste.
Swap part of the noodles for extra bean sprouts and herbs.

History

Pho emerged in northern Vietnam, around Hanoi and Nam Định, in the early 20th century. Its exact origins are debated, with influences often traced to Vietnamese rice-noodle soups and to French and Chinese cooking of the period. After 1954 it spread south and later around the world with the Vietnamese diaspora.

Count it in one photo

Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Pho bo (beef pho) and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.

Download on the App Store

Similar dishes

Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →