How to Make Hanoi-Style Phở Bò — The Authentic Northern Vietnamese Recipe

Overview

This video details how to make authentic Hanoi-style Phở Bò from scratch, featuring a 12-hour bone broth, precisely charred aromatics, and exact spice ratios. Learn to achieve the signature clear amber broth and perfect medium-rare beef slices using traditional Northern Vietnamese techniques.

Ingredients

• 6 pounds beef knuckle marrow and neck bones
• 1 pound brisket
• 1 pound oxtail
• 6 liters fresh cold water
• 2 large yellow onions, cut in half
• 1 hand fresh ginger, sliced lengthwise
• 4 whole star anise
• 2 cinnamon sticks, 3 inches long each
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 cup good fish sauce (Phú Quốc nuoc mam recommended)
• 2 ounces yellow rock sugar, broken into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons salt (plus more to taste)
• Banh phở tươi fresh rice noodles (or banh phở khô dried wide flat noodles)
• 1 pound eye-of-round beef
• Thin slivers yellow onion
• Thin slivers green onion
• Fresh chopped cilantro
• Fresh Thai basil leaves (for serving)
• 2 limes, quartered (for serving)
• 2 thin slices fresh red chili (for serving)
• Small dish chili-garlic vinegar (for serving)

Instructions

1. Place 6 pounds of beef knuckle marrow and neck bones in a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a hard boil for 10 minutes.
2. Pour off the dirty water, scrub the bones under cold tap water, and scrub the pot clean.
3. Return cleaned bones to the clean pot, add 1 pound brisket and 1 pound oxtail, cover with 6 liters of fresh cold water, and bring to a bare simmer.
4. Skim the gray foam every 15 minutes for the first hour of simmering.
5. Char 2 large yellow onions (cut in half) and 1 hand of fresh ginger (sliced lengthwise) over an open gas flame or under a broiler for 8 minutes total until surfaces are deeply blackened and blistered.
6. Rinse the burnt skin off the charred onions and ginger under cold water, then drop them into the simmering broth at the one-hour mark.
7. Lower the heat so the broth maintains a gentle bare simmer, never boiling above it.
8. In a dry pan over medium heat, toast 4 whole star anise, 2 cinnamon sticks, 6 whole cloves, 1 tablespoon coriander seeds, 2 black cardamom pods, and 1 teaspoon fennel seeds for 2 to 3 minutes until aromatic.
9. Tie all toasted spices in a square of cheesecloth and drop the spice sachet into the broth at the two-hour mark.
10. Simmer the broth for 10 more hours, for a total broth time of 12 hours.
11. At hour eleven, season the broth by adding 1/4 cup of fish sauce, 2 ounces of yellow rock sugar (broken into small pieces), and 2 tablespoons of salt.
12. Taste the broth and adjust salt by the half teaspoon until the balance is salty first, slightly sweet, and deeply beefy.
13. Strain the entire broth through a fine cheesecloth-lined strainer and discard the bones.
14. Keep the brisket; after it cools for 5 minutes, slice it across the grain a quarter inch thick.
15. If using dried banh phở khô noodles, soak them for 10 minutes in warm water, then blanch for 60 seconds in boiling water and drain.
16. Divide the prepared noodles into 4 wide flat phở bowls.
17. Slice 1 pound of eye-of-round beef (frozen 30 minutes first) paper-thin, 1 to 2 millimeters, with a sharp knife at a 30-degree angle.
18. Arrange 12 thin slices of raw eye-of-round beef over the noodles in each bowl.
19. Top with the cooked brisket slices, thin slivers of yellow onion and green onion, and fresh chopped cilantro.
20. Bring the strained broth back to a rolling boil at 212 degrees Fahrenheit (100 degrees Celsius).
21. Ladle 3 full cups of boiling broth directly onto the raw beef in each bowl.
22. Serve immediately with a small side plate of fresh Thai basil leaves, 2 quartered limes, 2 thin slices of fresh red chili, and a small dish of chili-garlic vinegar.

In this video

• True Hanoi-style phở bò is characterized by a clear, clean broth, unlike the sweeter, herbier Southern versions.
• Achieving a clear amber broth requires blanching six pounds of beef knuckle marrow and neck bones for ten minutes, scrubbing them, and then simmering.
• Gray foam must be skimmed every fifteen minutes for the first hour of simmering to prevent a muddy broth.
• Two large yellow onions and one hand of fresh ginger must be charred directly over an open flame or under a broiler for eight minutes until deeply blackened and blistered.
• Eight specific aromatic spices, including star anise, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, black cardamom, and fennel seeds, are toasted and tied into a sachet.
• The spice sachet is added to the broth at the two-hour mark, and the broth simmers for a total of twelve hours at a gentle bare simmer.
• Broth seasoning at hour eleven includes one quarter cup of fish sauce, two ounces of yellow rock sugar, and two tablespoons of salt, adjusted to taste.
• Paper-thin eye-of-round beef (one to two millimeters thick) is arranged raw in the bowl, cooked by ladling three cups of two-hundred-twelve-degree Fahrenheit boiling broth directly over it.
• Hanoi-style phở is served with spare accompaniments like fresh Thai basil leaves, lime, and fresh red chili, explicitly without hoisin, sriracha, or bean sprouts.

Frequently asked questions

What is the origin of Phở?

Phở originated in Nam Định province in northern Vietnam in the early nineteen-hundreds. Historians debate if its name comes from the French pot-au-feu or the Cantonese ngauyuk fan.

How do you achieve a clear Phở broth?

To ensure a clear amber broth, first blanch six pounds of beef bones in boiling water for ten minutes, scrub them clean, and then simmer in fresh cold water while consistently skimming gray foam for the first hour.

What spices are used in Hanoi-style Phở?

Hanoi-style Phở uses an exact ratio of eight aromatic spices: four whole star anise, two three-inch cinnamon sticks, six whole cloves, one tablespoon coriander seeds, two black cardamom pods, and one teaspoon fennel seeds.

How is the beef cooked for Hanoi-style Phở?

Paper-thin slices of eye-of-round beef, frozen for thirty minutes and cut one to two millimeters thick, are laid raw over noodles. Boiling broth at two-hundred-twelve degrees Fahrenheit is then ladled over them, cooking the beef to medium-rare in under ten seconds.

What accompaniments are served with authentic Hanoi Phở?

Authentic Hanoi Phở is served with deliberately spare accompaniments: a small side plate of fresh Thai basil leaves, two quartered limes, two thin slices of fresh red chili, and a small dish of chili-garlic vinegar. Hoisin, sriracha, and bean sprouts are not traditional.