Beef Pho- All Phases

There is not one single food on the planet that makes me feel as good as a bowl of pho. The deep, rich broth. The crunchy vegetables. The lovely noodles. 

Start with a good beef bone broth. If you want to use store bought- get one without sugar or soy or other non FMD ingredients.

Use Miracle Noodles in all phases. You can also use brown rice Pad Thai noodles in P1. 

Make a giant batch of the broth and freeze some so you can have Pho whenever you want. You can halve this recipe if you need to. 

For a homemade bone broth:

Beef Bone Broth

5lbs beef bones- knuckle bones, short rib bones, oxtail or combo 

Splash of vinegar

Put the bones in a very large stock pot and cover with water. Bring to boil and let cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove the bones and rinse in fresh water. Clean out the stock pot. Add the bones back in, along with 20 cups of fresh water and the vinegar. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 24 hours. Do not boil. Just a gentle simmer is all you need. Remove any scum that floats to the surface. Allow to cool and strain the broth. Discard bones. 

Now for the good stuff.

Beef Pho

10 cups of bone broth

1 large onion

1 4 inch piece of ginger, unpeeled

5 star anise

5 whole cloves

1 large or 2 small cinnamon stick

5 green cardamom pods

1T whole coriander seeds

1T xylitol or stevia equivalent

1/4 cup Red Boat fish sauce

Sea Salt to taste

Cut the onion in half and smash the ginger with a knife to mash it just a bit. Place on a rack on a baking sheet under a broiler for about 5-8 minutes, until thoroughly charred. Be sure to turn over and char all sides. Let cool. Scrape off the charred bits and rinse. Place into the stock pot with the beef broth.

In a non stick skillet, heated over medium high heat, place the anise, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and coriander. Toss and cook for just about 1 minute to toast- do not allow to burn. Put these into the pot. Bring the broth to a simmer and allow to cook for 2 hours. Strain and discard the aromatics. Add fish sauce, sweetener, and a bit of salt. Stir and taste. Add more salt as needed, or fish sauce. 

Place your steak in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to make slicing easier. Slice very very thin. You can also use cooked meatballs for pho.

For the toppings:

4oz lean steak per serving

Prepared noodles

Bean sprouts (P1 and P3 only)

Cilantro

Thai Basil

Thinly slices radish

Lime wedges or lemon wedges

Fresh mint

Thinly slices onions (let these sit in some vinegar for a few minutes, if you want)

Spring onion

Thin sliced jalapeno or Thai chile

Sugar free Sriracha

Tamari

Chili Sauce (see my recipe)

Black pepper

Fish Sauce

If you want a compliant hoisin style sauce:

FMD Hoisin

4T tamari

2T raw cashew or almond butter

1T xylitol mixed with 1tsp hot water until dissolved

2 tsp rice vinegar or coconut vinegar

Whisk together. Serve with pho.