Pho Noodles

My family loves anything noodles. Whether it is a soup type noodles or a saute' type, we will  relish it to its last piece. This week, I made Pho Beef Noodle soup, since I still have some leftover ingredients from chicken spring rolls. It is just so surprising that something so good will result from very easy preparation. 

There are so many choices of beef broth mixture that can be bought in the store. You can use bouillon or anything that you can find in the Asian market but this beef broth mixture (pictured below) is the best one yet. I promise you, I tried almost mixture out there but this mixture replicated the flavor of my favorite Viet Restaurant. In fact, I am certain that they used this one.

Usually, when you go to Asian store, there is already a packet of Pho spices available. But they are not available in our usual supermarket. So it becomes tricky as to what spices to use. If this is the case with you, you can cut off the Pho spices into cinnamon and cardamon. And if those are not available, you can cut them off altogether. Spices should not stop you from making noodles, right?  I also cooked the noodles and beef separately but make sure it will not be overcooked. You do not want a slushy noodles.

The artificial beef flavor I used. You can use any beef broth you like

Ingredients:

For the broth:

2 tbsp of beef flavor broth or 2 beef bouillon

8 cups of water

Pho spices: 

1 cinnamon seed

1 tbsp coriander

3 anise seeds

1 tbsp cardamon

Noodles:

3 bundles of rice stick noodles

2 cups water

Garnish:

2 stems Spring onions 

1/2 bundle cilantro

1/2 bundle of basil leaves

1/2 lb thinly sliced beef brisket, very thinly sliced

Eggs ( optional)

Red Bell Pepper (optional)

Fistful bean sprouts (optional)

Direction:

Place all the broth ingredients in a big pot and bring to a boil. 

Get another pot with 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add in the noodles and cook the noodles until mildly soft. Add in the beef and turn off fire. Remove the beef and noodles, draining the water off and put in a bowl.

To serve:
Place the noodles in a deep bowl and pour in the beef broth. 

Add in the beef and the garnishes and serve immediately.