Quick & Easy Pho (Stove Top, Instant Pot, or Slow Cooker)
This easy Vietnamese inspired Pho is a quick and easy adaptation that's perfect when you're tight on time. It's made with rice noodles, broth, and choice of chicken, beef, pork or shrimp.Pho (pronounced “fuh”) is a Vietnamese noodle soup that’s made with broth, rice noodles, meat, and fresh garnishes. Authentic versions take much more time and love than this recipe.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 8 oz dried rice vermicelli noodles
- Desired meat: chicken, pork, steak or raw shrimp* (See notes)
- 1 large yellow onion quartered
- 2 2-inch pieces fresh ginger unpeeled and halved, length-wise
- 6 cups broth chicken, beef or vegetable, depending on protein choice
- 2 cups water
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- 1 whole clove (optional)
- 1½ Tablespoons fish sauce (or less, to taste preference)
- ¼ teaspoon hoisin sauce
- ¼ teaspoon soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon red chili paste (Thai red chili paste, or sambal oelek)
- 1 stick cinnamon
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For garnish (this is where pho soup shines!):
- 4 green onions (scallions) chopped
- 2 fresh jalapeño peppers or red thai chili peppers thinly sliced and seeds removed
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
- 1 bunch Thai basil leaves
- 1 cup fresh bean sprouts
- 2 limes cut into wedges
- Sriracha hot sauce or additional red chili paste , for heat, optional
Instructions
- Place a large dry pot over medium heat add the onion halves and ginger pieces. Cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the broth, water, coriander, clove, fish sauce, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, chili garlic paste, cinnamon stick and a pinch of fresh cracked salt and pepper to the pot. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare noodles according to package instructions. Once soft, drain, rinse and set aside.
- Ready the garnishes in individual small bowls for serving: cilantro, basil, green onions, bean sprouts, lime wedges and sliced chilies.
- 1-5 minutes before the broth is done cooking, add desired meat to the broth to cook, just until done (2-3 minutes for raw, thinly sliced chicken or pork, 1-2 minutes for shrimp or thinly sliced steak).
- Discard the ginger, clove, cinnamon stick and onion pieces from the pot. (You probably need to remove the chosen protein from the broth before doing this, to simplify the process.)
- Divide the noodles among bowls; ladle broth on top (and meat). Add desired toppings.
Notes
Bryan’s Notes:
I made this using shrimp for the protein, in an Instant Pot. It was quite easy, and turned out well. I backed off on the spices, as my wife doesn’t handle spices as well as she used to. While I was cooking the broth, my wife commented that the house smelled heavenly!Recipe Notes:
Protein: It’s important to slice the meat as thinly as possible, against the grain.- Beef Pho (phở bò): ½ pound sirloin steak, flank steak or brisket, sliced very thinly and seasoned with salt and pepper.
- Chicken Pho (phở gà): Slice 1-2 boneless, skinless breasts into very thin pieces, against the grain. Season with salt and pepper.
- Pork Pho: Season a 1 lb pork tenderloin with salt and pepper and sear in a little bit of oil in a very hot pan until browned on all sides (about 10 minute). Allow to rest while broth cooks and then slice into very thin slices.
- Shrimp: raw, shells removed.
