Vietnamese Pho

The kids and I LOVE pho (pronounced fuh, not foe) and on the rare night we go out to eat as a family pho is usually our go-to. You get an enormous bowl that the kids can split and I can barely finish (it's an effort, but I apply myself diligently) for $7.95. You can't beat feeding three people at a restaurant for under $20. Once in a while, if we get lunch I'll spring for the coffee too and then I spend the rest of the day vibrating. If you've ever had Vietnamese coffee you'll know what I'm talking about, if you haven't, well you need to if you like coffee because it's as close as you can come to mainlining the stuff.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to attempting this recipe. I'm going to be focusing heavily on the crockpot this summer since my new kitchen is super small and not very well ventilated. I turn on that oven and the entire front of the house heats up at least five degrees (while the back of the house stays a nice cool 78).

This recipe comes from crockpot365, my favorite crock pot blog ever!

The Ingredients.
--6 cups beef broth or stock
--2 inch chunk of peeled ginger
--3/4 t anise (I just use one whole star anise)
--1 cinnamon stick
--2 sliced green onions
--1 lb thin sliced beef (I used bulgogi meat from the Asian market)
--package of rice noodles
--1 t fish sauce (I also throw three whole frozen anchovies in the broth)
--1/2 t kosher salt
--1/2 t black pepper

Garnish:

--lime wedges

--bean sprouts

--cilantro

--basil

--sriracha

--soy

--fish sauce

The Directions.

Put all of the broth into the crockpot. Add the meat, green onion, ginger, fish sauce, and spices. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 4-6. It's done when the meat is fully cooked. I used a 6qt Smart Pot for this recipe and it took a good 4 hours on high for the large amount of broth in my crock to get hot enough to cook the meat.

--my edit, I like my meat rare, so I put it in the bottom of the bowl and pour the broth from the pot on top of it.  The meats cooks up perfectly, just like in the restaurant.  When I followed the directions, the meat was tough and chewy.

15 minutes before serving, add the entire package of rice noodles to the pot. Push them under the liquid with a wooden spoon, and cover.

By the time you set the table, the noodles will be tender and glass-like. Serve in bowls.