The Beautiful Bowl | Pho Deconstructed | Shown with Sake

This is the broth used for Vietnamese Pho. When people talk Pho, they are generally speaking of an aromatic, noodle soup. ‘Pho’ actually means ‘rice noodle’, of which this soup has none as it is intended as a warming, low carb option. But you’ll never miss the noodles, the flavorful broth holds an abundance of steak, poached egg & Asian vegetables. Keto lovers will want to add this recipe to their repertoire. This recipe can easily be halved, but I recommend that you make a full batch of the broth & freeze what you do not use as it is such a flavorful, labor of love.

Begin early in the day. Prep time: 1 hour. Total cooking time: 7 hours.

8 servings

Vietnamese Bone Broth.

2 lbs. beef stock bones (such as knuckle, oxtail or neck)
1 1/2 lb. meaty beef shank (or similar cut)
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 large onions, halved
1 bunch of green onion, divided
2 oz. ginger root, halved horizontal
1 large bulb garlic, halved horizontal (or two small bulbs)
16 whole dried shitake mushrooms
2 tsp. Monk Fruit sweetener
3 Tbsp. beef base
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 package, Pho seasoning, lightly toasted in a hot dry pan

Accompaniments to build your bowl.

3 lb. cold, rare cooked Tri-tip (130f-135f or similar juicy beef cut) sliced very thinly
8 poached eggs
1 6oz. package of white beech mushrooms
1/2 lb. bean sprouts
1 plump bulb of garlic (separate cloves, remove skins, slice paper thin)
10 Thai chili, cut paper thin
1 Tbsp. each olive oil & sesame oil
1 bunch Thai basil, chiffonade
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup of mint, finely chopped
green onion (from bunch above) sliced on the diagonal
4 limes, wedged
Sriracha for serving

1.) Preheat oven to 500f. Grease a sheet pan with 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, dredge beef bones & shank around the sheet pan to coat with oil, roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring to a boil, 6 qts. of water in a large stock pot. Add bones. Char the halved onions, 1/2 of the package of green onion, ginger & garlic, directly on the burner over high flame, then add to the broth. If you do not have a gas range, use the same sheet pan (it’s already oiled) & the same method as for shanks, roast vegetables cut side down in a 400f oven, 15 minutes. Add dried Shitakes, Monk Fruit sweetener & base. Cover with a lid, slightly offset to allow for some evaporation & simmer gently over the lowest heat for 5 hrs. You may need a diffuser to soften the heat.

2.) After five hours of simmering, add fish sauce & toasted aromatics. Simmer for another 2 hours. Meanwhile, in a small sauce pan, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil with 1 Tbsp. sesame oil over medium until shimmering. Fry the thinly sliced garlic until golden, remove with a slotted spoon, drain on a paper towel, to be offered with soup. In the same oil fry Thai chilis until fragrant, remove from heat & serve this chili oil as a condiment. Arrange your soup accompaniments on a serving platter or in individual dishes so that each guest can choose what they like.

3.) Remove whole shitake mushrooms, set aside. Strain your broth through a sieve & return to heat, add the shitake back in. Serve hot broth over offerings in a bowl large enough to accommodate.

(See chef notes & illustrations below)

Build a Beautiful Bowl.

Compose your soup accompaniments on a serving platter or in individual bowls for serving. Sip some Sake…
Put in your filler first, usually bean sprouts. Take another sip of Sake.
Mound your thinly sliced meat off to one side of the bowl. Again, take a sip of Sake.
Tuck in some lovely beech mushrooms. More Sake sipping…
Add your flavorful Vietnamese broth, being careful not to disturb your assemblage. If you want to do this correctly, I recommend you sip a little Sake!
Carefully place your perfectly poached egg off to one side, gently open it to expose the creamy center, it’s a lovely visual. (Do I need to tell you to sip some Sake?…)
Finish with aromatics of choice; fried garlic, chilies, basil, cilantro, mint, lime wedge. Sriracha for those who require more heat.

Chef Notes.

Visit your Asian Market for the ingredients. Most if not all of the ingredients for this recipe can be found at your local Asian Market. In addition to carrying specialty items that you can not find anywhere else, Asian Markets work with more specific purveyors, so I find that they tend to have fresher produce at a very affordable price.

Roasting over Blanching. I much prefer the result of roasting my bones over blanching as many cook do. Roasting removes the dross & impurities that can cloud a broth, caramelizing the marrow giving greater depth.

Real Beef Base. You will usually find both artificial beef flavoring as well as real beef base in Asian markets. Many Asian cooks use artificial beef flavor in their Pho broth. I do not particularly care for artificial ingredients so I opted for a quality beef base such as Knorr. It is however a matter of preference & taste.

Mushrooms. Dried mushroom is not a common ingredient in Pho broth. I find however, they add a level of complexity, elevating the umami. I highly recommend keeping dried mushrooms on hand. They are nutrient dense, very low calorie, Keto friendly. They last indefinitely for a quick cup of soup or stir-fry. I also picked up some lovely fresh beech mushrooms to serve as an accompaniment. These are a specialty fungus, so delicate that they are cultivate as a bouquet. Fresh they possess a lovely sharp flavor, sauteed they become sweet & buttery.

Fish Sauce. Don’t shy away from the fish sauce. It does indeed have a formidable aroma but it adds an unmistakable characteristic to this particular broth that should not be missed.

Tri-tip. We often buy Tri-tip on sale, cooking up several roasts & freezing them. Then simply defrost for quick meals. Alternately you may cook the tri-tip just prior to serving the soup, keeping it warm. A more traditional way is to cut paper thin slices of raw beef (partially frozen beef is easier to cut thinly) that gets cooked only as the hot broth gets poured over.

Monk Fruit. A well known little trick among cooks, taught to me by my Dutch grandmother is this; almost every sweet dish benefits from a pinch of salt & every savory dish from a pinch of sugar. A more traditional sweetener for Vietnamese cooking would be rock sugar but to keep this recipe Keto I used Monk Fruit, it possesses a wonderful hint of molasses that works well.

Pho Seasoning. If you have difficulty finding packaged pho seasoning you can make you own. Pre-packaged Pho seasoning generally comes with a sachet in which to place the spices but I prefer to free float my aromatics in the broth. Simple toast the listed spices below in a hot, dry pan until fragrant, 1-2 minutes.