Quick Pho Tai (Beef Noodle Soup)
A streamlined Vietnamese beef noodle soup ready in 25 minutes. Tender raw beef cooks in hot broth while you build layers of fresh herbs and crispy onions.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Servings
- 2
- Calories
- 380
- Protein
- 32g
Ingredients
- 6 cups beef broth
- ½ lb beef sirloin or tenderloin, thinly sliced
- 4 oz rice noodles (dry)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 cup fresh herbs (Thai basil, cilantro, or mint), chopped
- 1 whole lime
Instructions
- 1
Slice the beef sirloin as thin as paper by placing each piece on a cutting board and cutting parallel to the board with a sharp knife, moving from one edge of the meat to the other in long strokes.
- 2
Arrange the thin beef slices on a plate, leaving space between them so they don't stick together.
- 3
Bring 6 cups beef broth to a boil in a medium pot over high heat, about 8 minutes — you'll see large rolling bubbles breaking the surface constantly.
- 4
While the broth heats, fill a separate pot with water, cover it, and bring to a boil over high heat for the rice noodles, about 5 minutes.
- 5
Add the rice noodles to the boiling water and stir gently with a fork to separate them, then let them cook until soft and tender, about 4 minutes.
- 6
Drain the noodles in a colander by pouring them into a mesh strainer and shaking gently until no water remains.
- 7
Stir 2 tablespoons fish sauce into the boiling broth until completely dissolved, about 10 seconds.
- 8
Divide the cooked noodles evenly between two soup bowls, placing them in the bottom of each bowl.
- 9
Layer the thin beef slices on top of the noodles in each bowl, arranging them in a single layer so they cover the noodles.
- 10
Pour the boiling broth slowly over the beef and noodles so the heat cooks the thin beef through and it turns gray-brown, about 30 seconds.
- 11
Scatter 0.5 cup chopped fresh herbs over each bowl, distributing them evenly across the surface.
- 12
Cut the lime into two halves and serve one half alongside each bowl for squeezing over the pho at the table.
Tools you’ll need
- medium pot (3-quart)
- separate pot (2-quart) for noodles
- cutting board
- sharp chef's knife
- colander or mesh strainer
- fork
- spoon
- two soup bowls
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