I really like cooking but unfortunately I am not a good cook. The only dishes I really know is Vietnamese omelette egg with spring onion and boiled pork dip in fish sauce. I tried some other recipes before such as Dong vermicelli, or meat poached but I can’t recall their recipes. Maybe it’s because I don’t practice enough or the recipes are so complex.
Today I want to make Pho for my wife and daughter. They went visiting my parents in law 3 weeks ago. And they will fly tomorrow. My plan is making the broth first and keep it in fridge and boiling it again later. This is the video I watched to learn to make Pho.
I wake up early and go to nearby local market, which my wife often goes to. I drove her here a few times so I can still remember the path. But this is my first time come here alone. I don’t like going to markets because I don’t like bargaining. It is an other reason why I’m still bad at cooking. All fresh ingredients are in local markets. But I need to change because I have a secret plan where I have to take care of myself for a long time.
In case you haven’t watched the full video, here’s the recipe:
- 3 litters of water
- 1.5 kgs of pig or cow bone
- 0.5 (or more) kgs of beef brisket
- 0.5 (or more) kgs of beef shank
- 1 grilled onion
- 1 other onion (not grilled)
- 1 grilled ginger
- 4 purple onions
- 1 anise flower
- 1 cinnamon (about a knuckle)
- 1 cardamom
- 2 spoons of salt
- 6 spoons of broth mix
- 4 spoons of fish source (add at the end
- spring onion, coriander, lemon, pepper, garlic.
First I buy pig bones, I get 2 bones weight about 1.7 kgs and ask the butcher to chop them. Then I go buy some vegetable, I buy every thing but forget purple onions. But I think that’s fine. Then I buy beef brisket to make broth first, I can go buy fresh beef shank on the next day. Anise and cinnamon is harder to find but I manage to find a store selling them. But I have no lucks finding cardamom. Next time I will buy some online.
It is just 8 AM, so I can start cooking before getting to work.
I quickly boil pig bones with salt in a small pot then get them out and clean off foam. After that, I pour 3 liters of water into a bigger pot and put all the bones in. Wait for it to start boiling and skim off foam again. From there, I can lower the temperature and let it stew for an hour. Meanwhile, I put an onion and ginger on gas stove to grill them. Then scrape off burned peel. I can smell delicious food already.
I put remaining ingredients into the pot. Add salt, broth mix, SMG to taste. Set timer for 4 hours and let the stove does it job.
This is how the broth looks. Amazing isn’t it?
After 2 hours I have a taste and realize the broth is very rich because of lot of marrow fat from two bones. I let it cooked for the rest 2 hours because I still have to work.
After finishing my work, and the broth has cooled down, I put all the meet and bone into small boxes, and pour broth into another box. Then put them in my fridge.
I come back to clean up the kitchen and call it a day.
Thank you for reading this far. If you want to give Pho a try, don’t forget to watch the video. It is not too hard.