Tái Gầu Phở Recipe

Thin slice and chill

Place eye round steak and fatty brisket in the freezer for 20–30 minutes until slightly firm but not frozen solid. Using a sharp knife, slice across the grain as thinly as possible (about 1/16–1/8 inch). Arrange slices on a tray, brush very lightly with 1 tsp neutral oil to prevent sticking, cover, and keep chilled in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Char the onion and ginger: place halved onion and split ginger directly over an open flame or under a broiler. Char until blackened in spots, about 5–8 minutes, turning as needed. Rinse briefly under hot water to remove loose soot and set aside.

Blanch the bones: put beef bones in a large stockpot and add enough cold water to cover. Bring to a rapid boil and boil hard for 8–10 minutes to release impurities. Drain bones and rinse them and the pot under running water to remove scum.

Toast whole spices: in a dry skillet over medium heat, toast star anise, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods and cloves for 1–2 minutes until fragrant. Wrap the toasted spices in a small piece of cheesecloth or use a spice infuser.

Simmer the broth: return cleaned bones to the stockpot, add 10 cups fresh water, charred onion and ginger, and the wrapped spices. Bring to a gentle simmer (do not boil vigorously) and skim any foam that rises in the first 15–20 minutes. Add rock sugar, 2 tbs fish sauce and 1 tsp salt. Simmer gently, partially covered, for 2.5–3 hours for a clear, flavorful broth. For a quicker version, simmer 1.5–2 hours.

Strain and adjust seasoning: after simmering, remove bones and solids and strain broth through a fine-mesh sieve or cheesecloth into a clean pot. Taste and adjust with additional fish sauce or salt as needed. Keep broth hot over low heat. If you prefer a richly flavored pho for rare beef slices (tái), ensure broth temperature is near simmer but not vigorously boiling when serving.

Soak or cook noodles: if using dried flat rice noodles, soak them in hot (not boiling) water for 20–30 minutes until pliable but with a slight bite; if using packaged fresh rice noodles, briefly dip in very hot water to separate. Drain well. Alternatively, cook according to package instructions: plunge into boiling water 8–20 seconds until just tender, then drain.

Prepare garnishes: rinse and drain bean sprouts, pick basil leaves from stems, slice lime into wedges, thinly slice jalapeño, scallions and onion. Put garnishes on a platter for serving.

Prepare ice bath: fill a bowl with 4 cups ice water. This is used if you want to briefly blanch noodles to stop cooking or to quickly cool any blanched ingredients.

Heat bowls: place serving bowls in the oven on low or pour a little boiling water into each bowl to warm, then discard the water. Warming bowls helps keep the broth hot and will cook the rare beef slightly when poured over.

Portion noodles and raw beef: divide drained noodles between 2 large bowls (this recipe makes 2 generous servings). Arrange a portion of thinly sliced eye round (tái) on top of the noodles, and place several slices of fatty brisket (gầu) alongside or beneath the eye round. For food safety and texture: eye round is served essentially raw and cooks in the hot broth; fatty brisket slices can be served raw if very thin and allowed to cook in the broth, or you can briefly blanch the brisket slices for 5–10 seconds in boiling water to render some fat before adding to the bowl if you prefer.

Ladle hot broth: bring strained broth up to a rolling simmer. Using a ladle, pour the hottest possible broth directly over the meat and noodles—this will gently cook the eye round slices to a tender rare-pink (tái) and tenderize the fatty brisket. Pour evenly until bowls are filled to covering the noodles and meat.

Finish and garnish: sprinkle sliced scallions and thin white onion over each bowl. Serve immediately with bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, lime wedges, jalapeño, hoisin and Sriracha on the side so each person can season to taste.