This recipe is perfect for using your Thanksgiving leftovers, so save your turkey meat & bones if you can! Vietnamese noodle soup, or pho, is a rich broth that is made from your meat bones of choice, charring spices & adding sugar & adding a splash of fish sauce. There is a lot of rich history & variation in pho, so feel free do a little research about this widely enjoyed gem.
Yields: 10 servings
Prep time: 30-45 minutes
Cook time: 3-6+ hours
For the broth:
2 medium yellow onions, charred whole
4 inch piece of ginger, charred whole
6 star anise
6 whole cloves
3 inch cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 cardamom pod
4 quarts of water
¼ cup fish sauce
1 inch chuck of rock sugar
Turkey carcass, whole
For the bowls:
2 packages of dried banh pho noodles
1-2 cups of turkey meat
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 bunch of scallions, sliced (green part only)
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1 bunch thai basil
1 bunch of bean sprouts
3 jalapenos
2-3 limes, sliced into wedges
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha sauce
For the prep:
Spice bag (optional)
Large pot, 8-9 quarts (the bigger pot the better)
Small sauce pan
Large bowls
To prepare the broth, place ginger and onions (chopped in half) with skin on on the stove in a skillet 15 minutes on each side or until soft and fragrant and charred.
Remove from heat and let cool. Remove the charred layers from onions & ginger. It’s best to use the back side of a spoon to remove ginger skin effortlessly.
In a small pan on medium heat, lightly and quickly toast star anise, cloves, coriander, fennel, cardamom, and cinnamon for ~2 minutes. This is to release the oils in the aromatics.
Place spices in a spice bag, or cheesecloth and tie tightly.
In a large 8-9 quart pot add the turkey bones and cover with water. Simmer for a minimum of 30 minutes to get a nice broth started.
Then add to the broth charred onion, ginger, and spice bag. Bring to a low rolling boil / simmer, add rock sugar, and simmer for at least 3 hours. We recommend 6-10 hours (or more, depends on your patience), however, if you chose to do longer, you may need to add 1-2 cups of water later to allow for making up how much will boil down.
After you have cooked the broth for a while (at least 3 hours), you can strain it out. If you have tongs you can slowly remove bones and the spice bag. If you're like me and throw everything together and have many large 9 quart pots laying around, you can strain the broth in a colander over the pot. This part can get messy, and I'll do 2 cups at a time. Once is it strained, put the broth back on the stove.
Routinely check in with the broth and feel free to taste test. Add fish sauce (saltiness) and seasonings to taste.
To prepare the dried noodles, soak in room temperature bowl of water for ~5 minutes.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles until soft around 1 minute.
Strain noodles and rinse with cold water to prevent further cooking.
Assemble bowl by placing noodles first at the base and add meat, red onion, scallions, cilantro on top. Add broth over noodles while still hot.
Serve with garnish plate: lime, bean sprouts, jalapeno slices.