Easy Beef Pho and Other Eats

Last week we ate a lot of turkey.  When that ran out, we made Thai chicken curry, served over rice.

We had so many leftovers after our dinner on Friday, so those made up the bulk of our meals over the weekend.  Breakfast on Sunday morning was really simple - fruit and cheese.

Later that day Christopher's parents had the whole family over, as a relative was visiting from England.  It was Freya's first time in Canada, and it was so nice to meet her.  There was a delicious spread of food to enjoy, and we had fun getting to know the niece that Christopher hadn't seen since he was in high school, when she was just a baby. 

To start out work week off we made a really easy beef pho.  It was so easy actually, that we were surprised by how good it was, although Donna Hay knows good food, and the recipe came from one of her cookbooks.

I adapted the recipe a bit.  It called for beef stock, but I used a combination of beef broth and pho broth, since I saw it in the store, and I figured a little extra flavour couldn't hurt.  The recipe also called for only 1.5 litres, but I just used both cartons so I wouldn't have any leftover broth.  Also, I didn't freeze the beef for two hours before slicing it as recommended.  The meat was thawed, and then I cut it very, very thinly, so that it would cook as the hot broth was ladled over top of it.  I also tossed in a couple extra star anise, because it seemed like the smart thing to do.

Easy Beef Pho

Recipe adapted from: Donna Hay Life in Balance Cookbook

1 x 6 cm piece ginger, peeled and halved
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 shallot, peeled and halved
1.5 litres beef stock (I used two 900 ml cartons, beef broth & pho broth)
2 star anise (I used three, but I also upped the liquid)
1 cinnamon stick
1 T fish sauce
1 T palm (coconut) sugar
200 g thin rice noodles, cook according to package, drain
1/2 small white onion, very thinly sliced
250 g beef, very thinly sliced (I used two steaks)
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed
2 long red chilies, sliced
handful of Thai basil leaves
handful of mint leaves
pepper
sriracha (optional topping)

Put the ginger, garlic, and shallot into a non-stick pan, over high heat, and cook, turning until charred.  Transfer to a pot, and add the stock, star anise, and cinnamon stick.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add the fish sauce and palm sugar and stir.  Strain stock into another pot to remove the solids, then keep the stock hot on the stove.

Place cooked noodles into bowls.  Top with the thinly sliced, raw beef, and the thinly sliced onion.  Ladle the hot stock over the top of the meat.

Eat with a generous amount of sprouts, chili, mint and basil.  Enjoy!

(*Ensure your liquid is hot enough to cook the meat to your liking; alternatively, you could use cooked meat.  Keep in mind that consuming raw or undercooked meats may increase your risk of food-borne illness.)

Have you ever had pho?  Made it?  Do you like it?