No.27 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Beef pho

Made famous by Andrea Nguyen

Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From The Pho Cookbook, 2017.

Vietnam's national dish and one of the most loved soups in the world. Andrea Nguyen is the best guide to it in English.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in The Pho Cookbook.

Ingredients

• 4 lb (1.8 kg) beef bones (knuckle and marrow), plus 1 lb (450 g) beef chuck or brisket in one piece
• 2 large yellow onions, unpeeled, halved
• 4-inch piece ginger, unpeeled, halved lengthwise
• 5 whole star anise, 6 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 black cardamom pod (optional)
• 2 tbsp fish sauce, plus more to taste
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar (or rock sugar)
• 1 tbsp fine salt, plus more to taste
• 1 lb (450 g) dried flat rice noodles (banh pho), 1/16 to 1/8 inch wide
• 8 oz (225 g) beef sirloin or eye of round, very thinly sliced (freeze 30 minutes first to make slicing easy)
• To serve: thinly sliced onion, chopped scallions and cilantro, bean sprouts, Thai basil, sliced chiles, lime wedges, hoisin and sriracha

Steps

1. Put the bones and chuck in a stockpot, cover with cold water, bring to a hard boil and boil 5 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and meat well, and scrub the pot. This keeps the broth clear.
2. Meanwhile char the onions and ginger: set them directly on a gas flame or under a hot broiler, turning, until blackened in spots, 10 to 15 minutes. Rinse off the loose black bits.
3. Return the bones and meat to the clean pot with 5 quarts cold water. Bring to a simmer, skimming any foam. Add the onions and ginger.
4. Toast the whole spices in a dry pan until fragrant, 2 minutes, and add them in a mesh bag or tied in cheesecloth.
5. Add the fish sauce, sugar and salt. Simmer gently, uncovered, 3 hours. After 1 1/2 hours, lift out the chuck, cool it and slice thinly; keep it covered.
6. Strain the broth through a fine sieve and skim the fat. Season with more fish sauce and salt: it should taste a little too salty on its own, because the noodles are plain.
7. Soak the noodles in hot water 15 minutes, then cook in boiling water 30 to 60 seconds until tender. Drain and divide among bowls.
8. Top each bowl with the cooked chuck and the raw sirloin. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and ladle it over so it cooks the raw beef. Top with onion, scallions and cilantro, and serve with the herbs, sprouts, lime and sauces.

Chef's tips

• The broth freezes well; make a double batch.
• Charring the onion and ginger gives pho its smoky-sweet depth; don't skip it.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in The Pho Cookbook by Andrea Nguyen: get the book, No. 45 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 26Hummus with tehina→ No. 28Napa cabbage kimchi