Pho Noodles with Beef Balls, Carrots & Beef Ribs

There are SO many pho places around here. I LOVE pho. It's perfect for gloom and doom days and it's not that expensive. It's actually pretty cheap, which is why I normally have never attempted to bother making this. What's the point if it's not going to save me all that much money? I guess it'd matter if I cared what goes into my body, but sometimes I just want yummy food.

Sis' Hubby (-to-be) has a good recipe. I'm sure it doesn't include beef back ribs, but sometimes you gotta use what you got, right? And I had beef back ribs. Lol. It's actually his mom's recipe. Kinda. It's one of those recipes where they give you no measurements and you just add more here and there as you go along. >_>

Please note that the cooking time for noodles is entirely dependent on the thickness of the noodles. You can use any rice noodles, but try to look for actual Vietnamese kinds used for Pho. Otherwise they can soak up a lot of the soup while you're eating. I suppose that isn't so bad. But it can get soggy sometimes!


Pho Noodles with Beef Balls, Carrots & Beef Ribs
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs beef bones/back ribs/oxtail
• 3 star anise
• 3 inch knob of ginger, sliced
• 2 large onions, thinly sliced and divided
• 3 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 Tbsps Por Kwan Beef Flavour Paste
• 10+ cups water
• 1 package beef balls
• 1 cup cilantro, chopped
• 4 green onions, diced
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 packages of Rice Stick/Vermicelli noodles
• Hoisin sauce (optional)
• Fish sauce (optional)
• Sriracha (optional)

Directions:

1. In a dutch oven, heat oil on medium high heat. Sauté star anise, ginger and 1 1/4 onion slices until golden. Stir in beef flavour paste.
2. Add beef ribs/bones/oxtail, carrots and 10 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat to simmer for 3-4 hours, or until beef ribs are tender. Add beef balls to cook 15-20 minutes before serving.
3. While beef balls are cooking, boil water in a large pot. Cook noodles until al dente. Drain and separate into large serving bowls. Divide remaining sliced onions, green onions and cilantro into bowls.
4. Ladle soup with beef balls, carrots and ribs over bowl of noodles. Enjoy steaming hot. Season with hoisin sauce, fish sauce and/or Sriracha, if desired.

Update: I just wanted to add a nicer picture because I made it again the other night. This time I used the Instant Pot from beginning to end and it wasn't as flavourful. Boo.