Vietnamese Pho: Beef Noodle Soup
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As authentic as the bowls of pho you'd find from the street carts along the main roads of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, this beef and noodle soup is filled with flavor and rich spices.
Ingredients
• 3 pounds beef bones (knuckle, leg or marrow)
• 1 onion, halved
• 2-inch piece of ginger root, peeled and halved
• 3 cloves
• 2 pods star anise
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 cardamom pod (optional)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 3 quarts water
Instructions
1. Boil beef bones in a large pot with water over high heat for 5 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, char onion and ginger on baking sheet under your oven's broiler for 5 to 10 minutes, until lightly charred.
3. Drain bones and rinse them of anything that formed, place them in the bottom of your 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.
4. Carefully remove skin from ginger root. Place in slow cooker with onion and beef bones.
5. Add cloves, star anise, cinnamon stick, cardamom pod, coriander, fennel, salt, sugar and fish sauce to your slow cooker.
6. Add 3 quarts of water.
7. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or overnight.