Beef Phở broth
To prepare the broth for beef pho, a combination of beef bones and tough cuts of meat are cooked along with ginger and onions. These include beef shank, beef collar bone, oxtail, beef shank bone, flank steak and brisket.
After hours of simmering, the broth is enriched with a blend of roasted spices, cardamom, cinnamon, star anise, coriander, cloves, and sometimes fennel.
Once the flavors have blended, the broth is strained to achieve a clear consistency, then seasoned with salt, sugar, fish sauce, and optional MSG.
The meaty cuts of beef simmered in the broth are then thinly sliced and used as a topping. Other meaty side dishes include cooked beef balls, beef tendons, beef tripe, and thinly sliced, eye-rounded beef steaks, rarely served to be briefly simmered in hot broth.