Hanoi-Style Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup (Phở Bò Hà Nội)

What is Phở Bò Hà Nội?

Phở bò Hà Nội is the northern style of Vietnam's famous beef noodle soup, from the city where phở was born. Compared with southern phở, the Hanoi version is all about the broth: clear, deeply beefy and lightly sweet. It's served simply with flat rice noodles, sliced beef, lots of green onion and a squeeze of lime, without the big plate of herbs, bean sprouts and hoisin.

This broth is simmered for about 5 hours from marrow bones and brisket with charred onion and ginger. Dried sandworms (sá sùng) are the traditional secret ingredient for natural sweetness, and the broth is finished with a toasted spice bag.

Hanoi-Style Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup (Phở Bò Hà Nội)

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A clear, deeply beefy Hanoi-style phở broth made from marrow bones and brisket, with charred onion and ginger, dried sandworms (sá sùng) and a toasted phở spice bag.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Vietnamese

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Total Time 6 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Servings 8 bowls

Ingredients

Broth

• 4 lb beef marrow bones
• 2 lb beef brisket 1 piece
• 6 qt water plus more for parboiling
• 2 yellow onions charred
• 1 large knob ginger about 4 inches, charred
• ¾ oz dried sandworms (sá sùng) about 20 g, toasted
• 1½ tablespoon kosher salt plus more to taste
• 1 small chunk rock sugar about 1 oz
• 1 teaspoon MSG

Spice bag

• 2 tablespoon phở spice mix star anise, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, coriander seed
• 1 spice bag or cheesecloth

To season

• 3 tablespoon fish sauce to taste
• kosher salt to taste

To serve

• 2 lb fresh flat rice noodles (bánh phở)
• green onions sliced
• ½ white onion thinly sliced
• cilantro chopped
• lime wedges
• Thai chilies or chili vinegar

Instructions

Prep the bones and brisket

• Parboil: Put the marrow bones and brisket in a large pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Boil hard for 5-10 minutes to release the impurities.
• Wash and clean: Drain, then rinse the bones and brisket under running water to remove any scum. Scrub out the pot.
• Char the aromatics: Char the onions and ginger over an open flame or under the broiler until blackened in spots. Peel off any burnt skin and rinse.

Make the broth

• Start the broth: Return the bones and brisket to the clean pot, add 6 qt water and bring to a boil.
• Add aromatics and seasoning: Add the charred onions, charred ginger and dried sandworms, then the kosher salt, rock sugar and MSG.
• Skim: Keep at a boil and skim off any scum that rises to the top.
• Simmer: Lower to a gentle simmer and cook for 2 hours.
• Remove the brisket: Take out the brisket, rinse it and freeze it briefly so it's easier to slice thinly.
• Keep simmering: Let the bones keep cooking for another 3 hours.
• Strain: Remove the bones, onions and ginger, then strain the broth to remove impurities.

Spice and season

• Toast the spices: Toast 2 tablespoon phở spice mix in a dry pan until fragrant, then add to a spice bag.
• Infuse: Add the spice bag to the broth and cook for 30 minutes.
• Season: Season with more salt and fish sauce to taste, then remove the spice bag.

Assemble

• Blanch the rice noodles and divide among bowls. Top with thinly sliced brisket, green onions, white onion and cilantro, then ladle over the hot broth. Serve with lime and chilies.

Notes

Marrow bones: I like the beef marrow bones from Weee!.

Sá sùng: Dried sandworms are the secret to the sweet, savory depth of Hanoi phở. Look for them at Vietnamese grocery stores, and toast them before adding to the broth.