Hi there foodies, how’s your summer going? Yes, summer might be approaching its last weeks, but it is still summer, and every summer day is precious here in Montreal. During the summer, there is one place that I like to go to quite often. It’s called Pho Ong Rau. In my opinion, although some of my friends have disagreed with me, it is the best place to enjoy a hot bowl of Pho.
It’s not surprising that me and my friends could not agree on where the best bowl of Pho is served. It’s like trying to find agreement on who serves the best Pizza or the best Poutine.
It’s a great way to waste an evening.
The best Pho is the one YOU make
Pho is one of the most delicious and easiest soups to make. Just like other soups, the process is all about introducing high quality ingredients in a large pot filled with water, and just letting them do their thing.
It’s a lot of fun to make and just like any other food, you can make it to your liking, and that’s what makes it the best bowl of Pho.
This soup is all about the broth. It needs to be just perfect, and by perfect, I mean just perfect. It’s not too much to ask, right?
Quality over Quantity, Always
Don’t worry my friends, your ingredients will do all of the hard work, you just sit back and wait for your bowl of perfection to be ready.
These are the high-quality ingredients I am referring to:
- Grass Fed Beef Short Ribs. I can’t stress this enough, organic grass-fed beef tastes so much better and always makes an amazing broth. But buy the best you can afford! Support your local butcher and ask where their meat comes from. Make your money work for you. Butchers often have suggestions and can direct you to a similar product for the recipe you’re making.
- Organic chicken bouillon cubes. The organic part is very important, make sure that you read the ingredients, there should be no MSG in the cubes.
- Charred red onions. They add smokiness and a unique depth of flavor to the broth.
- Sea salt
- Thai Basil (optional but legit)
That’s it! You thought you would need far more ingredients, didn’t you? I don’t blame you, but like most things in life, the secret of this soup lies in its simplicity.
Enjoy 😉
Today’s Recipe
Keto Pho
Ingredients
- 2 lbs beef short ribs
- 1 lbs flank steak cut into thin strips
- 1 tbsp organic chicken bouillon cube
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 3 packs (450g) Shirataki noodles
- 2 large red onions
Garnish Options
- Thai Basil
- Lime Juice
- Soy Sauce
- Chili Paste
Instructions
- To a large pot, add 4 litres (1 gallon) of water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and add your ribs, salt and bouillon cube. Cover and let simmer.
- Cut your onions in half, remove the skin and place on a baking sheet. Using a blow torch, roast the exposed part of your onions until it gets black. If you don't have a blow torch, use the broil function of your oven to roast your onions.
- Add your onions to the pot and let simmer for 2 hours or until your ribs are very tender. The meat should come right off the bone.
Assembly
- In a large bowl, place half a pack of your Shirataki noodles, 4-5 thin slices of steak, some short-rib meat and a handful of Thai basil. Make sure that your broth if very hot, so that it will cook your steak perfectly to medium rare.
- Enjoy!
A very refreshing looking Pho. We don’t see beef short ribs here, but have an abundance of what we call Tjocka revben or thick pork ribs. I’ll be giving your Pho a go using those. I’ve been wanting to try Shirataki noodles.
Thank you, Ron!
You can pretty much use any fatty cut of beef or pork, as long as you leave the bone in. Let me know how it turns out for you!
Enjoy 🙂