How to make pho without fish sauce? I pondered the question for a while. Salty, sweet, tangy, and sour all needed to be replicated, along with umami, that earthy depth of flavor. I settled on a combination of lime juice and lemon juice (tangy and sour), the Japanese rice wine mirin (sweet and salty), sugar (sweet), salt (salty, of course), and then ginger, garlic, and Chinese five-spice powder for that depth of flavor. Delicious! The fresh herbs bring it all together. Serve with extra chiles or chile sauce on the side if you like it really hot (which I do).
Ingredients
- 3½ cups beef broth
- 3½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 (3-inch) piece ginger, skin on, sliced into thin rounds
- 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 shallot, thinly sliced
- 1½ teaspoons Chinese five-spice powder
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon mirin
- 8 ounces ⅛- to ¼-inch-wide rice noodles
- 3 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
- 0.33 cup chopped cilantro
- 0.33 cup coarsely chopped basil
- 12 ounces center-cut beef tenderloin, halved and very thinly sliced crosswise (or use leftover steak, very thinly sliced into bite-size pieces)
- 1 cup mung bean sprouts
- 1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
- 4 Thai or serrano chiles, or use chile paste or chile sauce, like Sriracha
How to Make It
- In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the beef broth, chicken broth, ginger, garlic, shallot, and five-spice powder. Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer over medium-low-heat. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and the sugar, lime juice, lemon juice, and mirin. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, and cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain and rinse the noodles and divide them evenly among 4 bowls. Divide the green onions and herbs evenly among the bowls. Top with the thinly sliced steak.
- Strain the broth through a strainer or fine-mesh sieve. Pour the broth, still boiling hot, over the steak, about 1½ cups per bowl. The hot broth will cook the thinly sliced steak. Top with the bean sprouts, a couple of wedges of lime, and chiles according to your heat preference. Sprinkle with salt.