At a glance
This fragrant Vietnamese beef noodle soup requires patience—you're looking at over 3 hours of simmering to build a deeply flavorful broth from bones and spices. The magic happens when you dry-roast the ginger, onion, and aromatics until fragrant, then let everything simmer together, with the longer cook time rewarding you with richer flavor. When serving, guests customize their bowls with fresh herbs, sprouts, lime, and their choice of fish or chili sauce.
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Cook the meat
Put the bones and ribs into a pot, cover with water and bring to the boil. Let it boil for a while until foam forms on the surface. Then drain the water, rinse both the bones and the pot, and set them back on the stove with fresh water. If foam forms again, repeat the process.
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Dry-roast the onion and ginger
Meanwhile, peel the ginger and slice it, peel the onion and cut it in half. Dry-roast the onion, ginger and all the remaining spices in a pan, without any oil.
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Simmer with the meat for three hours
Once the cut side of the onion has browned and the spices smell wonderfully fragrant, add everything to the boiling bones. Season with salt and let it simmer away. The longer the broth cooks, the better (in Vietnam it's simmered overnight) – I usually cook it for about 3 hours. Strain the broth.
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