Simple Food Everyday: MMMMMMMMM...Pho *UPDATED*

I have been craving this for months. We usually eat this at least once a month and when I make it I make such a big pot that we eat it for 2 days, it tastes so much better the next day. It has been so hot here so on the weekends when I have the time to cook it we are busy and it is oh so hot. I start this in the morning and cook it all day, it's not alot of work but alot of time. I will tell you though that it is definitely worth it. My husband was the one who would cook this, then he taught me how and it's been my job ever since. All of my children love this, when they smell it first thing in the morning they ask when it's going to be time to eat all day. So here is the yummy recipe and when your sick, if you like hot sauce, the combination of the two make you feel so much better.

Beef Pho

Serves 13-14

Ingredients for Stock:

3 lbs of beef bones

2 lbs of chicken bones (I freeze the leftover bones from roasted chicken)

14 quarts of water

1 onion, peeled and cut in half

3-4 inch piece of ginger sliced lengthwise

1 pack of pho spices in a mesh bag or 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 tbsp coriander seeds, 1 tbsp fennel seeds, 5 whole star anise, 2-3 cardamom pod, 6 whole cloves

3/4 cup - 1 cup fish sauce (it sounds like alot but its alot of water, use less if you want)

For Serving:

3 packs of dried rice noodles, you can use any kind i prefer them to be medium sized

2 limes cut into 6ths

4 green onion, sliced thin

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

thinly sliced beef, I use precut eye of round but we used to use flank sliced thinly across the grain, they are both great, I like the precut stuff cause its less work

beef balls sliced in half, optional

there are other herbs and beansprouts you can use, I don't

Sriracha hot sauce and hoisin sauce

Shallots and Hot Sauce

Put the bones in your stockpot and cover with water. Boil them for about 5-10 min, drain, rinse off the bones and the pot. Put the bones back in the pot, fill it up with water. Add the fish sauce and your spices. During this time you need to char the onion and ginger, it needs to be black. Please stop and and take the time to smell the onion and ginger charring, one of my favorite smells.Rinse them off and put them into the pot as well.

Boil the water, when it comes to a rolling boil, turn the stove down to low and cover. Let it simmer 8 or more hours. Check in on it and skim off any scum that comes to the top and any fat that you can. In the meantime, soak the dried noodles in cold water for about 1 hour. Prepare the green onion, cilantro and beef as well as any other herbs you are using.

When you are ready to serve it, boil another pot of plain water to cook your noodles, only cook what you are going to use. I cook the noodles for each bowl separately, I have a small metal sieve that I put the noodles in then place that in the boiling water, I keep the noodles in that then after a few seconds when they are cooked simply take the sieve out of the water and they are drained. If you do not have a small sieve to do this then boil them all for a few seconds and drain, then distribute among bowls. Place the beef balls in the stock to get warm. If using flank I like to put a little in the ladle and cook it in the stock, if using precut eye of round i just put in the bowl on top of the noodles. Put in the cilantro and green onion, squeeze your lime and use Sriracha and hoisin sauce if using. I eat mine with shallots and hot sauce, I will post that recipe later. Enjoy!!!