Vietnamese rice noodle soup served in an aromatic easy homemade broth with juicy and tender beef steak and various beef meat. The recipe can be made with an Instant pot pressure cooker or on the stove.
What is pho dac biet?
Pho means rice noodles and dac biet means special in Vietnamese. So this is a special beef noodle soup. Pho dac biet typically consists of a beef broth, rice noodles, and various cuts of beef such as brisket, beef steak, and beef balls. It usually also includes other ingredients such as tripe and tendon. If you plan to include only beef like meat and beef balls, then it is called pho bo. The noodle soup is served with fresh herbs, bean sprouts, lime wedges, and chili peppers, and can be customized with additional condiments such as hoisin sauce and sriracha. Pho dac biet is a beloved dish in Vietnam and has gained popularity around the world as a flavorful and comforting meal.
You can make it on the stove or with an Instant Pot pressure cooker
The main bulk of the work in making pho is in the soup. The stove version takes 3-4 hours. Some people may cook for 7-10 hours. Most restaurants that sell pho claim that they cook the broth for as long as 10 hours or overnight. You can definitely go the hardcore route if you like. I feel like I can still make a decent pho with an Instant Pot. It saves gas and time for real!
Easy Instant Pot Beef Pho (Pho Bo/Pho Dac Biet)
Ingredients
For the broth:
- 2.2 lbs beef marrow bones or you can use beef neck bones
- 2 lbs beef brisket
- 1 lb beef tripe omasum or honeycomb can be used
- Water enough to cover
Aromatics:
- 2 oz fresh ginger keep the skin, cut into slices
- 2 large yellow onion peeled, halved
Spices:
- 5 star anise
- 2 Tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 Tbsp white peppercorns
- 1 large cinnamon stick
- 1 Tbsp cloves
Seasonings:
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp chicken powder
- 1 tsp MSG optional, I didn't use
Serve with:
- 2 lbs fresh pho noodles or use 1 lb dried pho noodles
- 10 oz beef tenderloin/sirloin/eye of round
- 12 oz Vietnamese beef balls I use store-bought
- Fresh bean sprouts
- Handful of basil sawtooth leaves
- Limes
- Culantro leaves
- 2 stalks green onion
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- Jalapeno peppers thinly sliced
Instructions
Parboil the meat and bones:
- If you use tripes that hasn't been cleaned, you can follow this how to clean beef tripe
- It is important to blanch the meat and bones to get a clear light broth. Fill a big pot with water, bring it to a boil. Add the bones, brisket, and trips. Let them boil for 5 minutes over medium heat. Skim off any scums that arise. Remove from the heat, discard the water and rinse off the bones, meat, and tripes.
Making the broth:
- If you plan to make this recipe on the stove, place ginger and onions on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Brush some oil on the onion and ginger as well. Turn the broiler on high and broil for 15 minutes. This will char them a bit and that's okay. Alternatively, you can do this on a dry pan or over an open flame on the stove. They get more charred when you do it on open flame so be sure to scrape off those burned part so your broth won't turn dark
- Next, toast the spices on a dry pan over medium heat for 2-3 minutes until aromatics. Transfer them to a stock mesh bag
- If you plan to make this with Instant pot, press "saute" on instant pot. When it says "hot", place the cut-side of the onion in the pot without any oil. Add the ginger slices too. Let them char until golden brown. Remove from the pot. Add the spices into the pot and let them toast inside the pot for 2-3 minutes until aromatic. Transfer them to a stock mesh bag
If cooking with Instant pot pressure cooker:
- Put the bones, meat, tripe, onion, ginger slices, and spice mesh bag back into the inner pot of Instant pot. Pour water until you cover them. Take care not to go over the max line though
- Add seasonings and roughly stir to mix. Close the lid. Turn the steam release valve to seal. Set the function to "pressure cooker" and make sure it's on "high pressure". Set the timer to 50 minutes. When the timer is done, carefully do a quick release and unlock the cover when the steam valve has collapsed
- Remove the meat, bones, and tripe to a plate and keep them covered with a foil. Remove the spice mesh bag and strain the broth into another clean large pot. Discard the solid. Have a taste on the broth and adjust the seasoning to your preference
If cooking on the stove:
- Put the bones, meat, onion, ginger slices, and spice mesh bag into a heavy-bottom large pot. Pour water until you cover them. Add seasonings and roughly stir to mix. Bring the water to a boil and then lower the heat to simmer. Partially cover with a lid and let it simmer for 3-4 hours until the meat are tender. 1 hour before the end of cooking, add the tripe and cook for 1 hour until it's tender
- Remove the meat, bones, and tripe to a plate and keep them covered with a foil. Remove the spice mesh bag and strain the broth into another clean large pot. Discard the solid. Have a taste on the broth and adjust the seasoning to your preference
Assembling:
- Keep the broth warm if you plan to serve it soon. Add the beef balls to heat them up just before serving. The beef balls are usually already cooked and just need to be heat up
- Freeze the beef in the fridge for 15 minutes and this will help you to be able to slice them very thinly against the grain with a sharp knife
- Thinly slice onion and soak in cold ice water. This helps to crisp them up and to get rid of the pungent taste of onion that some people don't like
- Slice the brisket against the grain with a sharp knife. Cut the tripe on the bias (at an angle). There will be tendon attached to the bone marrow. Simply pull the tendon from the bones and discard the bones. You can serve the tendons with the noodles
- If using dried pho noodles, cook according to the instruction on the package. If you are using fresh rice noodles, then it takes only 30 seconds or so to heat up. Do not overcook the fresh noodles
- If you want the beef steak to be rare, then you don't need to cook it. I like them rare or medium-rare. For medium-rare, I will portion out about 2 cups of broth into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Add the thinly sliced beef steak and cook for just 4-5 seconds so they are still pink. If you want it well done, just cook until it lose the pink. You don't want to cook this straight in the big pot of broth because it will make your clear broth turns brown because of the blood from the meat
- Portion noodles, brisket, tendon, tripe, and beef balls into individual serving bowls. Laddle the hot soup over. Add the rare or medium-rare beef steak slices. Garnish with chopped green onion, onion slices
To serve:
- Serve with fresh bean sprouts, basil, culantro leaves, lime and jalapeno peppers on the side. You can also eat it with Hoisin sauce and Sriracha chili sauce.
- I learned from a friend that for Hanoi version of pho noodle soup, it is usually served with only green onion and slices of white parts of the green onion.
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Nutrition
Step-by-step on How to make Pho Dac Biet/Pho Bo with an Instant Pot
1. Parboil the meat and bones.
If you use tripes that hasn’t been cleaned, you can follow this how to clean beef tripe. It is important to blanch the meat and bones to get a clear light broth. Fill a big pot with water, bring it to a boil. Add the bones, brisket, and trips. Let them boil for 5 minutes over medium heat. Skim off any scums that arise. 
2. Remove from the heat, discard the water and rinse off the bones, meat, and tripes.
2. Making the broth
Press “saute” on instant pot. When it says “hot”, place the cut-side of the onion in the pot without any oil. Add the ginger slices too. Let them char until golden brown. Remove from the pot. 
3. Add the spices into the pot and let them toast inside the pot for 2-3 minutes until aromatic. Transfer them to a stock mesh bag
4. Put the bones, meat, tripe, onion, ginger slices, and spice mesh bag back into the inner pot of Instant pot. Pour water until you cover them. Take care not to go over the max line though
5. Add seasonings and roughly stir to mix. Close the lid. Turn the steam release valve to seal. Set the function to “pressure cooker” and make sure it’s on “high pressure”. Set the timer to 50 minutes. When the timer is done, carefully do a quick release and unlock the cover when the steam valve has collapsed
6. Remove the meat, bones, and tripe to a plate and keep them covered with a foil. Remove the spice mesh bag 
7. Strain the broth into another clean large pot. Discard the solid. Have a taste on the broth and adjust the seasoning to your preference
8. Keep the broth warm if you plan to serve it soon. Add the beef balls to heat them up just before serving. The beef balls are usually already cooked and just need to be heated up. Freeze the beef in the fridge for 15 minutes and this will help you to be able to slice them very thinly against the grain with a sharp knife.
9. Slice the brisket against the grain with a sharp knife. Cut the tripe on the bias (at an angle).
10. There will be tendon attached to the bone marrow. Simply pull the tendon from the bones and discard the bones. You can serve the tendons with the noodles
11. Thinly slice the onion and soak it in cold ice water. This helps to crisp them up and to get rid of the pungent taste of onion that some people don’t like
12. If you want the beef steak to be rare, then you don’t need to cook it. I like them rare or medium-rare. For medium-rare, I will portion out about 2 cups of broth into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer. 
13. Add the thinly sliced beef steak and cook for just 4-5 seconds so they are still pink. You don’t want to cook this straight in the big pot of broth because it will make your clear broth turns brown because of the blood from the meat
14. Assembling. Portion noodles, brisket, tendon, tripe, and beef balls into individual serving bowls. Laddle the hot soup over. Add the rare or medium-rare beef steak slices. Garnish with chopped green onion, onion slices
How to make ahead or keep leftovers
I usually make this to last us for at least 2 meals. The main bulk of the work is on the soup, so you can make it ahead and have them whenever you want. Here’s how:
1. Allow the soup to cool to room temperature before storing it.
2. Transfer the soup to an airtight container.
3. Place the container in the refrigerator and store it for up to three days. For longer storage, store them in smaller batches in the freezer for up to 1 month
4. Let the sliced or unsliced meat, tripe, tendon, and brisket cool down and then carefully wrap each of them separately in a cling wrap, in one layer for easier thawing, and store in the freezer for up to one month
4. When you’re ready to reheat the soup, you can do so on the stovetop or in the microwave. You can thaw the meat, etc in the fridge overnight
5. If the soup has thickened or become too concentrated, you can add some water or broth to it to thin it out.
6. Assembling the pho noodles as per recipe and let the hot broth warm up the meat, tripes, and brisket. If you want to include steak, you can slice them just before serving and follow the recipe if you want it medium-rare or well-done
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Did you make this Instant Pot pho bo or pho dac biet recipe?
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