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Rach shares her shortcut version of pho, a Vietnamese noodle soup topped with fresh herbs and crunchy veggie toppings.
"Pronounced FUH, this dish is so fun and easier than you think. You season large bowls with fine sea salt, add literally raw shrimp or meat and noodles, pour over boiling hot fortified broth—which cooks your protein instantly—and pile in lots of herbs and chilies to serve. Really great pho is bones roasted and slow cooked with great aromatics, and that's your base. The cheater can do what we're going to do right now—fortified broth. The signature flavors of the broth in this Vietnamese dish—again, we're taking a bunch of shortcuts here—we're going to take literally an empty loose tea bag... I put in a stick of cinnamon, one loose bay leaf, a little bit of black peppercorn, some white peppercorn, a few star anise, and three pods of cardamom. That's what's in the steep." –Rach
Rach's Pro Tip: If your bowls are not deep, drop a portion of your protein into gently boiling broth for one minute and transfer to a serving bowl. If your bowls are deep, but you wanna ensure a quick, thorough cook, just after pouring broth over the protein and noodles, cover with a plate and let stand 5 minutes, then add herbs, sprouts and sauces of choice.
For more tasty ideas from this episode, check out Dr. Ian's healthy and delicious recipe for Honey Soy Glazed Salmon and John's Blackberry-Ginger "House Call" Mocktail.
For the fortified broth, char onion, garlic and ginger under boiler. Place in soup pot.
Wrap star anise, cardamom, cloves, coriander, cinnamon, bay and peppercorns in cheesecloth or fill a large tea filter bag and tie off with kitchen string. Add to soup pot.
Add broth, fish sauce and lime juice to soup pot with 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20 to 30 minutes at low, then strain and return to pot. Bring to a boil before serving.
To serve, place your protein of choice in freezer for a few minutes to firm for thin slicing.
Bring water to boil per package directions, cook noodles about 6 minutes, drain.
Line large bowls with a sprinkle of fine sea salt. To each bowl, add noodles to one side and sliced protein to the other, pour over boiling hot broth and add ¼ of the herbs off to the side and sprinkle over with chilies and sprouts, and add wedges of lime. Pass with sauces to mix in.