Authentic Instant Pot Beef Pho

About

I grew up eating pho so naturally it is one of my favorite comfort foods. The stock itself usually takes up to 8 hours if you really want to make it good. However, thanks to the Instant Pot I can make it in around 1.5 hours! I love how I can get my pho fix fast! Usually there are rice noodles in the soup, but you can easily replace these with shirataki tofu noodles. Of course, each bowl is topped off with freshly sliced jalapenos, bean sprouts, Thai basil, a squeeze of lime and extra fish sauce! I did not include the ginger and onion into the ingredient list because they do not contribute very many carbs to the broth because they are removed after the broth is done cooking. Be sure to torch the outside of the ginger and onion over an open flame or under a broiler (this is one of the key flavor components to pho!). Use 5 whole star anise for this, the ingredient list does not specify this!

Ingredients

1 ½ ounce beef ribs
1 ½ 1 stick cinnamon stick whole
1 tablespoon, whole pieces fennel seed
1 tablespoon, whole pieces coriander, seed
2 .05 teaspoon star anise spice
3 tablespoon 100% pure first press extra virgin fish sauce by red boat
2 pack tofu shirataki spaghetti shaped noodle by house foods
1 cup, whole pieces bean sprouts
½ cup, whole pieces basil
½ cup, chopped cilantro
⅓ cup, chopped white onion
½ each – 2" diameter lime
1 pound roast beef, sirloin tip, no visible fat eaten
½ regular – approx 2" long jalapeno peppers

Instructions

Place beef ribs into a 6 quart Instant Pot. Add the water up to the max line, about 4 quarts of water. Torch a 3” piece of ginger and 1 very small onion over an open flame until all sides are charred. Alternatively, you can do this under a broiler it will just take more time. Once charred, add them to the pot. Set the cooker to HIGH pressure and set the timer for 1.5 hours.
In the meantime, toast the spices in a dry, small saute pan until fragrant and lightly browned.
Once 1.5 hours has elapsed, carefully use the quick release vent or let it come down naturally until the button pops. Open the lid and add the spices and the fish sauce. If you can use a little fabric pouch this makes adding and removing them later so much easier and you don’t have to strain the soup. You can also make one out of cheesecloth using butcher's twine to tie the top. If you don’t have either, just allot a minute to strain the broth at the end (which really isn’t a bad thing and you might want to do this anyways). Also be sure to use a large spoon to skim off any extra fat. Then set the pot to HIGH pressure again for 10 minutes. Repeat the venting process to remove the steam.
In the meantime, I froze my sirloin steak until it was very firm. This helps to cut the beef into very thin slices!
Serve soup piping hot. Add the noodles to the bowl and some of the sirloin steak raw. Add the piping hot broth on top of the meat to cook it.
Top each bowl with fresh jalapeno slices, bean sprouts, Thai basil and a squeeze of lime! Add sriracha if you’d like your bowl even more spicy!