Pho

Pho is the national beef soup of Vietnam: a clear bone broth simmered for six hours with charred onion and ginger, star anise, cinnamon and cloves, poured over rice noodles, thin slices of beef that cook in the boiling broth, and fresh herbs. Good pho is judged by its clarity and its scent.

Pot calculatorOrder Pho

Dairy freeMeatAllergens:Soy

Updated

PhoIllustration
Time6 h 55 minCook 6 h 15 min
Pot8 bowls4 litres
Per bowl842 kcal36.7 g protein · a 500 ml bowl
Cost of the pot₪270for the pot, about ₪34 a bowl

The story of Pho

Pho was born in northern Vietnam in the early 20th century, around Hanoi and Nam Dinh, and became the country's breakfast, sold at street stalls from the early hours. There are several theories about the name and none is certain. In Vietnamese it sounds closer to fuh than to foe.

After Vietnam was divided in 1954, many northerners moved south and brought pho with them. In the south it grew sweeter, with a big plate of herbs, sprouts, lime and sauces on the side, and from there, with the Vietnamese diaspora, it reached the whole world. Our kosher version has no fish sauce: a kosher kitchen does not cook fish with meat, so the seasoning is salt, sugar and soy sauce.

What makes Pho itself

Pho stands on three things. The first is a bone broth as clear as tea, which gets its body from collagen, not from cloudiness. The second is the scent: onion and ginger charred over a flame, and whole spices toasted in a dry pan. The third is the assembly in the bowl: raw slices of beef that cook in the boiling broth before your eyes, and herbs, lime and chilli that each person adds to taste.

Pho for any number of people

Change the number of people and the bowl size, and every ingredient updates in grams, with the cost, calories and protein per bowl.

Bowl size
Units
4litres in the pot
5Pot to use, litres
₪270Cost of the pot
₪34per bowl
842kcal per bowl
36.7g protein per bowl
IngredientAmountCost
The broth
Beef bones, knuckle and back1.5 kg₪67
Marrow bones1 kg₪46
Beef brisket, in one piece800 g₪76
Cold water6 l
Large onions, halved, skin on400 g · 2 pcs₪2.4
Ginger, one piece halved lengthways100 g₪3.5
The spices
Star anise5 g · 6 pcs₪1.1
Cinnamon or cassia stick5 g · 1 pcs₪0.7
Cloves1 g · 6 pcs₪0.3
Coriander seeds8 g₪0.4
Fennel seeds3 g₪0.2
Black cardamom3 g · 1 pcs₪1.0
The seasoning
Salt25 g₪0.1
Sugar, ideally rock sugar20 g₪0.1
Soy sauce, in place of fish sauce40 ml₪1.7
For the bowls
Flat rice noodles, dried800 g₪20
Chuck or rib-eye, for very thin slicing400 g₪26
Onion, sliced paper thin100 g₪0.6
Spring onions, chopped60 g₪2.8
Coriander40 g₪2.0
Thai basil40 g₪7.1
Mung bean sprouts300 g₪8.4
Limes, in wedges140 g · 2 pcs₪2.8
Fresh chilli, sliced20 g₪0.3
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Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026. Nutrition from the ingredients in grams, before cooking.

How many calories in Pho? Nutrition facts and calorie calculator

Change the amount of any ingredient, drop one, or pick a lighter version, and the numbers per serving update at once: calories, fat, carbs, protein, sodium and fibre.

Pho has 168 calories per 100 ml. A 500 ml bowl made with our recipe has 842 calories: 36.7 g protein, 33.1 g fat and 95.5 g carbohydrates. A 250 ml cup has 421 calories.

Ingredients, for the whole recipe

  • 1,500 g27 kcal per serving
  • 1,000 g169 kcal per serving
  • 800 g151 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs20 kcal per serving
  • 100 g10 kcal per serving
  • 6 pcs2 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs2 kcal per serving
  • 6 pcs0 kcal per serving
  • 8 g3 kcal per serving
  • 3 g1 kcal per serving
  • 1 pcs1 kcal per serving
  • 25 g0 kcal per serving
  • 20 g10 kcal per serving
  • 40 ml3 kcal per serving
  • 800 g364 kcal per serving
  • 400 g54 kcal per serving
  • 100 g5 kcal per serving
  • 60 g2 kcal per serving
  • 40 g1 kcal per serving
  • 40 g1 kcal per serving
  • 300 g11 kcal per serving
  • 2 pcs4 kcal per serving
  • 20 g1 kcal per serving

What each add-on adds to Pho

Values for the amount in the row, from the national food database.

Add-onCaloriesProtein, gFat, g
A tablespoon of oil122013.8
A slice of white bread792.50.5
A slice of challah12641.1
A side cup of cooked rice, about1823.50.3

How to make Pho

In cook mode the screen stays on, tap a step when it is done, and the timers run next to each step.
  1. Put the bones and brisket in a large pot, cover with cold water, bring to a hard boil and cook for 10 minutes. Pour off the water, rinse the bones and meat under cold water and clean the pot.
  2. Char the onions and ginger in their skins over an open flame or under the grill for 10 to 15 minutes, until black outside and soft inside. Scrape off most of the burnt skin.
  3. Return the bones and brisket to the pot with 6 litres of cold water, bring to a boil, skim, and lower to a very gentle simmer. Add the onion and ginger.
  4. After an hour and a half to two hours, when the brisket is tender, lift it into a bowl of cold water for 10 minutes, then refrigerate. Keep the bones cooking.
  5. Toast all the spices in a dry pan over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until fragrant, tie them in a cloth bag or put them in a tea strainer, and add them to the pot for the last hour and a half.
  6. After 6 hours in total, strain the broth through a fine sieve and skim off some of the fat. Season with the salt, sugar and soy sauce, taste and adjust. You will have about 4 litres.
  7. Freeze the beef for slicing for 30 minutes and slice it as thin as you can, across the grain. Slice the cooked brisket too.
  8. Soak the rice noodles in lukewarm water for 30 minutes, and at serving time dip each portion in boiling water for 20 to 30 seconds and drain.
  9. Into each hot bowl put noodles, brisket slices, raw beef slices, sliced onion and spring onion. Bring the broth to a full boil and ladle 500 ml into each bowl, until the raw beef changes colour.
  10. Serve with a plate of Thai basil, coriander, sprouts, lime wedges and chilli.

The science of Pho

Kitchen science

Why the onion and ginger are charred

Under direct heat, the sugars on the onion's surface caramelise and take part in Maillard reactions, creating sweet, smoky flavours, while the skin protects the inside, which steams and softens. In ginger, heat turns some of the sharp gingerol into zingerone, which is sweeter and gentler, so charred ginger does not sting the broth.

Kitchen science

Toasting the spices

Star anise owes its scent mainly to anethole, cinnamon to cinnamaldehyde, cloves to eugenol and coriander seed to linalool. These are volatile oils locked inside the spice. Two to three minutes of dry heat start to release them and add toasty notes; any longer and they burn and turn bitter. An hour and a half in the broth is enough, and longer gives a broth that smells like an aniseed sweet.

Kitchen science

Why the bones are blanched

Bones and meat carry blood and soluble proteins that set into grey foam between 60 and 80 °C. If they stay in the broth, some remain suspended and cloud it. Ten minutes of boiling in a first water, a rinse and fresh water remove most of them, and the broth stays clear.

Kitchen science

Clear broth for pho: a simmer, not a boil

At a rolling boil, fat shatters into tiny droplets that gelatin stabilises, and the broth turns into a cloudy emulsion, as in white ramen. At a gentle simmer, around 90 °C, the fat floats and stays on top, while collagen slowly unwinds into gelatin and gives body without clouding.

Kitchen science

The beef that cooks in the bowl

A slice 1 to 2 mm thick heats through in seconds. Red myoglobin turns pinkish brown above 60 °C, and the proteins set without shrinking and drying out. It only works if the broth is truly boiling as it is poured, and the bowl is hot.

Pho in every kitchen

Hanoi pho

The northern style: a clear, deep broth, few garnishes, spring onion and lime, and far fewer herbs and sauces.

Saigon pho

The southern style: a sweeter broth, a plate of herbs, sprouts and lime on the side, and sweet and hot sauces on the table.

Pho tai and chin

Tai is raw beef that cooks in the bowl from the boiling broth, and chin is cooked, sliced brisket. Many bowls have both.

Pho ga, chicken

Chicken broth with the same spices, gentler, with shredded chicken. Ready in about two hours.

Mushroom pho, parve

A broth of dried shiitake, charred onion and spices. Here kosher fish sauce can be used, since there is no meat in the soup.

Common Pho problems and how to fix them

My pho broth is cloudy

The bones were not blanched, the broth boiled hard, or it was stirred. Blanch, keep a gentle simmer with no lid, and strain through a cloth.

The broth smells only of star anise

Too much spice, or too long with it. Add the spices only for the last hour and a half, in a bag, and take them out on time.

My pho tastes flat and bland

It lacks salt and sugar, or there were too few bones. Season at the end and taste. On its own the broth should taste slightly too salty, because the noodles and herbs soften it.

The rice noodles stick in a lump

They were overcooked or left standing after cooking. Soak in lukewarm water, dip each portion for seconds in boiling water just before serving, and rinse if needed.

The raw beef stays raw in the bowl

The broth was not boiling, the slices were thick, or the bowl was cold. Warm the bowls, slice very thin and pour boiling broth straight over the beef.

Storing, freezing and reheating

Broth 4 days

In the fridge

Broth 3 months

In the freezer

2+4

To cool

Bring it from 60 to 21 °C within two hours and down to 5 °C within four more. Split a big pot into shallow boxes.

75 °C

Reheating

Bring the broth to a full boil and build fresh bowls. Never store the noodles, raw beef or herbs in the broth.

Nutrition of Pho

From our recipe, per bowl and per 100 g, next to the national food database.

ServingkcalProtein, gFat, gCarbs, gFibre, g
Our recipe, a 500 ml bowl84236.733.195.55.3
Our recipe, 100 ml1687.36.619.11.1

What the ingredients of Pho cost

What each ingredient costs in one pot, and where to buy it.

IngredientPriceIn this potWhere to buy
Beef brisket, in one piece₪95 per kg₪76Butcher
Beef bones, knuckle and back₪45 per kg₪67Butcher
Marrow bones₪46 per kg₪46Butcher
Chuck or rib-eye, for very thin slicing₪65 per kg₪26Butcher
Flat rice noodles, dried₪25 per kg₪20Supermarket
Mung bean sprouts₪28 per kg₪8.4Greengrocer
Thai basil₪8.9 each₪7.1Asian grocer
Ginger, one piece halved lengthways₪35 per kg₪3.5Greengrocer
Large onions, halved, skin on₪5.9 per kg₪3Greengrocer
Limes, in wedges₪20 per kg₪2.8Greengrocer
Spring onions, chopped₪6.9 each₪2.8Greengrocer
Coriander₪4.9 each₪2Greengrocer
Soy sauce, in place of fish sauce₪42 per litre₪1.7Supermarket
Star anise₪210 per kg₪1.1Spice shop
Black cardamom₪320 per kg₪1Spice shop (hard to find)
Cinnamon or cassia stick₪140 per kg₪0.7Supermarket
Coriander seeds₪44 per kg₪0.4Spice shop
Cloves₪280 per kg₪0.3Spice shop
Fresh chilli, sliced₪13 per kg₪0.3Greengrocer
Fennel seeds₪80 per kg₪0.2Spice shop
Sugar, ideally rock sugar₪5.5 per kg₪0.1Supermarket
Salt₪2.1 per kg₪0.1Supermarket

Shelf prices at a large Israeli chain and specialty shops, October 2026, VAT included. Vegetable prices change with the season.

From the pantry: what Pho needs

Pantry

Soy sauce, in place of fish sauce

Pantry

Flat rice noodles, dried

Price and where to buy

Make Pho a meal

Shabbat

Ready Shabbat food

Soup, hamin, mains and sides, with a quantity calculator and prices.

Plan Shabbat
Hosting

Hosting trays

9 trays to go with the soup, with a planner by number of guests.

Tray planner
Events

Catering

A whole menu in grams per guest, with a reheating table.

Menus

What to serve with Pho

Serve at once in a large bowl, with a plate of herbs, sprouts, lime and chilli in the middle of the table, and a small dish of hoisin and chilli sauce for each person to dip the beef.

Pho in large quantities: events, offices and communities

How much of everything by number of guests, at a 500 ml bowl. For institutional pots, catering and community kitchens.

GuestsLitres30 l potsCost of ingredients
25121₪844
50251₪1,689
100502₪3,378
2001004₪6,755
50025010₪16,888

Every ingredient for any number of guests is in the calculator above: type the number of people.

Order Pho

A ready pot for Shabbat, an event or the office, ordered ahead.

  • Cooked to order, for Shabbat, an event or the office.
  • Tell us how many people and when, and we send a quote.
  • Delivery in Tel Aviv from ₪35, free over ₪750.
Ask for a quote for Pho

Order Pho for a large event

Large orders in Israel and abroad: events, offices, synagogues, communities and institutions.

  • In Israel: cooked in Tel Aviv and delivered to events in the area, and to large events anywhere in the country on a quote.
  • Abroad: for communities, events and restaurants. Tell us where, how many and when, and we come back with a quote and options.
  • Institutional quantities and a shopping list for any number of guests, in the calculator above.
Ask for a large-order quote

Frequently asked questions

How do you pronounce pho?

In Vietnamese it sounds closer to fuh, with a dipping and rising tone, not like foe. In Israel everyone says fo, and that is fine.

What replaces fish sauce in kosher pho?

Salt, a little sugar and soy sauce. Kosher fish sauce exists, but a kosher kitchen does not cook fish with meat, so it suits only mushroom pho.

How long do you cook pho broth?

6 to 8 hours for beef bones at a gentle simmer, and about two hours for chicken pho. In a pressure cooker, about an hour and a half, plus half an hour for the spices.

What is the difference between pho and ramen?

Pho is Vietnamese, with rice noodles and a clear, spiced beef broth. Ramen is Japanese, with alkaline wheat noodles, and its flavour is set by the tare at the bottom of the bowl.

Which beef is best for pho?

For the broth, knuckle and marrow bones and brisket. For the raw slices, a tender, fairly lean cut such as chuck or rib-eye, sliced very thin.

Which noodles should I buy for pho?

Flat rice noodles about 5 mm wide, dried or fresh. They are sold in Asian shops and supermarkets.

Does the beef in pho stay raw?

No. The boiling broth cooks the thin slices in seconds. If you prefer, use only slices of cooked brisket.

How many calories are in Pho?

A 500 ml bowl of Pho made with our recipe has about 842 calories and 36.7 g of protein. Per 100 ml: 168 calories.

How much does it cost to make Pho at home?

A pot of 8 bowls costs about ₪270 at Israeli shelf prices in October 2026, about ₪34 a bowl. The calculator above works it out for any number of people.

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