When I came down with the flu earlier this week, I found myself craving pho in a big way.
An authentic Vietnamese pho is made with a long-simmered beef marrow bone broth (or oxtail bones), flavored with star anise, ginger, and cloves. Savory additions include rice noodles, thin slices of beef, yellow onions, scallions and cilantro. Other topping options can include bean sprouts, herbs, chilies and lime juice.
I honored my craving by making a fast and easy version of pho. I simply added two quarts of quality, filtered water to one package of 100% organic beef bone broth, brought it to a boil and let it simmer. In another Dutch oven, I sauteed 1 pound of 100% grass-fed ground lamb in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil until browned, apx. 5 mins. After draining the fat, I set aside the cooked lamb. I chopped one bunch of organic cilantro and sliced one bunch of organic scallions into thin rounds. To the broth, I added 1 package of gluten-free, grain-free, low-carb konjac noodles, simmering 3-4 minutes. I then stirred the cooked ground lamb into the broth.
The rest is assembly. Ladle the broth with noodles and ground lamb into a lage soup bowl. Garnish with scallions, cilantro, and a generous dollop of fermented spicy radish salad (this is what I had on hand). You can substitute kimchee or any other cultured vegetable for the radish salad, if desired.
I used ground lamb because lamb is effective at warming the body, especially a flu-chilled body (I was so chilled that I had to wear 3 layers to bed!).
It was a delicious way to take my “medicine”. And effective… I was up and moving around the next day!
