Traditional Vietnamese Pho is a labour of love, the heart of the dish being a rich meaty broth, made by cooking beef or chicken bones for hours on end in a variety of spices. I’ve created a simplified take on the dish, using the Instant Pot to extract maximum flavour from the meat bones, in this case oxtail, in the shortest time possible. I’ve even used a Vietnamese Pho stock cube from an Asian grocers here to keep things ultra-easy, or you could throw in some appropriate store cupboard spices such as star anise and ginger. I love to get the broth boiling hot in the Instant Pot, and just pour it over the raw sirloin steak in the serving bowl, to keep the meat nice and tender. The original dish would normally contain noodles, but why not just use a nice big handful of beansprouts to keep things fresh and low-carb.
As an alternative to oxtail, this dish would also work perfectly with any left over beef bones or chicken carcasses, making it a convenient and thrifty way to get a collagen packed healthy dinner!
Preparation Time:15 minutes
Cooking time: 1hr30
Servings: 4
A pressure-cooked rich Vietnamese oxtail broth topped with fresh beansprouts and sirloin steak
Ingredients:
- 3-4 chunks of oxtail
- 2 sirloin steaks.
- 150g Beansprouts
- 2 Vietnamese Pho stock cubes, or a mixture of spices such as star anise, ginger and garlic
- Fresh parsley
- Lime wedges to serve
- First, start preparing the broth by combining the oxtail chunks, stock cubes or spices, and 1 Litre of water in the Instant Pot. Cook on high pressure for 1hr (or longer if you have time) until the oxtail is very tender and the meat easily falls off the bone.
- Strain off the oxtail bones and flake any oxtail meat into the broth. Test the broth, and if desired, increase the flavours with salt, soy or fish sauce to taste
- Prepare the serving bowls with a generous handful of beansprouts, topped with the thinly sliced raw sirloin steak. Ladle over the steaming hot broth which will gently cook the steak strips. Garnish with chopped parsley and a generous squeeze of lime.
Low Carb Londoner 
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