Fast Pho

Pho is a beloved street food in Vietnam, where vendors carry steaming canteens of broth to pour over fresh ingredients in the bowl as each customer orders. The hot broth poaches the thinly sliced ingredients just enough, and heaps of fresh herbs and chopped chiles give it a light, fresh quality. Pho is usually all about the time-consuming broth, but we can cut a step and use boxed stock to delicious results.

Great

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the noodles.

Step 2

In a 2-quart pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat, then sauté the ginger and garlic just until fragrant, about a minute.

Step 3

Add the stock, anise, cinnamon, peppercorns, and fish sauce or tamari. Bring to a simmer and then reduce the heat to keep it at a gentle bubble. Cook for 20 minutes, uncovered.

Step 4

The stock will reduce to about 7 cups.

Step 5

While the stock takes on flavor, prepare the garnishes.

Step 6

Place the bok choy, shrimp, carrot, tofu, jalapenos, if using, and bean sprouts in separate piles on a plate or two.

Step 7

Cook the noodles according to the package directions, drain and rinse with warm water, and divide them between 6 to 8 wide soup bowls.

Step 8

When the stock is ready, strain it through a fine-mesh sieve, taste for salt, adding more fish sauce or tamari if you think it needs it, and bring it to a boil over high heat when ready to serve. To serve, the traditional method is to put the shrimp, tofu, and vegetables on top of the noodles and ladle boiling stock over them to cook them lightly. Serve with scal-lions piled on top and lime wedges and Sriracha on the side.

Step 9

If desired, you can lightly cook the shrimp, bok choy, and car-rot in the simmering stock and serve the soup from a com-munal pot, ladling it over the rice noodles and tofu in each bowl and garnishing with scallions.