Awesome!!! Suggestions to make it easier is to use a pre-made Pho broth paste/mix. Also did not use any beef knuckles just oxtails. Tasted great.

YUM! Was so happy with my first attempt at making pho... I even daresay that I liked this better than my favorite local Vietnamese restaurant's pho. The nice thing about this being from scratch, instead of using the premade spice packets is that you can adjust amounts of each spice to your own tastes. From past experience with recipes for other types of Asian noodle soups, our family personally isn't big on too much star anise, so for this first time I only used a few pods (plus, it was all I had left on hand and I didn't have time to make it to my local grocer that'd have it in stock). Used a little more ginger than called for and only made it for 1 gallon since I didn't want to make too much this first time around. I also didn't use daikon because I didn't have it on hand. Used grass-fed, pasture-raised beef knuckle from a local farm, no oxtail. Boiled on high for 15 minutes, then drained and rinsed to get rid of all the impurities (very little given the type of beef used). Then proceeded to simmer the stock on low for the given amount of time. I added some beef tendon and beefballs at the very end, since my kids all like it. For our family of 5 it was perfect and everyone loved it. My 21 m/o gobbled it all up. Flavor was awesome. Only change I'd make is I'd add a *little* bit more star anise, but that's it. This recipe's a keeper!! Can't wait to make it again! And bonus, my home smelled of that wonderful pho aroma for the rest of the evening!

I quartered this recipe and it saved me from having to go to a restaurant every time I have a craving. I used chicken broth and a beef bullion cube instead of starting from scratch with beef knuckles (since it's what I had on hand) and I only simmered the spice bag for 1 hour instead of 4. It was still amazing. Now that I have all of the spices on hand I will definitely make this again. Thank you very much!

I have never taken the time to make Pho the "real" way, but decided to try this one yesterday on a day off. I have a great recipe from Women's Health that I make all the time and only takes 30-45 min. My husband and I refer to it as "faux Pho". However, this one blew it out of the water. It's so worth the time, and truly not that difficult. The depth of rich flavor that comes from cooking down the bones and spices all day is incredible! I had no problem finding beef knuckle for dirt cheap at my market, thought eliminated the ox tail, as other reviews said its not necessary. Instead of sirloin I used skirt steak, I added soy sauce for salt, and reserved some Daikon and julienned it to use as a garnish. Not sure that I can go back to my quickie version now, may have to come up with some way of doing this in the crockpot for work nights!

I must have done something wrong as mine came out really bad. I followed the recipe, but our broth had no flavor. I ended up adding some beef soup base, which made it taste better. We love pho and I wanted to surprise my kids. This ended up to be a very expensive dinner that no one enjoyed. Next time we will stick to our local pho sho. Thanks for the recipe-just did not seem to work for me. I still can not figure out what I did wrong as this recipe has such high ratings.

I made this in my slow cooker, so I didn't have to sit around all day babysitting my stove! I couldn't find oxtail, so I used two lbs. of beef soup bones instead, cooked the spices and bones and broth for 6 hours, then sliced up leftover cooked steak, and added the slices at the end just to warm them up. Delicious, and great flavour, although I did take the cinnamon stick and anise out after 4 hours as I thought it was getting a bit too strong for my taste. I will make this again and again- thanks for sharing!

this recipe turned out pretty well but a few things had to be done different. my mother inlaw is from laos and I love her pho, but wanted to check if there were variations that sounded yummy. The daikon is not needed and gives it a completely different flavor. Pho seasoning packets from any asian store work wonders and is much cheaper! Also putting the fish sauce and sugar in while cooking is not needed and actually the pho will taste much better if sugar and fish sauce are put in with the sriracha, garlic, bean sprouts ect. Another thing that can be added to pho with beef is tripe, it turns out very good.

I'd recommend roasting the onions whole before adding to the broth. I'd use 4 onions. I'd also recommend wrapping spices in a cheese cloth so that the spice bag can be taken out after about 4.5 hours, while the broth should cook on simmer (low heat) for about 7 hours. I'd add 2 cloves of raw garlic and 2 pods of cademom as spices. After bringing the stock to a boil, you should turn the heat down to simmer and continue skimming fat and foams off until the broth is clear. Before putting bones and oxtail in, get water to a boiling point first. This should help make the broth clearer.

Lots of flavors but I personally thought it was way too watery and needed alot more vegetables.

This is a great, authentic recipe that I will make again and again. I only had about 1/2 oz. of star anise on hand but it still turned out great. I did find that for my taste the broth needed some additional fish sauce and salt added with the other condiments.