Beef Pho for Under 200 Calories!

Well hello, we meet again. It has been quite some time since I've published a blog post. My absence is due to many reasons, one of the main ones being that I recently published a book! That's right, I wrote a book using iBooksAuthor and my book is now published to the iTunes store. If you have an iPad you can download it for $1.99, it's called "Healthy and Homemade Recipes" ^_^ 

The book is all about healthy eating, recipes under 400 calories, and most importantly BIG flavor without too much effort! If I actually have any readers left, thank you so much for sticking around! I aim to start posting more recipes now that the book is off my hands and I'm not constantly retesting and making adjustments to recipes that are old news! 

Now, onto the pho! Pho is a Vietnamese soup dish who's star is most certainly the broth. The thinly sliced meat, delicious rice noodles, and condiments are certainly delicious, but the broth takes the cake. I love going to get pho at restaurants, but when I did a bit of searching online I found a small bowl can be upwards of 500 calories! Ouch! I decided I would give it a shot and try to make my own.

This recipe is not the traditional one you will get at a restaurant. There were no bones or bone marrow included in my recipe, but I did that on purpose to save calories and time. This is easily completed in an hour and a half, which is pretty good for a homemade soup that will serve 8 people. I hope you enjoy!

Lightened Up Beef Pho

      serves 8

• 2 quarts of Beef Broth (120 calories)
• 2-3 ounces of Sirloin Beef or Beef Chuck, just to be boiled then discarded
• 1 large white Onion, chopped (zero calories because we strain it)
• large chunk of Ginger, minced or whole (I used 3 of the frozen cubes, zero calories from straining)
• 2 Tbsp. Fish Sauce (20 calories)
• 1 Tbsp. Hoisin Sauce (45 calories)
• 1/2 Tbsp. Grape Seed Oil or Canola Oil (65 calories)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp. ground Coriander (5 calories)
• 1/2 Tbsp. Allspice (6 calories)
• 1 tsp. ground Black Pepper (I didn't have whole peppercorns)
• 1/4 tsp. ground Cayenne Pepper (optional, but I like it hot!)
• 2 tsp. Raw Sugar, Palm Sugar, or another substitute (30 calories)
• Generous pinch of salt
• 1/2 or 1 pack of angel hair Miracle Noodles pre serving
• Thinly sliced Sirloin Steak or Flank Steak, about 2-3 ounces per bowl
• For garnish and condiments: fresh mint, fresh basil, fresh cilantro, lime wedges, bean sprouts, Sriracha hot sauce, Hoisin sauce, jalapeños

Place a big pot over medium heat, once hot add the oil, garlic, and ginger and sauté until a nice brown color is beginning to show, about 10 minutes. Add the beef broth, fish sauce, hoisin sauce, all the spices, cinnamon stick, and the beef (not the beef you're serving, just a couple ounces to cook with) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 90 minutes. While the broth is cooking I prep all the condiments and slice the meat up, then place the meat back in the fridge. After the broth simmered for 15 minutes I removed the cinnamon stick because it smelled really strong to me, it's up to you to leave it in the whole 90 minutes. Strain the broth and return the broth to the pan and bring to a boil. I prefer a mesh strainer over a smaller pot, then I put the smaller pot on the heat and boil the broth to save time. In a bowl add your prepared Miracle Noodles, 2-3 ounces of beef, and pour the broth over. The boiling broth will cook the beef instantly as long as it's sliced thinly. Have your guests top their bowls with the condiments of their choice.

I calculated my bowl (which I could only eat half of anyway) to come to a total of 179 calories, 4 grams of carbohydrates, 24 grams of protein, 6 grams of fat, and 947 mg of sodium (ouch! try to use half broth half water). Under 200 calories but still so full of flavor. It's a lot of salt, but then again that's why it tastes so good! I hope you give this a shot and make it on a nice cold day.