Skip takeout and make this delicious homemade Pho Xao instead. It's a popular Vietnamese recipe with stir fried noodles and beef. The noodles are cooked in a homemade savory sauce guaranteed to satisfy your taste buds.
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If you’ve never tried this Vietnamese dish you’re in for a treat. The beef is savory, full of flavor, and it’s so tender. The recipe is cooked with red chiles, scallions, and baby bok choy. Then everything is topped over a bed of noodles and cooked in a delicious sauce. Enjoy it for dinner or meal prep for lunch.
We’ve been trying to incorporate more recipes from around the world in our meal line up. Especially after trying a local Vietnamese restaurant we fell in love with. We are all about saving money and cooking restaurant food at home (so long as it’s not too complicated) and that’s what we were able to do with this recipe. I was surprised as how simple and easy it was to make Vietnamese food at home.
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Why You'll Love Pho Xao
- Pho Xao is extremely easy to make. Only simple ingredients are used in the recipe. Don't worry about going to a specialized market to find sauces and other ingredients you'll never use again. Most items can be bought from most grocery stores. The ingredients you may not have on hand like oyster sauce and fish sauce are very versatile. Consider re-using them to make more stir fry or use to marinate chicken or beef.
- This popular Vietnamese recipe is authentic and is packed with flavor. Don't spend the extra money eating out if you don’t have to. Bring the restaurant to your home in only 30 minutes.
- Don’t be thrown off when you see red chile as an ingredient. Yes this brings spice and flavor to the pho xao but if you’re sensitive to heat this can be left out all together or substituted for a red bell pepper.
- Everything is made in one pot. Don't worry about using up a ton of dishes because everything is stir fried in a wok which makes for easy clean up on weeknights.
What Is Pho Xao?
So what exactly is pho xao? It’s often thought of as a more convenient version of pho bo xao. Many of the same ingredients are used to make beef pho and pho xao but this is more of a stir fry and does not contain broth. Think of it more as a fried pho.
Pho xao is a dish with roots in Vietnam. It’s typically made with beef but occasionally you’ll see it made as a pho xao chicken recipe instead. The beef is cooked with sliced vegetables and served with vietnamese rice noodles. All ingredients are stir fried and the sauce is made up of oyster sauce, soy sauce, and fish sauce.
Why You Should Cook Pho Xao in a Wok
Owning a wok has been a game changer for us. There are a lot of benefits to using a wok to make pho xao or any other type of Vietnamese stir fry. A wok’s main purpose is to stir fry and it does a great job at doing just that. Woks are made to distribute heat evenly resulting in a shorter cook time. It also has a natural non-stick surface which means less oil is needed. The less oil you need, the more healthy and less greasy your pho xao is.
One big difference between a wok and a skillet is the high sloping walls on the sides. As you are cooking at a high heat, you can easily move the pho xao around without worrying about it spilling over the sides. It’s also important to move the pho xao as it’s cooking to avoid burning and the wok makes it easy to do so. The high side walls also create heating zones that create a more even and quick cook.
If you’ve ever thought about purchasing a wok, I highly recommend it. However, if you don’t have one and are not looking to purchase one, I recommend using a deep dish skillet instead.
What You Need to Make Pho Xao
Rice Noodles - a 1lb package is used and should be cooked according to the package directions, these cook much quicker than traditional wheat noodles. For added flavor consider making fried rice noodles and fry rice noodles in a little sesame oil before adding to the vietnamese stir fried beef.
Vegetable oil - has subtle flavor and is used to pan fry the marinated beef, any other mild cooking oil can be substituted
Beef - thinly sliced flank or skirt steak, we will get into more detail on the best beef used for this stir fry later on
Oyster Sauce - a thickened dark brown sauce made from oyster extract, salt, and sugar
Soy Sauce - a common salty sauce made from fermenting soy beans, brings the umami flavor
Fish Sauce - condiment made from fish or krill that have been coated in salt and fermented
Sugar - to balance the pho xao, the amount used doesn’t make it sweet it just adds to the flavor
Garlic - fresh minced garlic is best in this recipe
Salt and Pepper
Red Chiles - for heat and flavor
Green Onion - sliced into thirds with the white part removed
Baby Bok Choy - to add greenery and crunch
The Best Beef for Pho Xao
So what exactly is the best beef to use in this pho xao recipe? When it comes to shopping for the right beef for a recipe, it can be intimidating. If you choose the wrong cut you could have a meal that’s chewy and not cooked the way it was meant to be. On the other hand choosing the right beef for this recipe will give you a tender, juicy, meal you’ll want more of. Below I’ve broken down the most common types of beef used in a stir fry to help you out!
Flank - this might be the most popular cut when it comes to choosing stir fry. It's long and thin and comes from stomach muscles of a cow. This cut is extremely flavorful and is great when marinated.
Skirt Steak - similar to flank steak, it’s also a long thin cut except skirt steak comes from the diaphragm of a cow. It's best cooked at a high heat for a short amount of time to maintain the tender juicy texture we're all looking for.
Sirloin Steak - this cut is very flavorful, and inexpensive. It's also known as porterhouse steak and is a great choice for stir fry. The cut comes from the large part of the t-bone. When buying, choose sirloin from the tip side or the tip center side for optimum results. Much like skirt steak it's best to cook this on high heat for a short amount of time. Overcooking can turn this cut tough and dry.
How to Keep Beef Tender for Pho Xao
- Try adding 1-2 teaspoons of baking soda to the beef before it’s marinated. Toss until completely combined and let sit for 30 minutes to tenderize. This is best for cheaper cuts of meat.
- Let the beef marinate for a couple hours. This recipe doesn’t require a long marinating process but if you let the beef sit in the marinade for an hour or two you’ll be left with tender, juicy beef.
- Cook the beef on medium high heat. Cooking on medium high heat will brown the beef faster. This is best because stir fry beef gets more tough the longer it cooks. The lower the heat, the slower the beef will cook resulting in a more tough bite. With that being said, don’t add the beef until you know your skillet is hot enough for the best results.
How to Make Pho Xao
Step 1. In a bowl combine beef, garlic, salt, pepper, and oyster sauce. Stir until fully combined and let marinate while you prep the other ingredients.
Step 2. In a small bowl combine all ingredients for the sauce. Whisk together and set aside.
Step 3. In a wok heat the oil over medium to medium high heat. Once heated add the chile pepper and green onion. Let cook until fragrant. About 30 seconds. Add the beef. Cook until brown on all sides. About 5 minutes. Remove from wok and set aside leaving the remaining beef juices in the skillet.
Step 4. To the hot skillet, add baby bok choy, green onion, red chile, and half the sauce. Cook on medium high until the baby bok choy starts to become tender. About 2-3 minutes. Remove the veggies from the wok and set aside leaving the juice at the bottom of the wok.
Step 5. Over medium high heat add the rest of the sauce to the pan juices and bring to a simmer. Add the rice noodles and stir to coat the noodles in the sauce and warm through. Cook for about 2 minutes then add the baby bok choy, green onion, red chile, and beef. Stir until well combined and warmed through. Serve immediately.
Variations You Can Try
- Turn pho xao into mi xao (stir-fried egg noodles) simply by adding lo mein noodles instead of rice noodles
- Make pho xao vegetarian by omitting the beef all together, add more veggies such as carrots and snap peas instead
- Make the Vietnamese beef and rice noodles spicy by adding some sriracha to the pho sauce and the pho xao noodles, this not only takes the beef rice noodles to a new level but it adds so much delicious flavor
Storing Pho Xao
To store leftover rice noodles and beef, place pho xao in an air tight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. To reheat, place in a microwave safe bowl with a paper towel over the main dish and microwave for 30 seconds at a time stirring occasionally until completely reheated. I’ve tried meal prepping the pho xao and left overs are just as good the next day or two. I don’t recommend freezing because the rice noodles won’t do well once thawed.
Other Recipes You Must Try
Easy Pho Xao
Ingredients
For The Noodles
- 1 lb rice noodles cooked according to the package directions
For The Beef
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 lb beef thinly sliced flank steak or skirt steak
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- salt and pepper
- 2 red chiles sliced
- 3 green onion cut into thirds with the white part removed
For The Stir Fry
- 1 baby bok choy chopped into thirds
- 3 green onion cut into thirds with the white part removed
- 1 red chile
For The Sauce
- 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions
- In a bowl combine beef, garlic, salt, pepper, and oyster sauce. Stir until fully combined and let marinate while you prep the other ingredients.
- In a small bowl combine all ingredients for the sauce. Whisk together and set aside.
- In a wok heat the oil over medium to medium high heat. Once heated add the chile pepper and green onion. Let cook until fragrant. About 30 seconds. Add the beef. Cook until brown on all sides. Remove from wok and set aside leaving the remaining beef juices in the skillet.
- To the hot skillet, add baby bok choy, green onion, red chile, and half the sauce. Cook on medium high until the baby bok choy starts to become tender. About 2-3 minutes. Remove the veggies from the wok and set aside leaving the juice at the bottom of the wok.
- Over medium high heat add the rest of the sauce to the pan juices and bring to a simmer. Add the rice noodles and stir to coat the noodles in the sauce and warm through. Cook for about 2 minutes then add the baby bok choy, green onion, red chile, and beef. Stir until well combined and warmed through. Serve immediately.
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