Dehydrated Vietnamese Pho Style Soup
A satisfying broth of noodles and beef (or chicken or vegan protein!) topped with tangy cold herbs and vegetables
Vibrant, tangy soupy slurpy flavours in camp! Yum!
Delicious beef pho is a fantastic culinary favourite not only in Vietnam, but worldwide. The deep flavour of the beef bone-and-meat soup, silky rice noodles, velvety thin raw beef slices that cook as you pour over the hot broth, all topped with fresh and crunchy herbs, bean sprouts and a spritz of lime for textural and aromatic contrast are absolutely more-ish: yum!
It’s not possible to perfectly replicate these elements in a fully dehydrated meal… but this one comes pretty close! So although we cheated a tiny bit, our pho recipe gives you very similar classic flavours and textures.
At 2100kJ (500 Calories) per 160g serve, pho is not as high in calories as many of our other meals. Increase the calorie (and protein) content by upping the amount of beef and noodles or, more effectively, add a spoonful of oil (10mL for 80 Calories / 340kJ) in camp. Unfortunately, we normally carry olive oil, which doesn’t match this dish. Instead choose a ‘light’ olive oil with less flavour, or a neutral oil like rice bran.
The recipe also lends itself to numerous shortcuts: non-cooks jump straight to the Cheats’ Clever Hacks at the end for a super-simple assemble-only version, no dehydrating required! Don’t want to dehydrate meat? Substitute with jerky or freeze dried beef. For vegans, freeze dried tofu or vegan beef slices are great substitutes. For a more sustainable meat option, choose freeze dried chicken (but remember to buy chicken pho paste). Don’t want to dehydrate paste? Substitute with commercial pho powders. Rice stick noodles too fiddly? Replace with instant rice noodles! We include these options in the Ingredients list so you can choose your own adventure!
Pho is available as paste, cubes or, as here, powder. (Image Credit: Lee Brand)
Google Vietnamese pho powder for options in your region.(Image Credit Ajinomoto).
The only thing that you should definitely try to dehydrate at home is the vegetable and herb toppings for that textural contrast. However, you can buy dried spring onion (google dried green onion, green shallot or scallions), dried chillies, dried thai basil and even dried shredded carrot. Doing it this way is convenient, but expensive.
It’s worth reading the different options below so that, when you come to the ingredients list, you have a solid handle of which suit you best. Or, if you already know, jump straight to INGREDIENTS.
This recipe and description is long because there are four separate elements (meat, veg, noodles, broth), but each individual element is simple, so don’t be daunted!
Broth:
Testing different broth options. One was too fatty, the other too watery, but the third was Goldilocks just right! The stock cubes weren’t our favourite but are vegan, so choose them if you want no animal products in your soup.
At home, we make genuine stock from scratch with a combination of aromats, meat and fatty marrowbones, which give the broth its rich mouthfeel (here’s a great recipe from my favourite online cook, Nagi of RecipeTinEats). But don’t worry, you won’t need to do this! Of course it’s perfectly possible to dehydrate soups and stocks, but the from-scratch recipe requires a lot of water to cover the bones, and you need to skim off (waste) all that tasty dissolved marrow fat before dehydrating, so it’s not worth the time and effort. Instead, we tested a few different ready-made jar pastes and stock cubes; you can also find ready-made stock powder. We haven’t tried the latter but they’re cheap, so visit your local Asian supermarket or browse online and find the one you like best!
We found that stock cubes had a disappointingly thin, watery flavour, and that dehydrated pastes were far superior. Look for one with a low fat content. We tested one at 6.7%, which worked but is at the upper limit (lower is better); the brand with 12.4% was too oily. Even spread thinly, the fattier paste didn’t dehydrate properly as the oil creates a layer on the surfaces that prevents complete dessication. If not properly dried, bacteria can multiply.
Noodles:
You can find umpteen different brands and thicknesses of rice stick noodles even in ordinary Australian supermarkets, and even more in Asian marts. (Image Credit: Bich Chi Food Co)
Instant rice noodles are also easy to find in Australian supermarkets. They simplify preparation in camp because they rehydrate within a few minutes and come in a more compact bundle that’s easier to fit into small pots. (Image Credit: Acecook).
We used flat rice stick noodles for authenticity. This particular brand comes apart into 200g/7.1oz blocks which is the perfect size for us two but you can use any, even instant rice noodles from your local supermarket (throw away the flavour sachet). Wheaten egg noodles aren’t traditional but are more nutritious than rice noodles.
Beef (or alternative protein)
Beef fillet, trimmed. We rarely eat beef — this is certainly the largest piece we’ve bought in decades! — but it did work in the recipe. Leaner cuts are even better.
The amount of protein in this recipe is completely up to you: you can double it, halve it, or anything in between to meet your specific requirements. Dehydrated canned chicken is a more sustainable option but I could only find (unsuitable) shredded canned chicken in Australia. Fresh cooked dehydrated chicken rehydrates like string: avoid! Vegan options are the most sustainable option.
We used beef eye fillet, and store this version in the freezer because it still has more fat content than I’d like for long-term room temperature storage. The rehydrated meat is chewy: not tender, but not tough either. It was softer than soaked jerky.
Freeze dried beef (Image Credit Black Locust Katahdin Farm)
Foodies should avoid freeze dried beef mince because the texture is wrong for this soup. Unfussy folk can go for it! (Image Credit: Back Country Cuisine).
Freeze-dried beef is moree tender but expensive here in Oz (it can’t be imported by punters). Overseas readers — particularly in the US — might like to google: Thrive Life and Auguson Farms both supply freeze-dried cooked diced beef. Here in Oz you can find a similar product in Survival Stores but at $300/kg we weren’t going to try it! The freeze-dried meat sold in smaller quantities for backpacking is all minced (ground) beef in Australia, and the texture will be wrong in this recipe.
It’s also possible to find freeze dried raw beef and we suspect that it would be the most perfect option for this recipe, but haven’t tested it — let us know your results if you try it!
Beef jerky is another option and, although also expensive unless you make your own, is widely available. Cold soaking the jerky for two hours before heating softens the texture though it will always be quite chewy; there was little difference between brands. We found it chewier than our own dehydrated cooked beef. Kangaroo jerky or any jerky made from Australia’s game/pest animals (goat, deer, camel etc) is significantly more sustainable.
Vegetarians or anyone who prefers a softer texture can use vegan beef slices or freeze dried tofu (google koya dofu in your country):
These vegan beef slices rehydrate almost instantly and are ideal for soups like this (Image Credit: Annhien food).
Koya dofu, or freeze dried tofu, rehydrates almost instantly too, soaking up the flavours of the soup like little sponges, so much so that you might need a little extra liquid (Image credit: Tsuruhabutae)
Herbs and Vegetables
Our recipe makes 10 serves, but I assembled two of them fresh at home (above) for dinner to tweak the proportions; you could do the same instead of using our quantities if you wish, weighing all your individual ingredients. The texture of the vegetables in the rehydrated version is almost indistinguishable from the fresh. The flavour of the herbs changes, of course, but home-dehydrated ones taste more similar than do the flakes and powders you buy in jars.
The vegetables and herbs add few calories but, for foodies, their textural contribution is mandatory! Bean shoots and zoodled carrot are lightly pickled in salt, lime juice and a little sugar overnight and dehydrated the next day, before mixing with dehydrated Thai basil, mint, and spring onion. When cold soaked for a couple of hours, they provide that crunchy freshness that makes this dish so special. Sadly, coriander loses almost all its flavour when dehydrated, but freeze-dried coriander retains all its flavour and would be a worthy addition if available in your country (we couldn’t find any in Australia). All the corianders labelled “freeze-dried” on Australian ebay, Amazon etc sites are air dried, not freeze dried, or do not ship here; direct imports from overseas are prohibitively expensive and in any case are likely to be confiscated by Customs.
Ingredients (makes a total of approx 21,000kJ / 5,000 calories and 250g protein which we divided into ten serves)
The paste is jarred and the noodles are dry but everything else is fresh!
600g/21oz bean shoots
425g/15oz carrot, zoodled or coarsely grated (2-3 large carrots)
2 tbspn salt
juice of six limes
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup mirin
*1 bunch mint (40g/1.4oz stripped leaves)
**1 bunch thai basil (40g/1.4oz stripped leaves)
fresh birdseye chillies to taste (this depends on the spiciness of your pho paste), finely sliced; we used about 80g/2.8oz allowing for 2 chillies per serve.
1.5 bunches spring onion to make 280g/10oz finely sliced rings
***850g/30oz fresh lean beef fillet trimmed of fat and sinew to make about 755g/27oz, lightly frozen and VERY thinly sliced OR 195g/6.88oz freeze dried meat, OR beef jerky, OR vegan beef slices OR koya dofu.
1 x 454g/16oz jar pho paste or equivalent in powder or stock cubes to make up 50-60 cups of stock.
1 kg/35oz rice stick noodles.
optional if available in your country - 5 tbspns freeze-dried coriander
*Home-dehydrated mint tastes quite different to the mint you get in little flakes in jars.
** Thai basil tastes quite different to ordinary basil both fresh and when dehydrated, with more spice and aniseed notes. Sweet basil is still good… but use Thai basil if you can find it.
***The vegan options contain less — and less useable — protein.
Method
For the fresh beef:
Boiled meat in a colander ready for rinsing with hot water.
If you’re using dried protein, skip this step: you’ll add it when packaging.
If your fillet is very thick, slice in half lengthways. Wrap separately and freeze until just firm: this helps you slice it more thinly. Unwrap meat and use a very sharp knife to slice it across the grain as thinly as possible,1-2mm if you can! Many of my slices were a bit thick and the thinner ones rehydrated better!
Bring a pot of water to the boil; add a splash of soy sauce and Chinese Shaoshing if you like. Drop in meat and boil for 3-4 minutes, skimming impurities from the surface. Tip into a colander set in the sink and pour through at least three litres of freshly boiled clean water to remove as much fat as possible.
Spread onto dehydrator trays and dry at 74C/165F until completely dry. If you notice any oil on the surface during or after drying, blot with paper towel or, after drying, spread meat between two double layers of paper towel and roll up tightly for two hours. Unwrap and tip into a lidded container ready for assembly.
For the Vegetables
If buying dehydrated herbs and shredded carrot, skip this step.
Mix bean sprouts and zoodled carrots in a large plastic container. Sprinkle over two tbspns salt, mix well, cover and refrigerate 3 hours. Remove, mix through sugar, lime juice, and mirin, and return to fridge overnight.
The next morning, drain in a colander, rinse with cold water, drain again, and spread onto mesh dehydrator sheets. The vegetables will taste salty but don’t worry because a lot of it will be drawn out when you rehydrate them on trail. Dehydrate at 57C/135F until completely dry. Place into a lidded container ready for assembly.
For the Herbs
Dehydrating top to bottom: Thai basil and chilli, Pho paste, beef and spring onion.
If buying dried basil, mint, feeze-dried coriander and spring onion, skip this and jump straight to packaging.
Spread picked leaves of basil and mint on dehydrator trays. Spread sliced onion on dehydrator tray. If drying with the meat, dehydrate them at the same temperature (we could fit everything into our 9 tray Excalibur except the carrots and bean shoots, which we dehydrated the following day). Remove each item when it is dry. You can mix the basil and mint before dehydrating, but the spring onion takes a little longer so keep it on a separate — or separate part of — a tray. If dehydrating with the vegetables, dehydrate at the same temperature of 57C/135F.
Also spread the sliced chillies separately as they aren’t packaged with the other herbs.
Once dry, place all ingredients into their own separate lidded containers ready for packaging.
For the Paste
If dehydrating pho paste, spread it thinly onto silicone or baking-paper lined mesh. Different pho pastes have different dilution rates. Most are 1-2 tbspn per 3 cups water. Weigh one tbspn of paste and spread it onto a corner of a silicone sheet, then fill the rest of the sheet. Dehydrate with the trays of beef slices at 74C/165F, peeling off and inverting onto mesh when firm enough to do so.
Once dry, break into shards and powder in a spice grinder, keeping your 1 tbspn separate to weigh. Ours lost about half its weight in water so that 1 tbspn equalled about 16g/0.56oz of powder. Spread powder back onto a silicone-lined sheet and dehydrate for another 10-15 mins to condition. Place into a lidded container ready for packaging.
Packaging for Two (halve if packaging for one)
Assemble ingredients. Top row, L to R: rice stick noodles, dehydrated vegetables. Centre Row L to R: green onion, dehydrated beef, pho powder. Bottom row L to R: dehydrated thai basil, dehydrated mint, dehydrated chilli.
You’ll need:
5 sous vide/vac-seal bags to package the entire meal and to rehydrate noodles. Or use thinner bags if you have a reuseable bag to rehydrate your food.
5 snack-sized ziplocs or squares of greaseproof baking paper for meat and chillies (if you choose greaseproof paper, you need a separate container or reuseable pouch to cold soak the meat)
5 sandwich-sized ziplocs for vegetable and herb mix
5 squares of greaseproof paper or reuseable mylar pouches for pho powder
Into the small ziploc or reuseable mylar bag, place 46g/1.6oz meat (or freeze dried beef, chicken tofu or vegan beef slices), plus 2.5g/.09oz chillies. If there’s some meat left, distribute it equally between the packs. If using jerky, leave it in its original pack.
Into the sandwich-sized ziploc, place 32g/1.1oz of bean shoot and carrot mix, 3.5g/0.12oz spring onion, 1g/.04oz mint, 2g/.07oz basil and 1 tbspn freeze-dried coriander if using. Or just divvy all the herbs up equally between the bags by eye.
Into the square of greaseproof paper or reuseable mylar sachet, place enough powder to make about 5 cups liquid ie about 2.35 cups per serve after meat and chillies rehydrate. We found that this amount was right for us when we soaked the noodles separately, but you may prefer more or less water, depending on your appetite or the size of your pot.
Into your sous-vide bag, place your rice noodle bundle(s). Tuck in your bag of meat and chillies, your sachet of pho powder, and your bag of vegetables and herbs. Par-vac seal (sealing too tightly can cause the noodles to poke holes in the bag). If you’ve noticed any fattiness in any of your meat or powder, store in the freezer and use within 3 months. Storing in the freezer also helps retain the fresh flavour of the herbs.
On Trail
Two or three hours before you expect to eat dinner, slit open the top of your bag and remove the dehydrated meat and vegetable mix ziplocs. Add water to each of them to just cover, reseal and tuck back into your vac seal bag (if they leak, your noodles might get a bit soggy but nothing worse will happen!). Or use your cold soak jar. If using jerky, add water to just cover and tip in the chillies (soaking the jerky softens it a little). Reseal or fold over top of bag.
Half an hour before dinner, pour meat and chillies with their water into your pot, sprinkle over pho powder, top up to just under 5 cups (for two) and bring to a boil. Bring to the boil, then put pot in its cosy and soak for 25 minutes.
If using freeze dried meat, or vegan beef, put the dry ingredients, plus chillies, straight into your pot and add 5 cups water. Freeze dried tofu and vegan beef rehydrate very quickly, so simply cook this soup ten minutes before dinner time; it won’t need a long soak.
Rice stick noodles are normally soaked for 10-15 minutes in room temperature water (or just a few minutes in hot water, but with a tendency to go soggy). Twenty minutes before dinner, pour water over the rice stick noodles. Close bag and set aside. Check noodles occasionally for doneness, and drain as soon as they are al dente. Pour over some hot water to warm them if you like a really hot dinner. If using instant rice noodles, prep them later.
While the meat is soaking, drain your vegetable and herb mix. Shake and massage the bag to mix the herbs and vegetables.
Assemble your Dinner (for Two):
A Vietnamese restaurant on the trail!
If you carry plates and or bowls, just drain warmed noodles, divvy everything up, and top with vegetable/herb mix. If you’re a couple like us who don’t carry plates or bowls and eat directly from the bag and pot, do this:
Remove half the drained, warmed noodles from the sous vide bag (pop into an empty ziploc or put on the upturned pot lid). Pour half the hot soup and meat from the pot into the vac seal bag. You’ll need to fish around for the meat to divvy it up! Put the noodles from the pot lid into the soup in the pot.
Top each serve with half the vegetables and enjoy!
If using Instant Rice Noodles:
These rehydrate quickly, so this simplifies the process. Remove instant noodles from the vac seal bag and set aside.
Boil your meat, soup and chillies, pour into the vac seal bag, close and pop into a cosy. Soak for 25 minutes. Just before the soup is ready, bring a little more water in your pot to the boil. Add instant noodles (and tofu or vegan beef if using) and switch off heat. Drain just before they are soft (if the pack says 3 minutes, drain at 2 minutes as they’ll continue softening in your soup).
Divvy up as for rice stick noodles.
Cheats’ Clever Hacks
This recipe can be assembled completely from bought ingredients. For each individual serve you’ll need
100g instant rice noodles
14g dried shredded carrot (no need to pickle)
24 grams dried protein (freeze dried diced beef or chicken, koya dofu, jerky, vegan beef)
1.25g dried chillies or to taste
3g whole dried mint and Thai basil leaves
1.75g dried green onion slices
Pho cubes or powder to make up 2.5 - 3 cups broth
Package and prepare as described in the recipe! Or, buy instant beef pho noodles, use the flavour sachet, and simply add instant/freeze dried protein, freeze dried vegetables and dehydrated herbs straight into your pot.
Chúc ngon miệng!
