Vietnamese pho (Parker Road style)
Photo: Jason Lam · CC BY-SA 2.0

History

The largest Vietnamese community in Texas settled in the Richardson and Garland corridor after the fall of Saigon in 1975. Parker Road became the spine of a Vietnamese commercial district by the 1980s, eventually housing more Vietnamese restaurants per block than anywhere in the state outside of Houston. The pho served here is closer to the Hanoi northern style, with a cleaner broth, fewer garnishes, and a higher spice-note emphasis than the southern Ho Chi Minh City style.

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Common allergens: Gluten (soy sauce garnish)

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 1 hrTotal 12 hrDifficulty Advanced

Ingredients

  • 2 kg beef bones (knuckle, marrow, oxtail), blanched
  • 500g beef brisket or eye of round
  • 1 large white onion, halved and charred
  • 80g fresh ginger, halved and charred
  • 3 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 4 cloves
  • 30g rock sugar or palm sugar
  • 45ml fish sauce
  • Salt to taste
  • 400g flat rice noodles (banh pho), cooked per package
  • 200g raw sirloin or eye of round, sliced paper thin
  • Bean sprouts, fresh basil, sliced jalapeño, lime wedges, hoisin and sriracha to serve

Method

  1. Blanch bones in boiling water 10 minutes. Drain, rinse clean.
  2. Char onion and ginger directly over a gas flame or under the broiler until deeply black on the outside. Rinse off the char.
  3. Combine bones, charred aromatics, and all spices in a large stockpot. Cover with 5 litres of cold water. Bring to a gentle simmer. Skim diligently for the first 30 minutes.
  4. After 1 hour, add the brisket piece whole. Continue simmering at the gentlest possible bubble for at least 8 hours, up to 12.
  5. Remove brisket when tender; slice thin and reserve.
  6. Strain broth through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard solids. Season with fish sauce, rock sugar, and salt until the broth is deeply savoury with a subtle sweetness.
  7. To serve: place noodles in bowls. Lay sliced raw beef and sliced brisket on top. Pour boiling broth over; the raw beef cooks in the bowl.

Tip from the editors. The pho's quality is determined by the broth simmer. A rolling boil makes a cloudy, bitter broth. Maintain the gentlest possible bubble throughout.

Where to eat vietnamese pho (parker road style)

Vietnamese pho (Parker Road style) in Dallas

Parker Road Vietnamese Corridor (Plano) ★ 4.4

$ $MarketPlano

The most concentrated Vietnamese grocery, bakery, and restaurant corridor in North Texas, with banh mi shops, pho houses, Vietnamese dessert cafes.

OrderBanh mi from a strip-mall bakery; com tam (broken rice) with grilled pork; Vietnamese coffee

TipMultiple strip malls contain overlapping Vietnamese food options. Begin at Pho Pasteur or a banh mi shop, then explore the grocery stores for supplies.

Directions

DaLat Vietnamese Restaurant and Bar ★ 4.3

$$ VietnameseEast DallasUntil 2am Fri-Sat; midnight Sun-Thu

DaLat on North Fitzhugh serves authentic Vietnamese pho and banh mi until 2am Friday and Saturday with a full bar running Vietnamese-fruit cocktails.

TryPho, banh mi, Vietnamese-fruit cocktails

TipThe pho is the 1am call. The bar's Vietnamese-fruit cocktail menu is the best in East Dallas. Walk in; no reservations. The kitchen matches bar hours exactly.

Directions

Asia Times Square (Plano) ★ 4.3

$ $MarketPlano

Anchor of the DFW Asian food corridor: a massive supermarket and food court with Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, and South Asian vendors all under one roof.

OrderVietnamese pho from the food court; South Asian curry snacks; fresh-made Chinese bakery items

Tip30 minutes from central Dallas in Grand Prairie. Combine with a visit to the Vietnamese restaurant corridor on Parker Rd in Plano for a full afternoon.

Directions

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