Pho spices
The toasted star anise, cinnamon, clove, cardamom and ginger that scent Vietnamese pho broth.
Also: pho broth spices, charred spice bundle, Vietnamese noodle soup spices
The aroma of a good bowl of pho comes from a bundle of spices toasted in a dry pan, and then simmered in beef or chicken stock for hours. The usual set is star anise, cassia cinnamon, cloves, black cardamom and coriander seed, with charred ginger and onion. Fennel seed or dried tangerine peel appear in some recipes. Toasting wakens the oils, and a muslin bag lets cooks remove the spices before the broth becomes bitter. The soup arose in northern Vietnam in the early twentieth century, showing French beef and Chinese spice influence. Shops in Hanoi and Saigon sell ready pho spice packs, but many families make their own.