Camp Oxtail Pho
A long broth day at a car camp: oxtail, spices, and rice noodles, built over coals.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 14 oz
- cal / oz
- 44
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 8, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 180 min
- total time
- 195 min
- water
- 1000 ml boiled
- cost
- $$$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Beef oxtail | 3-4 lb | the whole point; the collagen is what makes the broth |
|---|---|---|
| Beef chuck roast | 1.5-2 lb | sliced thin once cooked |
| Beef bone broth | 32 oz carton | shelf-stable until opened |
| Chicken bone broth | 32 oz carton | |
| Yellow onion | 1 whole plus 1/2 | whole one for the pot, half sliced thin for the bowl |
| Ginger | 1 large knob | |
| Pho spice packet | 1 | |
| Fish sauce | 1/2 cup | |
| Chicken bouillon powder or MSG | 2 tbsp | |
| Sugar | 3 tbsp | |
| Salt | 2 tbsp | then adjust at the end |
| Dried rice noodles | 1 lb | dry keeps better than fresh in a cooler |
| Bean sprouts | 1 pack | cooler item, skip if you are past day two |
| Cilantro | 1 bunch | |
| Limes | 2 | |
| Hoisin and sriracha | to taste | |
| Black pepper | to finish |
Method
- Light about 20 charcoal briquettes in a chimney over the fire ring. Give them 30 minutes while you prep.
- Char the whole onion and the ginger knob directly on the coals until the skins blacken. Scrape off the worst of it and set aside.
- Put the oxtail and chuck in the 12-inch dutch oven, cover with water, and bring to a boil over the propane burner. Boil five minutes, then dump that water and rinse the meat and the pot. This is what keeps the broth clear.
- Return the meat to the pot. Add both cartons of broth, the charred onion and ginger, the spice packet, and enough hot water to cover by two inches.
- Set the pot over coals and hold a bare simmer for three hours. Bank coals on the lid if the wind is stealing your heat. Skim the scum for the first twenty minutes and then leave it alone.
- Pull the chuck out around the two hour mark, let it cool, and slice it thin against the grain.
- Stir in the fish sauce, bouillon, sugar, and salt. Taste. It should be a little too salty on its own, because the noodles are unseasoned.
- Boil rice noodles in a separate pot, drain, and divide into bowls. Top with sliced chuck and oxtail, ladle broth over, then add sprouts, cilantro, sliced onion, lime, and pepper at the table.
This is a whole-afternoon meal, which is the point of a basecamp. Nothing here is technical. The work is parboiling the bones and dumping that first water, which is the difference between a clear broth and a cloudy one, and then keeping the pot at a bare simmer for three hours without letting it roll.
The dutch oven earns its weight because coals hold a steadier low heat than a propane burner does in wind. Dry noodles instead of fresh, and shelf-stable broth cartons, cut the cooler load down to just the meat. Sprouts are the one thing that will not survive a long trip, so treat them as optional rather than planning around them.
Packing
Char the onion and ginger at home if you want to save half an hour. Portion fish sauce, bouillon, sugar, and salt into one small jar so the seasoning step is one pour. Meat rides in the cooler at the bottom; noodles and spice packet stay dry in a bin.
Variations
- Swap the chuck for thin-sliced sirloin dropped raw into the hot bowl.
- No dutch oven: a heavy pot on a low propane burner works, it just takes more fuel.
- Short ribs stand in for oxtail if that is what the store has.
https://www.gondirtin.com/recipes/oxail-pho-beef-noodle-soup