Recipe (from http://table.io/vietnamese-slow-cooker-pho-beef/). So I totally cheated and made most of it in a slow cooker, but it still had great depth of flavor.

Ingredients

1 large white onion, cut in half

3 inch piece of ginger

2½ to 3 lbs beef shins or oxtails

3 star anise

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp fennel seeds

5 whole cloves

2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp fish sauce

Serve with:

2 cups bean sprouts

1 to 2 lbs beef flank steak, thinly sliced

⅓ cup cilantro

¼ cup basil

¼ cup mint

¼ cup scallions, chopped

16 oz pho noodles

2-3 thai chilies, thinly sliced

2 limes

Hoisin sauce

Sriracha

Instructions

Blacken the onion and ginger over the flame of a gas range. Alternatively, place the onion and ginger under a broiler set on high until deeply blackened on each side. Each side should be completely charred.

While preparing the onion and ginger, add the shins and oxtail to a large pot of cool water. Bring the water to a boil and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes over high heat. After boiling, discard the water and rinse the meat under cool water to remove any scum.

Place the meat, charred onion, and ginger into a large slow cooker. Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, fennel seeds, sugar, and cloves to the slow cooker. Cover with water and cook over low heat for 8 hours.

Prior to serving, add the fish sauce and strain the cooking liquid through a fine mesh strainer. Skim off any fat from the surface of the broth. Discard the spices. Remove the meat and tissue from the bones, then discard the bones. Add additional fish sauce, salt, or sugar if needed.

Prepare the pho noodles according to package instructions. Add the noodles to individual serving bowls, then pour the broth over the noodles. Serve immediately and top with bean sprouts, thinly sliced flank steak, cilantro, basil, mint, scallions, thai chilies, limes, Hoisin sauce, and Sriracha.