If on a Winter's Evening : Pho at Home - Vietnamese Beef Broth

Vietnamese Pho

It worked!  I signed up for a Vietnamese Cooking class at Craftsy (now BluePrint) with Andrea Nguyen where she teaches some of the classics of Vietnamese cooking.

I'd tried to make Pho once before in the crock pot with a purchased muslin bag of Pho spices, but I left them in too long, and the flavors got funny.  Very disappointing batch.   Also, the recipe didn't explain a lot of things that Andrea Nguyen explained in the class video.  Very worth the price!

This time it worked marvelously!



Secret 1 : Char the aromatics (onion, ginger, shallots) -- I mean really roast them over a flame until they are CSI burnt.   They will be soft and roasted on the inside -- just what you need for the broth.  You pull off the burnt outer crust before adding these to the pot.


It took about 15 minutes to get to this point on our gas stove.  Next time, I'll probably cut the ginger in half the long way.

Secret 2 : Get good beef bones (organic and grass fed).  Par-boil them to release the initial scum, then throw that water away.  Wash the pot; Rinse the bones, add more water and then simmer your broth for 3 hours with the spices and aromatics.

We used sturdy neck bones from a local meat supplier who sells organic and grass-fed beef.
I am convinced this makes a huge difference in the quality of the broth.  My husband tried to make Pho a long time ago when he lived in Houston with conventionally raised beef bones.  The scum stage never ended, and it stank to high heaven.  That's when he became convinced that there truly is a difference in quality between conventional and organic meats -- extending to veggies, too.

Andrea Nguyen recommends the big leg bones with lots of marrow.  Not sure if that would release more scum that I got with the neck bones, or not.  I'm happy with the way mine turned out -- and so are my boys who asked me to make this regularly!  Which is high praise, since I don't often cook anymore.

Secret 3 : Toast the spices before you add them to the pot. This brings out their flavors beautifully!

 

Here it is just beginning to simmer with the spices and aromatics.  

The bubbles coming up now are "clean."

  

 

 The simmering goes on for 3 hours.  ;-) 

 

After a while, it takes on this golden color as the shallots, onions, ginger, and spices give up their flavor to the broth.

 

 

This is all the "stuff" that gets strained out of the final broth and tossed.  The aromatics have softened and disintegrated.  The cinnamon stick has unrolled itself.  The black cardamom has plumped up with the added moisture.  The dried shrimp have re-hydrated.  It's all kind of soft and mushy.   All the flavor is in the broth.

We strain it a second time through a finer strainer, and a jelly-like substance gets held back.  I wonder if that's the marrow?  She says you can spread it on bread if you like that.

 

And here is the final golden broth, which smells divine! 

Here is a version of Andrea Nguyen's Pho Bo Recipe from The Steamy Kitchen, written up by Jaden.
[I am including this here for my own future reference when I can't find the paper recipe.  It's not exactly the same as the one Andrea used in the Craftsy class, but it's close. ;-)  I also made a smaller portion for 4 people, but now that we know it's a good recipe, we'll make bigger quantities, and freeze the broth to use later.]

Vietnamese Pho Recipe (Beef Pho)

Prep Time : 1 hr

Cook Time : 3 hrs 30 mins

Total Time : 4 hrs 30 mins

Recipe adapted with permission from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen Cookbook by Andrea Nguyen. Note: You can find "Pho Spice Pack" that includes all the spices at Asian markets. [MM: This spice pack didn't work so well for me.  I prefer to mix my own.]  In Andrea's cookbook, she uses star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick. Some prefer the addition of fennel, coriander and cardamom, and I've noted those ingredients as "optional" in the recipe.

Servings: 8 people

Calories: 292 kcal

Author: Jaden

Ingredients  For the Pho broth

• 2 yellow onions unpeeled, sliced in half
• 4 inch piece fresh ginger unpeeled, sliced in half
• 5 pounds beef leg or knuckle bones [MM : We used neck bones.]
• 6 quarts water
• 5 star anise
• 6 whole cloves [MM : optional - I did NOT use cloves]
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds optional [MM : optional - I did NOT use Coriander]
• 1 [BLACK] cardamom pod
• 1 tablespoon fennel seeds 
• 1 pound boneless beef chuck, rump brisket or cross-rib roast, well trimmed, and cut into large chunks
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar or 1-inch chunk of yellow rock sugar

For the Pho Bowls

• 2 pounds small flat rice noodles dried or fresh
• Cooked beef from the broth
• 1/2 pound eye of round sirloin, London broil, flank steak or tri-tip steak, thinly sliced across the grain
• 1 yellow onion sliced paper-thin, soaked in cold water to cover for 30 minutes and drained
• 2 scallions green parts only, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leafy tops only

Garnish for Pho Recipe

• 3 cups fresh bean sprouts about 1/2 pound
• Mint
• Thai basil
• 2 Thai or serrano chiles thinly sliced
• 2 limes cut into wedges

Instructions

Make the Pho Broth

1. Set baking rack 8 inches below heating element. Turn oven to low broil. Place the onion and ginger halves, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Brush the halves with a little bit of oil. Broil until the onion and ginger slightly charred, about 10 minutes, turning half-way. Remove from heat and cool.
2. Parboil the beef bones: Fill a large stockpot (about 12 quart capacity) with water and bring to rapid boil. Carefully lower in the bones. Boil vigorously for 3 minutes to release the impurities. Dump bones and water into a clean sink, and rinse the bones with water to wash off any clinging residue. Quickly scrub pot clean and fill with about 6 quarts of clean water. Return bones to pot. Add the charred onion, ginger, spices, beef, fish sauce, and sugar to pot.
3. Bring water to boil over high heat, and lower heat to gentle simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours.
4. While simmering, use a ladle or fine-mesh strainer to spoon off any scum that rises on top.
5. At this point, the boneless meat should be slightly chewy, but not tough. Use tongs to transfer the meat to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Meanwhile, maintain the broth at a steady simmer for 1 1/2 hours longer.
6. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve (or a coarse-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth) positioned over a pot. Discard the remaining solids. Use ladle or fine meshed skimmer to skim as much fat as possible from the top of the broth. Taste and adjust the flavor with salt, fish sauce and sugar. There should be about 4 quarts (16 cups) of broth.

Assemble the bowls

1. If using dried rice noodles, cover them with hot tap water and let them soak for 15 minutes, or until they are pliable and opaque. Drain in a colander. If using fresh rice noodles, untangle them, place in a colander, and rinse briefly under cold running water.
2. Cut the cooked beef across the grain into thin slices. Freeze the raw beef for 15 minutes, then slice it across the grain into very thin slices. Set all beef aside. Ready the raw onion, scallions, cilantro leaves for adding to the bowls. Arrange the garnishes on a plate and put on the table.
3. To ensure good timing, bring the broth to a simmer over medium heat as you are assembling the bowls.
4. At the same time, fill a separate large pot with water and boil. For each bowl, place a portion of the noodles on a strainer (or mesh sieve) and dunk the noodles in the boiling water for 10 seconds. Immediately pull the strainer from the water, letting the water drain back into the pot. Empty the noodles into a bowl.
5. Top each bowl of noodles with cooked and raw beef, arranging the slices flat. Add a bit of raw onion, scallions, cilantro leaves to each bowl.
6. The pho broth needs to be boiling hot, to cook the raw beef slices. Raise the heat of the broth to a boil. Do a final taste and make any last minute adjustments with fish sauce and sugar. Ladle about 2 cups of broth into each bowl. Serve immediately with plate of garnishes.

Bon Appetite!