Making the Broth

Sometimes when you are in the kitchen, there comes a time to raise the sails and move into foreign waters.  For some it's baking, for others it's an ethnic cuisine or souffle.  One of mine is definitely broth.  In fact the whole idea of why anyone would want to boil bones and carcass baffles me when there is plenty of perfectly fine broth to be purchased.  That being said, I adore almost any broth based soup, even beef, hold the flesh please.  And I especially adore a fabulous beef pho with a strong salty, tangy and sweet anise flavored broth. Surely that is worth trying to recreate at home, if only to know you've tried.

I'm not going to lie and pretend I was brave here.  I once divulged my strong anti-lymph node sentiments.  That feeling can only be trumped exponentially by marrow.  I find marrow seriously creepy. It makes me think of cancer, and really why would anyone want to eat cancer? On one of my trips to Paris, our meal somehow included a surprise bone marrow course.  It was served right in the bone with a little demitasse spoon. I can still see the waiter presenting it to us like it was only yesterday. Cultural adventurousness out the door--neither of us could bring ourselves to even try it. I'm quite confident I could never be a guest judge on Iron Chef. 

Bones in cold water--these must be parboiled for about 10 minutes to release the "impurities."

Parboiled bones kindly releasing their scum.

Oh, but look at this.  Rinse and clean them off, add them to cold water with some spices, onion and ginger and leave them in the crockpot for 3-4 hours on high and you magically have broth. Yay.  I cooled it overnight at this point so that the fat would harden and skim off easily but many like the broth better without skimming.  

One of the essential ingredients in Beef Pho is the anise.  I think it's one of the first flavors you taste in that initial bite.  These can be found rather cheaply at the asian grocer, moderately cheaply at a place that has bulk spices like Vitamin Cottage, or rather expensively at Whole Foods.  While $27/lb seems shocking at first, just remember these hardly weigh anything at all.  I was able to purchase this small bag with more than enough for this and future use for under a $1.

Add the necessary Pho accessories and you are ready to go.  Essential are: bean sprouts, Thai basil, cilantro, green onion and lime wedges. 

While the broth recipe was respectable and soup gave my favorite Pho place a small run for the money, I sadly can't say it was worth the effort.  There is quite a bit of time involved in traveling to the speciality stores for bones and Thai basil along with the hours required to make the broth.  And having done a little cost comparison, I calculated that Pho Saigon costs me $3.75 a serving while homemade Pho is $3.25 a serving--figure in estimated labor costs for homemade pho and Pho Saigon is not only much cheaper but also tastier.  Who knew it pays to be lazy sometimes?

 

Vietnamese Pho
adapted from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen

THE BROTH
2 onions, halved
4" nub of ginger, halved lengthwise
5-6 lbs of good beef bones, preferably leg and knuckle
1 lb of beef meat - chuck, brisket, rump, cut into large slices (optional)
8 cups of water
1 cinnamon stick,

4 whole star anise,
6 whole cloves
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/4 cup fish sauce
1 inch chunk of yellow rock sugar (about 1 oz) - or 1oz of regular sugar

THE BOWLS
1 package dried rice noodles
cooked beef from the broth
1/2 lb flank, london broil, sirloin or eye of round, sliced as thin as possible.
big handful of each: mint, cilantro, Thai basil
2 limes, cut into wedges
2-3 chili peppers, sliced
2 big handfuls of bean sprouts
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha hot sauce

Directions:

Char: Turn your broiler on high and move rack to the highest spot. Place ginger and onions on baking sheet. Brush just a bit of cooking oil on the cut side of each. Broil on high until ginger and onions begin to char. Turn over and continue to char. This should take a total of 10-15 minutes.
Parboil the bones: Fill large pot (12-qt capacity) with cool water. Boil water, and then add the bones, keeping the heat on high. Boil vigorously for 10 minutes. Drain, rinse the bones and rinse out the pot. Refill pot with bones and 6 qts of cool water. Bring to boil over high heat and lower to simmer. Using a ladle or a fine mesh strainer, remove any scum that rises to the top.
Boil broth: Add ginger, onion, spices, beef, sugar, fish sauce, salt and simmer uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the beef meat and set aside (you'll be eating this meat later in the bowls) Continue simmering for another 1 1/2 hours. Strain broth and return the broth to the pot. Taste broth and adjust seasoning - this is a crucial step. If the broth's flavor doesn't quite shine yet, add 2 teaspoons more of fish sauce, large pinch of salt and a small nugget of rock sugar (or 1 teaspoon of regular sugar). Keep doing this until the broth tastes perfect.
Prepare noodles & meat: Slice your flank/london broil/sirloin as thin as possible - try freezing for 15 minutes prior to slicing to make it easier. Remember the cooked beef meat that was part of your broth? Cut or shred the meat and set aside. Arrange all other ingredients on a platter for the table. Your guests will "assemble" their own bowls. Follow the directions on your package of noodles - there are many different sizes and widths of rice noodles, so make sure you read the directions. For some fresh rice noodles, just a quick 5 second blanch in hot water is all that's needed. The package that I purchased (above) - needed about 45 seconds in boiling water.
Ladling: Bring your broth back to a boil. Line up your soup bowls next to the stove. Fill each bowl with rice noodles, shredded cooked beef and raw meat slices. As soon as the broth comes back to a boil, ladle into each bowl. the hot broth will cook your raw beef slices. Serve immediately. Guests can garnish their own bowls as they wish.