Vietnamese Pho

There are few things in the world as cheap, healthy and tasty as Pho. If you have never had it, then you need to try is ASAP. It is also naturally gluten-free. Vietnamese cuisine is very heavily rice based - rice paper, rice noodles etc. - so John naturally loves it.  Although my good friend and partner in crime Julia Tran has promised to one day show me the secret methods of making more authentic pho (in exchange for the secret methods of making authentic tomato sauce) John and I found this decent recipe online to try out. It's not the best pho , but it was we've ever had but it was decent enough for two non-Asians making their first attempt.

Vietnamese Pho
Recipe: LETT101 on Allrecipes.com
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/beef-pho/detail.aspx


Comments and Subtitutions: We went to Oceans, which is a specifically Asian centered supermarket in order to buy our ingredients. The advantages of going to an Asian supermarket is that they have the ingredients readily available since a large portion of their clientelle use the common ingredients in the recipe for various ethnic dishes. For example, we found sirloin already sliced into paper thin slices, and they always have fresh daikon radishes.

Recipe:

Ingredients

• 5 pounds beef knuckle, with meat
• 2 pounds beef oxtail
• 1 white (daikon) radish, sliced
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 ounces whole star anise pods
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 1 slice fresh ginger root
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 1/2 pounds dried flat rice noodles
• 1/2 pound frozen beef sirloin

TOPPINGS:

• sriracha hot pepper sauce
• hoisin sauce
• thinly sliced onion
• chopped fresh cilantro
• bean sprouts (mung beans)
• sweet Thai basil
• thinly sliced green onion
• limes, quartered

Directions

1. Place the beef knuckle in a very large (9 quart or more) pot. Season with salt, and fill pot with 2 gallons of water. Bring to a boil, and cook for about 2 hours.
2. Skim fat from the surface of the soup, and add the oxtail, radish and onions. Tie the anise pods, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns and ginger in a cheesecloth or place in a spice bag; add to the soup. Stir in sugar, salt and fish sauce. Simmer over medium-low heat for at least 4 more hours (the longer, the better). At the end of cooking, taste, and add salt as needed. Strain broth, and return to the pot to keep at a simmer. Discard spices and bones. Reserve meat from the beef knuckle for other uses if desired.
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Soak the rice noodles in water for about 20 minutes, then cook in boiling water until soft, but not mushy, about 5 minutes. Slice the frozen beef paper thin. The meat must be thin enough to cook instantly.
4. Place some noodles into each bowl, and top with a few raw beef slices. Ladle boiling broth over the beef and noodles in the bowl. Serve with hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce on the side. Set onion, cilantro, bean sprouts, basil, green onions, and lime out at the table for individuals to add toppings to their liking.

Pho!

Pho - Up close and personal.

Stay Hungry :D