Quick Pho
Posted in /Cooking/Soups on Thursday, November 15, 2018
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 large onions
2-inch piece fresh ginger
1 whole cinnamon sticks
1 whole star anise (1 tsp anise seeds)
2 whole cloves
1 tsp whole coriander
3 cups beef broth
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp fish sauce
Serving ingredients
4 oz dried rice noodles
2 scallions (green onion)
1/2 chili pepper (Thai bird, serrano or jalapeno)
Limes
Bean sprouts
Fresh herbs (Cilantro, basil, parsley, mint etc.)
Hot sauce or hoisin sauce for serving
1/2 pound sirloin steak, round eye or London broil
Directions
1. Peel off outer layer of onion and cut into quarters. Using a spoon peel off skin of ginger and slice lengthwise into quarters.
2. Char the onions and ginger on a baking sheet placed directly under the broiler for about 5 minutes on each side, until the onions and ginger show charred spots. Then rinse under cool water to remove any gritty or overly charred sections.
3. Dry roast the spices by placing the cinnamon, anise, cloves and coriander in the bottom of your dry saucepan and roast over medium-low heat for 1-2 minutes. This should have a warm toasty and fragrant smell. Stir frequently to prevent scorching.
4. Add the broth, soy sauce, fish sauce and charred onion and ginger to the spices in the saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Then reduce to a simmer (medium-low) for 30 minutes to give time for all the spices and aromatics to infuse the broth.
5. Meanwhile bring a second pot of water to a boil and drop in the rice noodles and cook according to the packaged instructions (typically 1 minute for very thin noodles and up to 4 minutes for wider noodles). Strain the noodles and run them under cool water to stop the cooking process. The noodles will start to stick together after cooking, so either divide them immediately between serving bowls or toss them with neutral-tasting oil (canola) to prevent sticking.
6. Prepare the rest of the pho toppings.
7. Strain the broth by setting a fine mesh strainer over another saucepan and discard the solids.
8. Place desired toppings in serving bowls and ladle hot broth into the bowls.
9. 1/2 pound sirloin steak, round eye or London broil
* Freeze the beef for 15 minutes while the broth is simmering, the edges should feel firm to the touch but should not be frozen all the way through. This will make slicing thinly easier.
* Remove the beef from the freezer and immediately use your sharpest knife to slice the beef into very thin slices. Slice across the grain and aim for slices no thicker than ? inch. Once sliced, keep the beef covered in the refrigerator until ready to use.
* Place the sliced beef into bowls with prepared toppings and pour hot broth over it. The beef should immediately start to turn opaque.
h2. Other Recipe Notes
- Vegetarian pho can be made with vegetable stock and without fish sauce. Use tofu or mushrooms instead of beef
- Make-ahead: The broth can be prepared and kept in the fridge for 5 days or frozen for 3 months. Sliced beef can be kept in the fridge for up to 24 hours. Noodles can be refrigerated for a day with neutral oil on them
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