Pho

[ellencho]

Pho

Serves 6 as Main Dish.

In my opinion, pho is a crowd pleaser because it's one of those dishes that can be personalized to suit one's tastes. It's great for entertaining because it's an easy dish to make. To make pho, there aren't any overly difficult techniques involved and the soup can be made months in advance if frozen, or held for 2-3 days in the refrigerator. On the day you wish to serve your guests, there'll be a bit of prep work, but most of it is slicing, soaking, or washing.

In terms of the cuts of meat one might like to add, filet and thinly sliced ribeye are particularly good. The meat should cook from the heat of the soup. If you have guests who are sensitive about uncooked meat, keep a simmering small pot of water on the side to cook the meat. If you dip it into the soup you'll cause some extra scum and ruin everyone else's soups.

If you want to add brisket, I'd suggest parboiling it separately until it's softened a bit so your meat isn't too tough come serving time. Same with tendon.

And depending on how greedy of a cook you are, don't throw away the oxtails used to make the stock. Either save them as a cook's treat or split the meat up among your guests' bowls.

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Ingredients

• 2 medium onions, cut in half
  
• 3 inches of ginger, cut in half lengthwise
  
• 6 lb oxtail
  
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
  
• 5 star anise
  
• 2 inches of cinnamon stick
  
• 1/8 c fish sauce
  
• salt to taste
  
• 1-1/2 lb of the meat of your choice, partially frozen, then sliced thinly
  
• 1 bunch culantro
  
• 1 bunch cilantro
  
• 1 bunch thai basil
  
• 1-1/2 lb rice noodles
  
• 2 limes cut into sixths
  
• 4 jalapenos
  
• 3 c fresh bean sprouts
  
• 1 onion, sliced paper thin
  
• hoisin sauce (optional)
  
• sriracha or any asian hot sauce (optional)
  

1. Parboiling the oxtails - In a large pot, add enough water to the oxtails to just cover. Then boil for 5 minutes. Rinse off the oxtails and pot and return oxtails to the pot.

2. Blackening the aromatics - If you have a gas range, turn your burner to high and hold your onion or ginger over the flame, using a fork until their outsides are charred and black. With an electric range, the aromatics can be blackened in a cast iron skillet (thanks chrisamirault) or you can simply broil them in your oven.

3. Simmering your stock - Once your aromatics are blackened, add them along with the spices to the oxtail and cover with enough water to come three inches above the pot contents. Bring to a boil and then simmer for ~4 hours, depending on the sizes of your oxtails. Add the fish sauce. First begin with 1/8 cup, and then add more to taste.

4. Defatting your soup - If you have your own preferred way of defatting then go for it. My personal favorite way is to leave it out on my balcony on a cold night. The following morning you'll be left with a hardened top layer of fat and a bottom layer of gelatinzed soup. Just bring the soup up to a simmer and strain out the meat and aromatics. If you want to serve the soup that day, I suggest using a strainer and gravy separator to separate the soup contents from the soup itself.

5. Prepping for your guests - Place noodles in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Allow at least 2 hours to rehydrate. Partially freeze your meat, then slice thinly against the grain. Cut as paper thin as possible. Same with your onions. Wash and dry your sprouts, culantro, cilantro, and basil. Cut your jalapenos into 1/4 rounds. Keep sprouts, culantro, cilantro, basil and jalapenos covered with a damp paper towel until your guests arrive.

6. Time to serve your guests! - Make sure your soup is piping hot, season with salt to taste. On the bottom of a large bowl, add a good handful of your noodles, drained of course. Then atop that add a sprinkling of the thinly sliced onions. Then to that add the thinly sliced meat. To that add your hot soup. Serve immediately to your guests and let them garnish with what they like.

Keywords: Main Dish, Soup, Pasta, Beef, Vietnamese

( RG1590 )