Fresh Pho Bo. Or, How I Turned 6 Pounds of Bones into Pure Awesome

12/10/12: Not too long ago, when I was just getting started with this whole blog thing, I was still posting some recipes that, to most of us, would appear sane.  This included a recipe for 'fast pho', cutting out the longer steps of pho creation so that it could be made in about 45 minutes.  But sometimes you have to throw hours at a dish, just to know what it could be if you didn't get lazy.  This recipe is that result.  Real, no kidding pho, just like what you can get for a few bucks at most Vietnamese restaurants.  Why would I do this at home, you ask?  Because I am, as they say in Vietnam, off my nut.

Update 3/18/14: it's been 15 months since I posted this, and I've now made this dish 3 times with increasing success.  This time we discovered the convenience of buying the pre-sliced beef from the Asian grocery store, along with the correct pho rice noodles for the first time, which come vacuum-sealed in the refrigerated section, and are ready to go as soon as you dunk them in the hot broth for 5-10 seconds.  Saved tons of time in the serving stage, and the only real effort was in the stock making, which has become a fairly painless process that we did while we had company over.  So maybe you don't have to be crazy to do this after all.

If I had no job and no other hobbies, I would stay in and make things like this all the time.  Unfortunately, like many of us I don't often have time to sit around for 6 hours and cook this dish.  Which is too bad, because this pho is as good as any restaurant's, and I know exactly what went into mine.  Fresh ingredients, very little salt, lean meat, and a mix of exotic and common spices and sauces.

I want you to make this recipe.  I really do.  And post on here about your experience.  Tell me what you changed, what you used.  I'll try to make it easy for you to follow, but it's still a long process that requires some special equipment and ingredients.  Most likely, you'll need an Asian grocery store nearby to even entertain this idea.  Here's what else you'll need, in decreasing order of cost:

• A meat slicer, a really sharp knife, a friendly butcher, or a decent Asian grocery store
• A large (3+ gallon) pot
• A second large (2+ gallon) pot
• A large colander or strainer
• A fine mesh strainer spoon or skimmer
• Cheesecloth

My recipe is adapted from a collection of different recipes I found online, complemented by techniques from my earlier fast pho recipe, and adjusted based on taste testing during cooking.  If you don't like it, reply and tell me why not.  I'm probably going to make it again, on a day when it's cold and rainy and I'm trapped in the house, much like this adventure.

Beef Pho (Pho Bo) Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Inspired by Viet World Kitchen, cobbled together by me

The stock:

• 3 medium yellow onions (about 1 pound total)
• 4-inch piece ginger (about 4 ounces)
• 5-6 pounds beef bones (marrow, knuckle, calf's foot) - look for some variety, and bits with tendons that will break down, as opposed to just bone
• One 8" daikon, peeled, cut into 5 large chunks
• 15 star anise
• 8 whole cloves
• 3-inch cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp whole black peppercorns
• 3 tbsp salt
• 6 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar, or 1 ounce yellow rock sugar (duong phen)

The dish:

• 1.5-2 pounds small (1/8-inch wide) dried or fresh banh pho (rice stick) noodles
• 1/2 pound raw eye of round, brisket, sirloin, or other tender, lean beef, sliced very thinly across the grain
• Thai basil (hung que)
• Cilantro
• Bean sprouts (about 1/2 pound)
• 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
• Lime wedges
• Hoisin sauce
• Sriracha sauce

The setup.  Are you kidding me, look at all of the bones!

Char onion and ginger.  Cut your onions in half, peel off the papery outer layer, and set over an open flame with the unpeeled ginger on a grill or gas stove.  I repurposed the rack from my oven and placed over the gas burners to make a large cooking surface.  Let the skin burn, rotating occasionally.  After about 15 minutes, they will soften and become fragrant.  Let cool, and rub off the blackened parts off the onions under running water.  Peel the ginger.  Set aside.

Char the root vegetables over an open fire

After you char the vegetables, rub off some of the blackened char and throw this into the stock

Parboil the bones to clean off 'impurities'.  This was a commonly encountered step online, so I didn't skip it.  Place bones in large stockpot (minimum 12-quart capacity) and barely cover with cold water.  Boil vigorously over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes.  Now dump the bones into a colander and rinse with warm water.  Scrub out your pot and return bones to the pot.

Rinse dem bones!

Now make your soup base.  Make a small herb pouch by placing the cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, and anise in cheesecloth and tying into a pouch - this will prevent excess grit from accumulating in the soup.  Toast your spices in a dry saute pan before putting them into the soup, which really brings out their flavor.  Put the bones, the herb pouch, the onions, and ginger in the stockpot, and add 6 quarts of water.  Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower flame to a simmer (not a boil).

Toast your spices in a dry pan to bring out extra flavor

You know you want a pouch like mine.

For the next hour or so, use a skimmer every 10 minutes to remove any scum that rises to surface.  What happens if you don't skim this?  You get all kinds of weird protein foam that bubbles up, called "colloidal juice".  And since this looks about as appetizing as it sounds, you probably don't want this in your soup, because if you leave it it will dissolve back into the stock, making it cloudy.  It's also got some of the fat and impurities in it according to the CIA, so it pays to grab it and get it out of there.  But the jury is out on whether that last part is true or not.  Anyway, here's what I'm talking about:

Got a skimmer?  If not, consider investing in one if you make stock.

Every 10 minutes or so, get that foam out of there.  It will go from this...

...to this.  Much better, isn't it?  Trust me, it will pay off big time by being clear and delicious

Skim and continue simmering for a total of 90 minutes, then add the daikon and continue cooking for another few hours.  How long?  Until you're tired of cooking it, that's how long.  I would say a minimum of 3 hours, and a maximum of 5 (total, not from this point).  While cooking, taste periodically and adjust seasonings thusly - if it's too bland, add more salt, 1/2 tbsp at a time.  If it's not tart enough, add more fish sauce, 1 tbsp at a time.  If it's too tart, add more sugar, 1 tsp at a time.  You want it a bit concentrated, because you'll be adding unseasoned ingredients to the final product, like noodles and sprouts.  Don't worry if it tastes a little salty, this will cancel out the fact that you're adding a ton of unseasoned beef and noodles at the end.  When you're comfortable with the finished product, pour out the broth through a colander into a medium (2 gallon) stockpot to remove the large solids, then pour back to your large pot and, in the process, strain through a strainer lined with cheesecloth.

This is what was left of those bones.  What was once collagen is now a delicious gelatin dissolved into the soup base, good for strengthening your nails and making your soup deliciously rich and unctuous.  Word of the day!

If you're impatient, go ahead and continue to the next step.  Go on, do it.  I won't judge you.  But if you can afford to wait a day, you can let the soup base cool down, and have all of the fat rise up to the top for you to scrape off and discard.  If you did things right, this broth will have enough gelatin to choke a horse, and will look like it should be served in a small glass bowl at the hospital.  It would probably make the patients feel better, I tell you what.

This is the soup, cooled down with fat removed.  It is not moving at all in this picture.

When ready, assemble pho bowls.  This is where you can screw up and get yourself in trouble.  What happens next is a bit of cooking (and thermodynamics) magic, wherein raw meat is instantly cooked by pouring scalding hot broth all over it.  So you want the meat to be paper-thin, and you need for there to be enough thermal mass between the broth, the noodles, and the bowl to ensure that the meat gets cooked.  How much mass?  Well, I could get out my heat transfer book and tell you to within a few ounces, or we could just go with "a lot of broth", which is a slightly less scientific but still valid answer.

Slice your raw beef of choice as thin as you can get it.  A meat slicer comes in handy.  Shoot for something the thinness of deli roast beef.  Before slicing, chill the meat for 15-60 minutes: more if you have a real slicer, less if you're going at it by hand like some kind of tissue dissection.  Either way, set it aside and let it warm up a bit.

Got a meat slicer?  Hope so.  If not, talk up your butcher and see if they can cut it like this.  Also, most Asian grocers carry pre-sliced beef round in the frozen section, ready to go specifically for this purpose

Heat the pho broth to a boil, and prep your noodles.  Get two pots going - one with just water for the noodles, one with the broth.  Follow the directions on the noodle package, which will basically tell you to soak in hot water for 15 minutes, rinse, and then throw into a pot for a few minutes, until cooked.

Prep your sprouts and noodles

Heat up some bowls in the microwave, ensuring they are plenty warm before you start.  You really want to get a lot of heat into this, so the meat cooks.  Put a serving of noodles into the bowls.  Next, throw in bean sprouts, which you can cook for 30 seconds in your noodle water to take out some of the raw flavor, and warm them up.  Place in the bowl, or on the garnish plate.

Now add your meat - place the thin strips over the top of the noodles.  Pour the boiling broth over and watch the magic... the meat will cook instantly as you pour, turning from red to gray.

Prep for this really cool process by laying out the raw meat over the cooked noodles.  Then just pour on the boiling broth...

...and watch the fun!  Want to see it again?

Before...

...after.

Serve your pho with a garnish plate consisting of cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapeno slices, and Thai basil.  Also set out hoisin sauce and sriracha (not homemade, sorry) to pour in.  Now savor every bit of your hard work, or that of the person you bribed into making this for you.

And with that, I'm tired.  I'm going to bed.

Moroccan Lamb Tagine with Saffron and Candied Orange Peel

Thailand is done.  Time to start thinking about our next travels.  We were toying with Morocco, so we decided to check out a book on Moroccan food and make a few things, to see if we liked the flavors.  In the end, despite the library book being free, the resulting trip will probably cost us thousands.  If the food is similar to this, it's totally going to be worth it.  This stew falls under the "meats and sweets" category (sorry, Kevin), which is what I think of for Moroccan food in the first place.  Salty, slightly gamey meat browned thoroughly, served with some kind of preserved fruit and perfumed with the heady aromas of desert spices, like ras el hanout and saffron.  By the way, we found our ras el hanout at Williams-Sonoma, and I would recommend it, rather than making your own blend of 15-30 spices that you might not have, or that probably are none too fresh.

I think I have this dish figured out, except for the part where they say to cut a bone-in leg of lamb into 8 pieces.  What do they want me to do here?  We gave up and went with blade chops, which were already portion-sized, although they didn't look as attractive once finished.  But this was totally worth the effort, and if you already have an actual tagine, you should probably try this (although you probably have already).

A traditional Moroccan spice assortment: ras el hanout (Arabic for "head of the shop"), saffron, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger

Lamb Tagine with Oranges, Saffron, and Candied Orange Peel

Modified slightly from Morocco, by Jeff Koehler

Serves 4

Total prep and cook time: 2.5-3 hours

• 1 tsp butter, softened
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ras el hanout
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ¼ tsp freshly ground white pepper
• Generous pinch saffron threads
• Salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2.25 lb / 1 kg bone-in leg of lamb, cut into ~8 pieces (we used lamb blade chops)
• 1 small cinnamon stick, broken in half
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 Valencia orange, scrubbed
• ¼ cup (50 g) sugar
• 8 cloves
• 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds for garnishing

In a tagine, dutch oven, or pressure cooker, add the butter, ginger, ras el hanout, cinnamon, turmeric, white pepper, and saffron.  Season with salt.  Moisten with the olive oil and blend well.  One by one, place the pieces of lamb in the spice mixture, and turn to coat.  Add half of the cinnamon stick and scatter the onion across the top.

Place the pot over medium heat, cover, and cook, turning the lamb from time to time, until the meat is browned and the onion is softened but not scorched, about 15 minutes.  Add 1 cup water, loosely cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 45 minutes, stirring from time to time.  If using a pressure cooker (PC), go with 30 minutes at pressure, and if using a dutch oven (DO), go to 60 minutes - the tagine is somewhere in between these in terms of cook time, and I'm basing that entirely on my guess based on how things came out, and how I know meat cooks in my pressure cooker.  During this step, deal with the oranges.

We went with 4 lamb shoulder blade chops, already cut into single serving pieces

Meanwhile, peel the orange, reserving the fruit.  Take two of the orange slices and set them aside to get your 2 tbsp juice.  With a knife, scrape away some – but not all – of the white pith from the peel.  Cut the peel into long, very thin strips about 1/8” wide.  In a small pan, bring 1 cup water to a boil.  Add strips of peel and a pinch of salt, simmer for 2 minutes, and drain.  Repeat one more time, then drain, rinse out pan, and return strips to pan with ¾ cup water.  Bring to a boil, then stir in sugar and add remaining cinnamon stick half and cloves.  Simmer until the liquid is syrupy and the strips of peel are tender but still a touch al dente, about 20 minutes.  Stir in 1 tbsp orange juice, remove from the heat, and let cool.

Try to peel the orange into one whole skin, then slice into long strips

After blanching once

Back to the lamb pot, add ½ cup water and remaining 1 tbsp orange juice and cook until the meat is tender, about 45 minutes (30 for PC, 60 for DO).  Add a bit more water if necessary to keep the sauce loose, or remove the lid to evaporate and thicken it.  Stir in the honey and cook the lamb uncovered for a final 5 minutes.

With a sharp knife, cut away any white pith from the reserved orange.  Carefully cut along the membranes separating the segments and remove them.  Lay the segments in a shallow bowl, spoon the syrup from the pan over the segments, and let soak until ready to serve.

To serve, divide lamb among four plates, and top with the sauce, orange segments, and strips of peel.  Lightly sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Thai Rice Porridge with Pork (Jok Moo)

Two months ago, we went to Thailand.  On our second day, we were introduced to jok (pronounced like "joke"), which is basically the Thai version of congee, which is the Chinese version of rice that has been cooked into oblivion.  Jok may have been one of our favorite hidden gems of Thai cooking - a hearty, savory, salty, warming bowl of deliciousness with a variety of ingredients that were all delicious when paired together.  In Chiang Mai we found a vendor selling huge bowls of this for about a dollar, with a freshly poached egg and some fried noodles in it.

A cheerful jok vendor in Chiang Mai

I start here with a fairly basic recipe - rice porridge with pork meatballs.  I adapted a number of recipes to get what we thought was the right blend of flavors, and really like this process, which I think I will stick with as my basic method and adapt some of the ratios and times in the future.  It is probably the fastest way to get this done from start to finish, and adds layers of flavor at the right times.  Hopefully you will enjoy this Thai treat, and spread it further around the globe.  Make sure you get the two or three crucial ingredients for this - broken rice, white pepper, and Maggi seasoning.

Thai Rice Congee with Pork (Jok Moo)

Modified heavily from Thaifoodstyle by my recollections of Thailand

Serves 4

• 1 cup broken jasmine rice
• 2 cubes chicken bouillon, or 1 quart pork stock
• 2 quarts water, or 1 quart if using pork stock
• 2 cilantro roots, or 10-15 stems
• ½ lb ground pork
• 1 tbsp cilantro leaves, chopped finely
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 3 tbsp fish sauce, divided
• 2.5 tbsp soy sauce, divided
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 tbsp Thai cilantro, finely sliced (optional)
• 2 spring onions, green part only, finely julienned
• 1/2 cup ginger, julienned, or baby ginger strips in brine
• 1 medium shallot
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 4 eggs (optional)
• White pepper, for plating
• Maggi sauce or Bragg's Liquid Amino, for plating

Start by bringing 1 quart of water to boil with 1 chicken bouillon cube, or 1 quart pork stock, with 1 cup of broken rice.  Reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 30 minutes, stirring periodically.

Once the rice is boiling, make the meatball mixture: season ground pork with chopped cilantro leaf, 1 tbsp fish sauce, ½ tbsp. soy sauce, cornstarch, and ground white pepper and mix well.  Allow to marinate for at least a few minutes, then form into small meatballs appx 0.75 - 1” in diameter.

To cook the meatballs, boil 1 quart water on medium-high heat and add coriander root.  When the water is boiling, add 1 cube chicken bouillon, allow to fully dissolve, and boil meatballs until they float, appx 2 minutes.  Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate, and add remaining 2 tbsp soy sauce and 2 tbsp fish sauce.  Let boil for 5 minutes, then keep on a bare simmer.

 

At this point, the rice in the other pot should have absorbed most of the liquid.  Add 2-3 cups of the boiled pork cooking liquid and stir to incorporate.  Allow rice to cook to a soupy consistency, appx 60-75 minutes.  If rice mixture isn’t thin enough, add more of remaining meatball cooking liquid. If including, fry the shallots in hot canola oil until crispy, 1-2 minutes, and allow to drain on a paper towel.

If including eggs, crack them into the boiling rice mixture towards the end and let them sit, undisturbed, for up to 8 minutes.  A runny egg will only take 4 minutes. Alternatively, use my new favorite trick of soft cooking the eggs in a sous vide setup. I'm still dialing in the numbers, but so far it's landing on 145 deg F for 45-60 minutes.

To serve, ladle into bowls sprinkled with spring onion (finely sliced), shredded ginger, and ground white pepper.  Plate with Maggi sauce or Bragg's Liquid Amino tableside.

If you want to get more exotic with this, go ahead and add the some fried shallots, crispy fried noodles, and cilantro leaves (regular or Thai variety).  These are all nice additions.  And for some reason, they like to eat this with fried bread alongside, so consider either some Navajo fry bread or just some plain donuts.  There, don't you feel multicultural now?

The current build as of June, 2016 - sous vide poached egg, fried shallots hiding behind the cilantro somewhere.