Omnivore

The other night we saw Jet Tila make what he considers a quick beef pho. Pho is a delicious Vietnamese soup but the broth takes two days to make. I guess if you have an entire weekend to work on it, it might be fun to do. Tila asserted that this recipe could produce authentic tasting pho. We tweaked his recipe a bit to make it even easier and the results were so good that we are making it again next week!

The original recipe which includes a video can be found at

https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/quick-beef-pho-7112948

This is our take on Jet Tila’s recipe with the changes in bold.

FOR THE PHO STOCK

2 tablespoons (30 g) beef bouillon or base, (1 quart beef stock)

1 tablespoon (15 g) Vietnamese fish sauce   

1 tablespoon (15 g) white sugar (1 1/2 teaspoons of sugar)

One (2" [5-cm]) piece ginger, sliced into thin coins

1/2 yellow onion, large dice 

2 cloves garlic

Pinch kosher salt 

Put the next three items in a cheese cloth sachet:

2 whole cloves   

2 whole star anise 

1 cinnamon stick

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO ASSEMBLE THE PHO:

1/2 pound (240 g) thin rice stick noodles, rinsed

1/2 pound (240 g) beef strip loin or fillet, freeze first for 40 minutes and then shave thin slices
(much easier if you just buy 1/2 lb. thinly sliced rare roast beef from the deli. Cut it into large bite sized pieces)

1 cup (240 g) Vietnamese basil leaves or basil leaves

1 cup (240 g) bean sprouts 

1/2 cup (95 g) cilantro leaves 

5 jalapeno or serrano chiles, sliced thin (2 is enough)

4 scallions, sliced thin on the bias  

1/2 yellow onion, sliced paper thin 

1 lime, cut into wedges 

Hoisin sauce, for the table 

Chili sauce, such as Sriracha, for the table

DIRECTIONS FOR THE STOCK

Add the beef base and 1 quart water to a 2-quart (1.9-L) saucepan or the one quart of beef stock and bring to a low boil. 

Add the fish sauce, sugar, ginger, onion and salt to the stock and reduce the heat to a simmer. Wrap the cloves, star anise and cinnamon stick in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it into a satchel. Add the satchel to the broth and simmer for at least 30 minutes, but no more than 45 minutes.
Around the 30 minute mark (we stopped at 20 minutes), taste the broth to see that the spice flavors have been extracted, and adjust seasonings if necessary. 

Strain the stock removing the onion etc. and satchel of spices from the broth, return to the soup pot, and reserve for assembly.  

DIRECTIONS FOR ASSEMBLING THE PHO

Bring the broth back to a simmer. In a separate pot, bring water to a boil. Using a sieve or basket, quickly dip the noodles into the water until they are hot and al dente, 10 to 20 seconds. (We put the noodles in super hot water for 10 minutes)Drain the excess water from the noodles and distribute the noodles between 4 bowls. (This amount was not enough for 2 people. Next time we will double the beef broth and aromatics but not the spices in the sachet.)

Top each bowl with some sliced beef, basil, bean sprouts, cilantro, jalapeno, scallions and onion, or as each person wishes. Ladle in enough broth to cover the ingredients in the bowl. Garnish with a lime wedge. I like to serve pho with Sriracha and hoisin sauce.