There are certainly merits to starting a soup from bones, but sometimes it just isn’t practical. Sometimes we get a craving for pho that needs immediate satiation, and because we currently live in Hamilton, Montana, we have about a ten-hour drive to the nearest Vietnamese restaurant. So, we’ve started making the following quick pho recipe quite a lot.
Quick Pho Bo
Serves 6
Broth
2 gallons water
4 tbsp concentrated beef stock (I use Better Than Bouillon)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp salt
Spice Sachet
3 oz. whole star anise (5-8 pods)
1 cinnamon stick, broken in two
1 tsp. whole cloves
1 tsp. black peppercorns
Several slices of fresh ginger, or ½ tsp. dried
1 packet of Bahn Pho noodles
½ lbs. sirloin or similar cut, lean beef
½ thinly sliced medium yellow onion
2 stocks green onion
First off, stick the sirloin (or whatever meat you are using) in the freezer. After an hour or two, the meat should be hard, but not entirely frozen. Remove, and slice paper thin, as thin as you can get it. Put the sliced beef into the fridge. Bring water to a boil, and add concentrated beef stock. Add sugar, fish sauce, and salt. Create a loose sachet out of cheese cloth to wrap up the star anise, cinnamon stick, cloves, peppercorns, and ginger. Drop the sachet into the broth, and let simmer for at least an hour. The longer, the better. Meanwhile, soak the noodles in cold water in a pot for twenty minutes. Remove the thinly sliced beef from the fridge, and set out on the counter. Next, boil the noodles until they are about ¾ cooked, pliable but still a little hard. Strain the noodles and rinse with cold water to stop them from continuing to cook. Evenly disperse the noodles in deep serving bowls, and top with beef and onion slices. Bring broth to a boil, remove the sachet, and then ladle the boiling soup onto the noodles. If done correctly, the boiling soup will instantly finish the noodles and cook the beef. Garnish with green onion. Serve with basil, cilantro, mung bean sprouts, sliced jalapeño, lime, Sriracha sauce, hoisin sauce, chilli paste, and fish sauce. Enjoy!
weirdbirds 