Lafayette Pho Recipes

AUTHENTIC PHO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Place beef bones on a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven until browned, about 1 hour.
• Place onion on a baking sheet and roast in the preheated oven until blackened and soft, about 45 minutes.
• Place bones, onion, ginger, salt, star anise, and fish sauce in a large stockpot and cover with 4 quarts of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low for 6 to 10 hours. Strain the broth into a saucepan and set aside.
• Place rice noodles in large bowl filled with room temperature water and allow to soak for 1 hour. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and after the noodles have soaked, place them in the boiling water for 1 minute. Bring stock to a simmer.
• Divide noodles among 4 serving bowls; top with sirloin, cilantro, and green onion. Pour hot broth over the top. Stir and let sit until the beef is partially cooked and no longer pink, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with bean sprouts, Thai basil, lime wedges, hoisin sauce, and chile-garlic sauce on the side.

PHO RECIPE

Steps:

• Place the bones and beef chuck in large stockpot and add water to cover. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and thoroughly clean the stockpot. This process removes any impurities/scum and will give you a much cleaner broth.
• Meanwhile, char your ginger and onions. Use tongs to hold the ginger and onions (one at a time) over an open flame, or place each directly on a gas burner. Turn until they're lightly blackened and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Rinse away all the blackened skins.
• Add water (5 quarts/4.75 L, or more/less if you've scaled the recipe up or down) to the stockpot and bring to a boil. Transfer the bones and meat back to the pot, along with the charred/cleaned ginger and onions. Add the scallions, fish sauce and sugar. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the beef chuck is tender, about 40 minutes. Skim the surface often to remove any foam and fat.
• Remove one piece of the chuck and transfer to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Then transfer this piece of beef to a container and refrigerate (you will slice this to serve with your pho later. If you were to leave it in the pot, it would be too dry to eat). Leave the other piece of chuck in the pot to flavor the broth.
• Now toast the spices (star anise, cloves, cinnamon stick, cardamom, fennel seeds, and coriander seeds) in a dry pan over medium low heat for about 3 minutes, until fragrant. Use kitchen string to tie up the spices in a piece of cheesecloth, and add it to the broth.
• Cover the pot and continue simmering for another 4 hours. Add the salt and continue to simmer, skimming as necessary, until you're ready to assemble the rest of the dish. Taste the broth and adjust seasoning by adding more salt, sugar, and/or fish sauce as needed.
• To serve, boil the noodles according to package instructions. Add to a bowl. Place a few slices of the beef chuck and the raw sirloin on the noodles. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and ladle it into each bowl. The hot broth will cook the beef. Garnish with your toppings, and be sure to squeeze a lot of fresh lime juice over the top!

QUICK BEEF PHO

Steps:

• For the Pho Stock: Add the beef base and 1 quart water to a 2-quart (1.9-L) saucepan 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, taste the broth to see that the spice flavors have been extracted, and adjust seasonings if necessary. Strain the aromatics and satchel from the broth, return to a sauce pot, and reserve for assembly.
• For the assembly: 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. Drain the excess water from the noodles and distribute the noodles between 4 bowls.
• 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.