Pho Bo: the best beef broth soup you'll ever taste

Mot tho pho bo dap va dam da (probably didn't spell any of that right, but my Viet peeps know what's up :-))

Okay, it's taken me 27 years to get up to this point and it's been well worth the wait.  About 17 of these "long" years were spent observing and taking mental notes as I watched my harried mother collect a furious mise en place of exotic whole spices, fresh choice cuts of lean ruby red beef, several pounds of some BIG marrow and knuckle bones, and an array crisp emerald herbs.  Nothing compares to homemade pho, a medium that is especially indicative of Vietnamese cuisine.  It starts humbly with just beef bones and a number of gallons of water, grows character as it is infused with aromatics such as star anise and ginger, and is finished to a toothsome and savory bite with curls of rare beef, shaved thin across the grain.  The magic transpires here, in the finale of this lengthy-but-rewarding cooking adventure as the beef is quick-blanched into delectable submission by piping hot broth, rendered over the course of a day from the depths of its skeletal counterparts.  Pho is what any person who has had a well-prepared bowl of soup will testify to as the most enthralling consommé available outside of a restaurant, and WAY outside of any lowly canned product or processed instant package-o'-sodium you can get in a mega-mart.  This is love in a bowl.

Ingredients - Broth:

3-5 lbs of large beef bones (I used a combination of ribs and oxtails)
Salt
2- 3 inch fingers of ginger
1 large yellow onion (I used a red onion because they were cheaper at the time to no ill effect)
5 whole star anise
6 whole cloves
2 whole cinnamon sticks
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/4 c fish sauce, plus more to taste (Squid, Viet Huong, and Thai brands are a few readily available in supermarkets nationwide)

Make a highly-saline solution of 1/2 c salt about 6 quarts of water and submerge beef bones in it for no less than an hour.  Drain and set aside.*

Set broiler to high heat and place ginger and onion on a foil-lined sheet pan under hottest area.  Cook until blackened on all sides, turning often and watching closely; should take about 10 minutes.  The aromatics should look something like this:

Allow to cool, then peel outer layer of char off of the onion and bruise the ginger with the broad side of a heavy knife.  Set aside.

In a dry frying pan, heat everything from star anise to peppercorns, one at a time, until fragrant and just barely starting to darken.  Place all, with ginger and onion into a clean square of cloth/cheese cloth* and tie into a satchel with a length of cotton string.

Replace beef bones into a large stock pot (at least 10 quart size is best) and cover with water to about an inch and a half from top rim of pot.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 1 to 2 hours.  Skim any debris and scum off surface of water as the broth simmers.  After 2 hours are up, add aromatic satchel and continue to simmer for another 2 hours, continually skimming.  Over the long simmering time, water will evaporate, so keep a pitcher of water on the ready to top off whatever is lost.

After about 4 hours of total simmering time, add fish sauce and a teaspoon of salt at a time until desired saltiness is achieved.  Broth is now ready to eat, but is much improved with a night's rest in the fridge, with bones and spice satchel steeping.

Strain cooled broth through a clean cloth/cheese cloth set over a sieve, gathering corners of cloth to expedite the flow.  Squeeze as much of the broth out as possible and discard aromatics.  Taste and re-season until you are happy with the final product.  Broth should be clear with little bubbles of flavorsome beef fat afloat on the surface.  The fat and long cooking time have extracted gelatin from the marrow in the bones, which will allow the broth to gel slightly when cooled in the fridge.  This is one of the signs of a well made broth.  To remove much of the fat content of the broth, allow to cool over night in fridge, during which time a cap of solid fat will form over surface of the liquid broth.  Simply remove this cap and discard.  Heat and serve broth.

*This salt soak will aid in the removal of any impurities and muck from the bones and help the final broth to be more clear and aesthetically pleasing.

Noodle/herb/meat assemblage:

16 oz fresh rice stick noodles
1-2 lbs of very lean beef (eye of round or  petite sirloin/ regular sirloin is best), frozen for 1/2 hour and shaved as thin as possible
1 small bundle of mint, whole
1 small bundle of cilantro, roughly chopped
4-5 scallions, finely sliced
1/4 lb fresh bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha/Rooster sauce
1 lemon, cut into eighths lengthwise
pepper

Check out my MAD slicing skills!  Wafah-thin beef attained by slicing off of a semi-frozen hunk of petite-sirloin.

Fengshui LOVES the beef!

Rice stick noodles I picked up from my local Asian mega mart.  

Noodles, beef and herbs ready for some hot and brothy action.

Bring about 6 cups of broth to a rolling boil.  Bring a small pot of water to a rolling boil, add entire package of noodles and remove from heat.  Allow to sit for about 10 seconds or until noodles are tender.  Drain and rinse with warm water.  Portion noodles out, about one and a half cups per serving.  Arrange sliced beef over noodles in a thin layer, taking care not to overlap slices.  Ladle hot broth over raw beef and noodles (this will instantly cook the meat to a safe eating temperature), sprinkle with fresh herbs and serve with lemon, Hoisin and Rooster sauce and freshly cracked black pepper.  It's been a long journey to get to this point, so bask in the delicious scent of your beautiful bowl of noodley-steaky-herbaceous goodness.  Now.... DIG IN!  **This is a great opportunity to hone your chopsticking skills.  Those noodles and the beef are slippery buggers, but it's so fun to go soup-fishing, so give it a try.**