      Title: Pho (Viet Beef Soup)
 Categories: Vietnamese, Soups, Beef
      Yield: 3 servings
 
      4 lb Beef shin with bones or 2
           -medium oxtails, cut up.
      1 md Onion, unpeeled
      5    Slices fresh ginger
      1    Piece star anise
      1 ts Salt
  2 1/2 tb Chinese fish sauce
      1    Bundle medium Chinese
           -vermicelli
           Boiling water
    1/2 lb Leftover cooked sirloin
           -(or beef tenderloin or
           -eye chuck), thinly sliced
      3    Scallions, chopped
           Fresh cilantro sprigs
           Pepper
           Fresh chiles, sliced
 
  Boil beef (with bones) or oxtails in 3 qts cold water. Skim off foam
  and fat. Cover and simmer for 4 hours.
  
  Broil onion until flesh is soft, turning often. Peel.
  
  Add onion, ginger, anise, salt, and fish sauce to beef broth just
  before it has finished simmering.
  
  Also just before beef broth finishes simmering, drop vermicelli into
  a pot of boiling water. Cook 8 minutes, remove from water, rinse in
  cold water, and drain.
  
  Divide vermicelli into three equal portions and place in 3 individual
  serving bowls.
  
  Divide beef into 3 equal portions and place on top of vermicelli in
  the bowls. Garnish each bowl with scallions and 2 or 3 fresh cilantro
  sprigs.
  
  Strain broth, reserving beef and flavorings. Pour one cup broth over
  contents of each bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and chiles. Serve
  immediately. Reserved beef, flavorings, and extra broth can be eaten
  separately.
  
  Appeared in Great Recipes From The New York Times.
 


Article: 16083 of rec.food.recipes
From: hunt@austin.metrowerks.com (Eric Hunt)
Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes
Subject: Hanoi Beef and Rice-Noodle Soup (Pho Bac)
Date: 9 Jul 1995 14:31:05 -0400

MMMMM----- Recipe via UNREGISTERED Meal-Master (tm) v8.02
 
      Title: Hanoi Beef and Rice-Noodle Soup (Pho Bac)
 Categories: Vietnamese, Beef, Soups
      Yield: 4 servings
 
           Stephen Ceideburg
      5 lb Beef bones with marrow
      5 lb Oxtails
      2 lb Short rib plate, or 1 lb
           -flank steak
      2 lg Onions, unpeeled, halved and
           -studded with 8 whole cloves
      3    Shallots, unpeeled
      2 oz Fresh ginger root, unpeeled,
           -in one piece
      8    Star anise
      1    Cinnamon stick
      4 md Parsnips, cut into 2-inch
           -chunks
      2 ts Salt
      1 lb Beef sirloin
      2    Scallions, thinly sliced
      1 tb Shredded coriander
      2 md Onions, sliced paper-thin
    1/4 c  Hot chili sauce (tuong ot or
           -sriracha sauce)
      1 lb 1/4-inch-wide dried rice
           -sticks (banh pho)
    1/2 c  Nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish
           -sauce)
           Freshly ground black pepper
           ACCOMPANIMENTS:
      2 c  Fresh bean sprouts
      2    Fresh red chile peppers,
           -sliced
      2    Limes, cut into wedges
      1 bn Of fresh mint, separated
           -into leaves
      1 bn Fresh Asian basil or regular
           -fresh basil, separated into
           -leaves
 
  This sublime recipe comes from my mother, a native of Hanoi.  She
  always made the beef stock in large quantities--enough for at least 3
  meals--and froze it in batches until needed.
  
  NOTE:  In order to cut the beef into paper-thin slices, freeze the
  pieces of meat for 30 minutes before slicing.
  
  The night before, clean the bones under cold running water and soak
  overnight in a pot with water to cover at room temperature.  (This
  will help loosen the impurities inside the bones.  When heat is
  applied, these impurities are released and come to the top much
  faster and can be removed, therefore, producing a clear broth.) Place
  the beef bones, oxtails and short rib plate in a large stockpot. Add
  water to cover and bring to a boil.  Cook for 10 minutes. Drain.
  Rinse the pot and the bones. Return the bones to the pot and add 6
  quarts of water.  Bring to a boil. Skim the surface to remove the
  foam and fat.  Stir the bones in the bottom of the pot from time to
  time to free the impurities.  Continue skimming until the foam ceases
  to rise.  Add 3 quarts more water and bring to a boil. Skim off all
  the residue that forms on the top.  Turn the heat to low and simmer.
  Meanwhile, char the clove-studded onions, shallots and ginger
  directly over a gas burner or under the broiler until they release
  their fragrant odors. Tie the charred vegetables, star anise and
  cinnamon stick in a double thickness of dampened cheesecloth.  Add
  the spice bag, parsnips and salt to the simmering broth.  Simmer for
  1 hour. Remove the short rib plates. Pull the meat away from the
  bones. Reserve the meat and return the bones to the pot.  Simmer the
  broth, uncovered, for 4 to 5 hours. Keep an eye on it; as the liquid
  boils away, add enough fresh water to cover the bones. Meanwhile,
  slice the beef sirloin against the grain into paper-thin slices,
  roughly 2 by 2 inches in size.  Slice the reserved short rib meat
  paper-thin.  Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the scallions,
  coriander and half of the slice onions. Place the remaining sliced
  onions in a small bowl and stir in the hot chili sauce. Blend well.
  Soak the rice sticks in warm water for 30 minutes.  Drain and set
  aside. When the broth is ready, remove and discard all of the bones.
  Strain the broth through a strainer or colander lined with a double
  layer of dampened cheesecloth into a clean pot.  Add the fish sauce
  and bring the broth to a boil. Reduce the heat and keep the broth at
  a bare simmer. In another pot, bring 4 quarts of water to a boil.
  Drain the noodles, then drop them in the boiling water. Drain
  immediately.  Divide the noodles among 4 large soup bowls. Top the
  noodles with the sliced meats. Bring the broth to a rolling boil.
  Ladle the broth directly over the meat in each bowl (the boiling
  broth will cook the raw beef instantly). Garnish with the scallion
  mixture and freshly ground black pepper. Serve the onions in hot
  chili sauce and the accompaniments on the side. Each diner will add
  these ingredients as desired. From "The Foods of Vietnam" by Nicole
  Rauthier.  Stewart, Tabori & Chang. 1989.
 
-- 
Claire
