Pho
This is a recipe for pho from my mom's old restaurant. The recipe is from our chef at the time. It's really good. I EXTREMELY recommend it. Purely fresh and healthy. One bad thing is that the recipe is an estimation. There are no exact measurements because we used a big pot to make pho for mass consumptions of a lot of customers. Basically the measurements are based on taste and smell and sometimes servings. (Well, if you make something so much for so long, you tend to not cook it in exact measurements. You just ball point.)
Utilities:
1 Big pot (and when I mean big...I mean the deepest you can find.... )
1 cheese cloth
strings
1 small frying pan
1 baking pan
1 soup ladle
Soup ingredients:
Water
Cow leg bones and/or tail bones (preferably tail bones because they're sweeter, but if you can't find or afford any then leg bones are fine and get enough to fill half the pot)
1 whole ginger root unpeeled (est. 1 ginger=4 servings, so depending on how many people you're making for you might get 1 ginger or more)
1 whole yellow onion (est. 1 onion=4 servings)
4 cloves (est. 4 cloves=4 servings, so 1 clove per serving)
4 star anise (est. 4 star anise=4 servings)
4 black cardamon (est. 4 black cardamon=4 servings)
Cinnamon sticks (optional; about 1 stick per 2 or 3 servings)
Salt
Sugar cubes
1 package (1 lb.) of rice noodles (1 package can serve up to 3 to 4 people)
Optional ingredients:
rare beef slices (rib-eye preferably, but if you can't afford it a cheaper quality is okay, just beware anything below rib-eye won't be as tender)
beef balls (these actually come in packages in asian supermarkets)
*Just basically any beef part you see in pho >_>; I'm too lazy to state it all.
Yellow onion (thinly sliced)
Green onion (chopped)
Cilantro (chopped)
Basil
Bean sprouts
Lime (cut into 1/4's)
Housin sauce
Hot sauce
Cooking procedures:
Fill your big pot half way with water. Boil the water. During that time, wash the bones in water. Dump the cow bones into the boiling pot and continue to boil for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, dump the bones and the water out onto a strainer. This process sterilizes the bones from excess fat and from unwanted bacteria. Rinse the bones in cold water to cool it down. Pour new water into the big pot half way and boil the water again. When the water comes to a boil, dump the bones back in. Boil the bones for 5 to 10 hours.
During this time frame (probably an hour before the finish boiling time), place the ginger(s) and onion(s) on to a baking pan. Bake them for 15 minutes at 350 degrees (basically to a nice golden brown and where you can smell the aroma). After baking, tie the onion up with a string to make sure it doesn't fall apart when you boil the onion in the pot.
Take the clovers, star anise, black cardamons and cinnamon stick and gently roast them on a small frying pan for 15 minutes or until you can get a strong aroma of the herbs. After roasting, wrap the herbs in a bundle with a cheese cloth. Close and tighten the bundle with a string about the length of a pot and a half in depth.
After the 5 to 10 hours are up, dump the ginger, onion and herb bundle into the pot and boil for 30 minutes. During this time, scrap off excess fat and waste floating on top of the soup and on the sides of the pot. After 30 minutes, take out all solid ingredients out of the soup (ESPECIALLY the herbs, if you leave them in any longer it will make the soup darker and make the soup smelling too herby that it over powers the entire soup).
Season the soup with salt and sugar cubes to your taste. I can't really tell you how much because for everyone it's different. Some people might like it a tad saltier or sweeter than others. Everyone has their own unique taste. So feel free to put in a little. Sip it, then put in more of whatever you feel is needed.
Guess what! You're done with the soup! That's the hardest part!
To cook the noodles, boil water in a medium size pot. Grab the amount of noodles you're going to cook for each person. You want to cook them separately for each serving, because separating them after cooking is extremely difficult. (Common people, it's rice noodles; it's going to be sticky. >_>) Grab the desire amount for 1 bowl, place the noodles on a metal handle strainer. Slowly dip the noodles fully into the boiling water and then immediately take it out. Any longer and you'll make them too soggy. (Rice noodles are really thin and cook instantly.) Strain the noodles and DON'T RINSE! Dump the noodles in the bowl, top it with any of the optional ingredients you want and pour the hot soup onto it. Repeat the process for the next bowl. And enjoy!
Utilities:
1 Big pot (and when I mean big...I mean the deepest you can find.... )
1 cheese cloth
strings
1 small frying pan
1 baking pan
1 soup ladle
Soup ingredients:
Water
Cow leg bones and/or tail bones (preferably tail bones because they're sweeter, but if you can't find or afford any then leg bones are fine and get enough to fill half the pot)
1 whole ginger root unpeeled (est. 1 ginger=4 servings, so depending on how many people you're making for you might get 1 ginger or more)
1 whole yellow onion (est. 1 onion=4 servings)
4 cloves (est. 4 cloves=4 servings, so 1 clove per serving)
4 star anise (est. 4 star anise=4 servings)
4 black cardamon (est. 4 black cardamon=4 servings)
Cinnamon sticks (optional; about 1 stick per 2 or 3 servings)
Salt
Sugar cubes
1 package (1 lb.) of rice noodles (1 package can serve up to 3 to 4 people)
Optional ingredients:
rare beef slices (rib-eye preferably, but if you can't afford it a cheaper quality is okay, just beware anything below rib-eye won't be as tender)
beef balls (these actually come in packages in asian supermarkets)
*Just basically any beef part you see in pho >_>; I'm too lazy to state it all.
Yellow onion (thinly sliced)
Green onion (chopped)
Cilantro (chopped)
Basil
Bean sprouts
Lime (cut into 1/4's)
Housin sauce
Hot sauce
Cooking procedures:
Fill your big pot half way with water. Boil the water. During that time, wash the bones in water. Dump the cow bones into the boiling pot and continue to boil for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, dump the bones and the water out onto a strainer. This process sterilizes the bones from excess fat and from unwanted bacteria. Rinse the bones in cold water to cool it down. Pour new water into the big pot half way and boil the water again. When the water comes to a boil, dump the bones back in. Boil the bones for 5 to 10 hours.
During this time frame (probably an hour before the finish boiling time), place the ginger(s) and onion(s) on to a baking pan. Bake them for 15 minutes at 350 degrees (basically to a nice golden brown and where you can smell the aroma). After baking, tie the onion up with a string to make sure it doesn't fall apart when you boil the onion in the pot.
Take the clovers, star anise, black cardamons and cinnamon stick and gently roast them on a small frying pan for 15 minutes or until you can get a strong aroma of the herbs. After roasting, wrap the herbs in a bundle with a cheese cloth. Close and tighten the bundle with a string about the length of a pot and a half in depth.
After the 5 to 10 hours are up, dump the ginger, onion and herb bundle into the pot and boil for 30 minutes. During this time, scrap off excess fat and waste floating on top of the soup and on the sides of the pot. After 30 minutes, take out all solid ingredients out of the soup (ESPECIALLY the herbs, if you leave them in any longer it will make the soup darker and make the soup smelling too herby that it over powers the entire soup).
Season the soup with salt and sugar cubes to your taste. I can't really tell you how much because for everyone it's different. Some people might like it a tad saltier or sweeter than others. Everyone has their own unique taste. So feel free to put in a little. Sip it, then put in more of whatever you feel is needed.
Guess what! You're done with the soup! That's the hardest part!
To cook the noodles, boil water in a medium size pot. Grab the amount of noodles you're going to cook for each person. You want to cook them separately for each serving, because separating them after cooking is extremely difficult. (Common people, it's rice noodles; it's going to be sticky. >_>) Grab the desire amount for 1 bowl, place the noodles on a metal handle strainer. Slowly dip the noodles fully into the boiling water and then immediately take it out. Any longer and you'll make them too soggy. (Rice noodles are really thin and cook instantly.) Strain the noodles and DON'T RINSE! Dump the noodles in the bowl, top it with any of the optional ingredients you want and pour the hot soup onto it. Repeat the process for the next bowl. And enjoy!