Vietnamese Noodle Soup (Pho)
Vietnamese Noodle Soup is widely known dish in Vietnam often referred to as “Pho”. Pho was crafted in Northern Vietnam in the mid 1800’s. It’s heavily influenced by both Chinese and French cooking. As the dish moved south around 1945, southern Vietnam cooks infused the meal with more and more ingredients that we now know as the most common version of the dish. Pho in the United States was brought in by refugees fleeing Vietnam in the spring of 1975. Today, 2,000 Vietnamese restaurants are spread across the states and Canada.
Its Ingredients include, 8 ounces of rice noodles,12 ounces of lean beef sirloin fat trim, Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, 1 large onion halved, 1 4-inch piece of ginger unpeeled,3 cups low-sodium beef broth, 5 star anise pods, 1 cinnamon stick, 4 scallions, 2 jalapeno peppers preferably red and green, 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, 2 to 4 tablespoons fish sauce, and 1 cup of fresh bean sprouts
To create such a masterpiece, you first boil a pot water for the Rice Noodles, Meanwhile, place a large saute pan over high heat. Tenderize meat, by poking the meat all over with a fork and season with salt and pepper. Sizzle the meat until charred but still rare, only 2 to 3 minutes per side, then place onto a plate. Add the onion and ginger to the pot; cook this for about 4 minutes. Add broth, 3 cups of water, the star anise and cinnamon. By this time reduce the heat and simmer the pot for about 20 minutes.
In the meantime, thinly slice scallions and jalapenos and tear the cilantro. Slice the meat against the grain and drain the noodles. Add the fish sauce to the broth and boil for 5 minutes. Discard the ginger, star anise and cinnamon stick. Remove and slice the onion. Divide the noodles among 4 bowls; top with the broth, beef, scallions, cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapenos and onion.
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