Pho and Gyoza

Pho has become such a comfort food for me. On a cold, rainy night like tonight, the aromatic broth soothes while the bright scents of cilantro, basil, lime and scallion lift the spirits.

I wrote this post about making a quick Pho a while back. I had devised a recipe for replicating the flavors on days when I had the craving, but not the time, nor the 3+ lbs of oxtails. But today, Mike and I used Nina Simonds Asian Noodles recipe for "Hanoi Beef Noodles" to make up a batch from scratch. Surprisingly easy, if you have the time, and so very satisfying. (This is a fantastic book to have around if you frequently crave Asian food and don't have access. The "Chinese Peanut Sauce" is addictive.)

Nina Simonds' Hanoi Beef Noodles

For the broth, put in a large stockpot:
3 and 3/4 lbs of beef shinbones or oxtails with meat and marrow
16 cups water
4 shallots, thinly sliced
6 slices fresh ginger, peeled and smashed lightly
4 stars anise
2 cinnamon sticks

Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer for 1 1/2 hours, skimming foam from the surface.

While the stock is simmering, you might as well prepare the garnish:
1/4 cup minced scallion greens
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1 cup Thai or sweet basil leaves, shredded
1 thinly sliced serrano pepper if desired
1 lime, cut into wedges
2 cups bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
and, optional
1/2 lb boneless beef sirloin, trimmed of fat and gristle and cut into paper-thin slices about 1-1/2" square

After the broth has simmered, strain the broth into another large pot, remove the meat from the bones and slice thinly. Skim fat from the surface of the stock.

Add
1/4 cup fish sauce (nuoc mam)
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
and keep warm over low heat

Soak
6oz thin flat rice stick noodles in warm water for 15 minutes to soften. Boil for 45 seconds, rinse with warm water, drain, and divide among 4-6 soup bowls.

Add the bean sprouts and the sirloin to the hot soup, bring to a boil, and cook until the sirloin loses its pink color, 1-2 minutes. Skim the surface to remove any impurities.

Ladle the beef, bean sprouts and broth over the noodles, sprinkle with garnishes as desired, and apply lime and pepper slices to your taste. Oyster or soy sauce, and sriracha are the typical accompaniments.

Luckily for us, we had tried out another new recipe last week from Food & Wine magazine: A Lesson in Dumplings, so we had frozen gyoza, or potstickers, and lemongrass-pheasant meatballs (made from leftover potsticker filling) in the freezer to augment our sirloin-less pho. The dough could not have been simpler: 2-1/2 cups flour + 1 cup water. Check out the recipe link, and be sure to allow yourself plenty of time to make the dumplings: it's simple, but time-consuming. It would be a nice thing to do on a rainy afternoon like today. The dumplings cook just as quickly from the freezer as they do fresh, so they're always ready to go when you need them. Before you get excited about the pheasant, and think we're fancy people, I have to tell you that Mike gets it from a guy he knows at the pool, who trades us for wine when he has excess booty from his hunting trips. Thanks, Bob!

Where are the pictures, you ask? It's hard to get up on the table in my stocking feet and shoot the beautiful food when there's a hungry man waiting to eat! Sometimes I'm just not fast enough!

It's good to be back!