By Joell Folger
As most of the US is coming out of the grip of another polar vortex (Yeah for seasons!!), signs that the cold affects everyone in different ways is not more evident than in my house. My son Ben, the self declared non-soup eater, ‘I don’t like soup’, has offered to cook dinner - of you guessed it - SOUP!
One of the many things that I admire about my son is his head first eagerness to tackle a new recipe. Not just a soup recipe, but he has taken on birria, homemade gnocchi, and has won many family food cook offs. His one pot alfredo gets better every time. So when this Chef Ben was inspired by a cut of beef to make soup, I jumped on the chance to make it happen. Unlike my son, I love a good bowl of soup.
The soup of choice for Ben is Vietnamese Pho. This traditional soup starts with a flavorful stock, herbs and rice noodles. Although I have heard of this soup, I have never tried it. The anticipation to taste it grows as the simmering aroma is filling the house. The air is full of ginger, star anise and garlic.
Ben chose a beef base, rather than pork, for this soup. This is the recipe he used for inspiration. https://www.recipetineats.com/vietnamese-pho-recipe/
As with all soups, it is a process of heat, boil, sautee, simmer, strain, strain and strain to achieve that full of flavor clear broth. By using beef bones to start the stock, the flavor and richness from the bones and marrow is what took the flavor to the next level. To be honest, it has been quite some time since I made beef stock from scratch. I make chicken stock all of the time. It was good to revisit this process again.
Once the stock is ready and rice noodles are boiled, 3 - 4 hours later, the true magic of this soup happens. Time to layer your bowl and finish cooking your thin strips of beef in the stock, in your bowl. Yes, you heard me correctly. Thin strips of raw beef are placed on top of the noodles and then you ladle piping hot broth over the beef strips instantly cooking right in front of your eyes. It is super cool to watch the red meat slowly change color as the heat of the broth takes over. The layering doesn’t stop there. The soup is finished off with chopped chives, mung bean sprouts, cilantro, lime and hoisin sauce. We used red pepper flakes rather than fresh pepper.
Time for a Remy moment, close your eyes and the fireworks of flavor are exploding like it’s the new year. It was such an amazing flavor rush. The beef was so tender, the lime added some zest, if the red pepper was too spicy then the sweetness of the hoisin sauce balanced that right out, like the bow on a gift, it wrapped it all up together. WOW! We all enjoyed the Pho for the flavor exploration that it was as well as for as a soul warming meal on a frigid winter day.
Pho just might have made a soup eater out of Ben after all. He is talking about what he would do differently next time. He was impressed with the flavor of the broth and next time, in his bowl at least, more spice.