Pho

Sure, my family has some great cooks, but I was raised by baby-boomer parents in a home where we had such delicacies as hot dog curly-cues (fondly remembered here) and meatloaf.  And let's not forget that weekly meal our mother liked to call fend-for-yourself.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not disparaging my mom's cooking.  She cooked one mean pot roast.  I'm just saying that, growing up, I didn't have many opportunities to sample the cuisine of other cultures.  So, as I've grown out of my childhood fear of unknown foods, I have been joyously surprised to find some of my favorite dishes outside of the scope of American standard fare.

Pho is definitely one of those dishes.  My first bowl of pho was from Pho Bac on Buford Highway.  Maybe not the best pho kitchen around, but I still fell in love.  I felt it was the perfect dish.  It is warming on a cold day, light and fulfilling on a hot day.  The flavor of the broth is rich and complex and balanced by the bright flavors of fresh herbs and mung beans and sliced chiles served in a heap on the side.  I had no idea what gave the broth it's flavor or how I might even begin to replicate the dish.  Recipes I found online just didn't even look like they would add up to what I had tasted.  I now know this is because most pho is a beef soup flavored with spices such as star anise, nothing like what I had had at Pho Bac.  So, I was really excited when I saw Roger Mooking cook it up on Cooking Channel one day.  He didn't even call it pho on the show, but when I saw the show, I new that what he was cooking would add up to what I was looking for.  I've used his recipe ever since, with some minor changes, and it always comes out perfectly.  It takes some time to make, but man is it ever worth it!  You can use a whole chicken or, if you're only serving a few, you can just use one full breast section (2 breasts with sternum) and a chicken back and neck (the bones will flavor the stock and the breasts are for eatin'!)

Pho

1 2-3 lb chicken (or see above)

2 carrots, halved lengthwise

1 onion, quartered

1 stalk of lemongrass, bruised

3/4 lb shitake mushrooms

1 bunch thai basil

1 T. fresh ginger, smashed

2 limes

1 T. black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

2 red thai chiles (or any small chile)

1/4 C. fish sauce

1 T. sugar

mung bean sprouts

1/2 lb rice noodles 

Throw in a large stock pot (at least 6 quart) the shitake stems, onion, carrots, lemongrass, peppercorns, bay leaves, ginger, zest of one lime, 4 basil stems, and 1 chile (sliced open lengthwise).  Now place your chicken on top of all this goodness and add water until everything is covered.

 

Bring to a boil and reduce to a very low simmer.  Simmer until the chicken comes up to temperature, skimming the impurities as they rise to the top.  This step, also known as depouillage, is one of the most important steps in any stock, broth or sauce, so don't skip it!  Remember to stick a thermometer in your bird occasionally to make sure you're not over-cooking it.  

Once the chicken is done, remove it from the broth, allowing the broth to continue to simmer.  Once the chicken cools, pull the meat from the bone and put the bones back into the pot.  Simmer for another hour or so.  The longer it cooks, the more flavor.  Go all day, if you like.

Cook the rice noodles in boiling, salted water until just tender.  Drain and set aside.

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Strain the broth through a sieve lined with cheesecloth and place it back into the rinsed pot.  Turn on low heat.  Add salt to taste, fish sauce, sugar and the juice of your zested lime.

Now take the amount of chicken that you will be using in the soup and slice the shitake tops.  Place the chicken and the shitakes in the broth to warm, just until the shitakes are tender.

To serve, place some noodles in your bowls then proportion out the chicken and shitakes equally to each bowl.  Now ladle the broth over it.  Serve with a plate of basil leaves, lime wedges, sliced chiles and mung bean sprouts.

Enjoy!