What is phở? It is a Vietnamese soup with rice noodles. The broth is rich and flavorful and typically beef based. I have seen chicken and vegetarian bases. The meat that accompanies pho can be flank, steak, brisket, tripe, meatball, chicken, and even shrimp. I love rice noodles. I order extra noodles almost every time. Growing up, my mom would cook us pho or we would go out and eat it at least twice a month? I love pho. I love smoked brisket. It was time for a mash-up. I have been wanting to make a smoked brisket pho for a while now. We finally had a free weekend where I could spend a chunk of time at home to cook it.
My friends from 44 Farms sent me five pounds of beef bones and a brisket. I split the brisket and was going to use about three pounds of the flat for the pho. I tried to trim a lot of fat away. I did not want a fatty brisket for the pho. I used about half the salt I would use normally and even less for ground pepper. I wanted the broth to shine more than the meat. I also smoked the bones and onion for about an hour to enhance the flavor and to get rid of the impurities that might end up in the broth. I did not season the bones. I pulled the brisket once the internal temperature hit 190 degrees (about four hours). I could have let the temperature go higher, but I wanted the meat to stay together in the soup. I put the brisket aside to rest for at least an hour.
I threw the bones, onions, sugar, salt, star anise, cinnamon, fennel, coriander, cloves, fish sauce, and ginger all into a stock pot and covered the bones with water. I am going to guess I used about six quarts of water. We did not have a big enough pot so I split everything in half into two separate pots. Bring the water to a boil and simmer it. You will have to add water during the process due to evaporation. I am guessing I added another two quarts or so. You can put the ingredients in a mesh bag so it is easier to get out.
After about five hours, I pulled out the bones and combined the broth. I strained it through a mesh colander with a coffee filter. That help get rid of some of the fat as well. You might have to add more salt to the broth depending on how much water evaporated. I bought fresh rice noodles for the soup, but you can buy the dry kind at most grocery stores and boil them in water.
I typically see onion, cilantro, and green onion in the soup when pho is served. I put everything in the bowl first and then ladle in the broth. You can garnish the pho with jalapeño, mint, basil, bean sprouts, and/or lime. You can also dip the meat in hoisin sauce and/or Sriracha. Not this time. It was about the smoked brisket. I thought the meal turned out great. It took a lot of time and effort, but it was worth at least doing it once. It was fun. The brisket was wonderful, and the broth was smoky, rich and had a ton of flavor. Nice depth to it. Even Amber was impressed. It was pho-nomenal.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons salt
5 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
4 cloves
1/2 cup fish sauce
1 ginger about 6 inches long broken into pieces
2 onions
Until next time, happy smoking...
reade more...
My friends from 44 Farms sent me five pounds of beef bones and a brisket. I split the brisket and was going to use about three pounds of the flat for the pho. I tried to trim a lot of fat away. I did not want a fatty brisket for the pho. I used about half the salt I would use normally and even less for ground pepper. I wanted the broth to shine more than the meat. I also smoked the bones and onion for about an hour to enhance the flavor and to get rid of the impurities that might end up in the broth. I did not season the bones. I pulled the brisket once the internal temperature hit 190 degrees (about four hours). I could have let the temperature go higher, but I wanted the meat to stay together in the soup. I put the brisket aside to rest for at least an hour.
Beef bone from 44 Farms |
Brisket from 44 Farms |
Light on salt and lighter on pepper |
Smoked beef bones and onions |
Brisket off the smoker |
Profile of the brisket |
Ingredients |
Ladle time |
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons salt
5 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
4 cloves
1/2 cup fish sauce
1 ginger about 6 inches long broken into pieces
2 onions
Until next time, happy smoking...