Thanks for the nudge. It's been a long time since I made pho or ramen and its been in the back of my mind now all winter and never got back around to it. I found a canned pho broth at Wegman's. Haven't tasted it yet, but this reminds me to get on it before the constant summer heat comes. I should open up a can before shopping for any aromatics to see if that stuff has it covered. If its good out of the can, that takes out half the work.
I want to do this with venison...as well as a form of venison sushi. I had venison sushi on a remote Japanese fishing village island many moons ago and have been wanting to try making it myself for decades. It's uncooked but marinated...soy sauce, etc. Got some deer roasts that will slice nice and clean for both that and the pho.
Most of the ingredients are "Walmart" available and the couple that arent are available at food Lion. A couple ingredients I might sub are chili-garlic sauce or Sambal in lieu or along with the sriracha and Thai Mushroom soy sauce is an outstanding ingredient in any Asian preparation, along with fish sauce.
I dont care for hoisin sauce though. Too sweet and kind of just weird for me. There's a "Made In Asia" restaurant nearby I call "Absolutely Not Made In Asia" that puts hoisin sauce in nearly everything. I'm not crazy about the place but so many people love it.
The recipe is a pain to copy and paste from that YouTube and even his Food Network page, it pastes as one big run-on paragraph. I found a good version to copy and paste elsewhere and sharing it here for people to easily grab if they want it.
Quick Beef Pho
Pho Stock:
2 tablespoons (30 g) beef bouillon or base
1 tablespoon (15 g) Vietnamese fish sauce
1 tablespoon (15 g) white sugar
One (2″ [5-cm]) piece ginger, sliced into thin tiles
1/2 yellow onion, large dice
Pinch kosher salt
2 whole cloves (see if we have any)
2 whole star anise (see if we have any)
1 cinnamon stick
1 quart of water
Assembly:
1/2 pound (240 g) thin rice stick noodles, rinsed
1/2 pound (240 g) beef strip loin or fillet, shaved thin
1 cup (240 g) Vietnamese basil leaves
1 cup (240 g) bean sprouts
1/2 cup (95 g) cilantro leaves
5 jalapeno or serrano chiles, sliced thin
4 scallions, sliced thin on the bias
1/2 yellow onion, sliced paper thin
1 lime, cut into wedges
Hoisin sauce, for the table
Chili sauce, such as Sriracha, for the table
Directions
Special equipment: cheesecloth and butcher’s twine for the satchel
For the Pho Stock: Add the beef base and 1 quart water to a 2-quart (1.9-L) saucepan and bring to a low boil. Add the fish sauce, sugar, ginger, onion and salt to the stock and reduce the heat to a simmer. Wrap the cloves, star anise and cinnamon stick in a piece of cheesecloth and tie it into a satchel. Add the satchel to the broth and simmer for at least 30 minutes, but no more than 45 minutes.
Around the 30 minute mark, taste the broth to see that the spice flavors have been extracted, and adjust seasonings if necessary. Strain the aromatics and satchel from the broth, return to a sauce pot, and reserve for assembly.
For the assembly: Bring the broth back to a simmer. In a separate pot, bring water to a boil. Using a sieve or basket, quickly dip the noodles into the water until they are hot and al dente, 10 to 20 seconds. Drain the excess water from the noodles and distribute the noodles between 4 bowls.
Top each bowl with some sliced beef, basil, bean sprouts, cilantro, jalapeno, scallions and onion, or as each person wishes. Ladle in enough broth to cover the ingredients in the bowl. Garnish with a lime wedge. I like to serve pho with Sriracha and hoisin sauce.
