Quickfauxpho Recipes

Steps:

• Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion, cut side down, garlic, and ginger. Cook, stirring occasionally, until garlic is golden, 3-4 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups water, broth, star anise, and cinnamon; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer until flavors meld, 7-8 minutes. Add mushrooms; simmer 2 minutes. Add scallion. Season with salt.
• Meanwhile, boil ramen until tender but still firm to bite. Drain; divide among bowls.
• Add beef slices to soup; simmer until just cooked through, about 20 seconds. Using tongs, transfer beef to bowls.
• Discard ginger, garlic, star anise, and cinnamon; ladle broth into bowls. Garnish with bean sprouts, basil, and sliced chiles.

Steps:

• 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.

Steps:

• Place the rice noodles in a large heatproof bowl. Cover with warm water and soak for 20 minutes, until softened.
• While the noodles are soaking, heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Toast the black peppercorns, coriander seeds, and star anise pods for 2 minutes, until fragrant.
• While the seeds are toasting, peel the ginger and cut into pieces. Trim the ends off the green onions, then chop 5 inches off the bases and save the remaining green tops for later.
• Add the ginger and green onion bases to the pot and cook for 2 minutes, or until fragrant.
• Add the water, chicken broth, and chicken breasts. Increase the heat to high, cover, and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 more minutes, then check the chicken every minute until cooked through. Remove from the heat.
• While the broth heats up, thinly slice the green onion tops. Cut the lime into wedges. Thinly slice the jalapeño.
• After 20 minutes of soaking, drain the rice noodles, then return to the bowl.
• Remove the chicken from the broth.
• Strain the broth over the noodles. Pour the noodles and broth back into the pot over high heat, then add the fish sauce. Cover and cook for 3 minutes.
• Shred the chicken.
• Divide the noodles between four serving bowls and top with the shredded chicken, jalapeño, bean sprouts, and Thai basil. Ladle the hot pho broth over the noodles. Add a squeeze of lime, green onions, and any other favorite toppings.
• Enjoy!

Steps:

• Put broth in a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
• NOTE - I like to simmer the broth with a 1" piece of fresh ginger (quartered) and a cinnamon stick for 30 minutes, remove the items and bring to a boil. It makes it not-so-quick, but it is more flavorful.
• Add the noodles, reduce heat to medium and boil gently, uncovered, 6-8 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally.
• Stir in the spinach and basil for the last minute of cooking time.
• Divide beef among 4 serving bowls. Ladle soup over the pastrami, sprinkle with green onions and drizzle with chili sauce.
• Serve with lime.

Steps:

• Cut the flank steak in half lengthwise and place in the freezer until the steak starts to freeze around the outer edges and is easy to thinly slice, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, combine the cinnamon sticks, star anise and peppercorns in a large Dutch oven or wide pot. Toast over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the spices are very fragrant, about 3 minutes. Transfer the toasted spices to a small bowl.
• Increase the heat to high and pour the oil into the Dutch oven. Add the white onions and ginger and cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Carefully pour in the beef broth and stir in the garlic and toasted spices. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a strong simmer and cook until the broth is deeply flavored and fragrant, about 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, fill a large stockpot halfway with water, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Arrange the red onion, jalapeño, lime, bean sprouts and Thai basil on a small serving plate. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Remove the flank steak from the freezer and slice very thinly on a slight bias against the grain (about 1/8 inch thick). Lay the sliced steak on a large plate and refrigerate until ready to serve.
• Strain the broth into a large bowl then return to the Dutch oven; discard the solids. Stir in the fish sauce and sugar and bring to a boil.
• Meanwhile, add the noodles to the boiling water and cook, giving them a quick stir, until they lose their shape and almost wilt down, about 5 seconds. Drain the noodles well. Working quickly, divide the noodles among 4 large serving bowls. If the noodles start to get too sticky, give them a quick rinse under hot water.
• Shingle the sliced steak on top of the noodles in a single layer. Pour the hot broth over the noodles and steak. Serve immediately with the plate of toppings, hoisin sauce, Sriracha and more fish sauce on the side.

Steps:

• Chop vegetables as directed above.
• Soak the bean threads in very hot water in a sauce pan for four minutes. Place the pan on a burner and heat to just about boiling. Remove from heat.
• In a medium sized soup pan, sautee the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery with salt to taste, until the onion is soft and the other vegetables are tender crisp. Add chicken broth, drained bean threads (cellophane noodles), shrimp, mushrooms with liquid, and bean sprouts.
• Heat briefly until the shrimp is well cooked.
• Serve each bowl topped with cilantro and green onion and the optional ingredients below.
• HIGHLY Suggested but Optional: Bottle of red habanero sauce, plate of: lime wedges, fresh basil, and raw bean sprouts instead of the canned sprouts - serve the soup boiling hot and have each diner drop the fresh sprouts in their own bowl.