Pho Bo Tai

[kiki]

Does anyone know a half-decent-tasting brand of instant buillon that's good for making this? I've been experimenting with this for the last year; haven't found anything that really works, and it's turning into something of an obsession for me.

Preferably brands that are available in the UK. If anyone can help me I will HAVE THEIR CHILDREN (I'm a dude, but we'll find a way).

Apologies if this is the dumbest post ever.

[babylonsister]

1. This is a nice post.

I've been to Thailand and remember"Me Pet" or "My Pet." Supposedly, that means 'not too hot'.
Interesting that you're looking for bouilion!

[mike_c]

2. not possible, IMO....

Buy lots of beef soup bones, roast them, and make a rich, reduced stock, along with some shallots, black peppercorns, and cilantro roots/stems. Salt the soup if necessary, not the stock. Chill to skim the fat. I honestly don't believe you can do it with an instant buillion.

[kiki]

3. I tried making beef bone stock the other day...

...it went horribly wrong. It was fucking disgusting. I was told the bones I was using were rump bones (?) when I know you're supposed to use legs or knuckles, but I didn't think it would make that much difference...

[Orangeone]

4. Star anise

pan toasted, is the most important spice for pho.

[warrens]

5. You should actually roast it over fire

The ginger root too. If you don't have gas, one of those big lighters will do. Then wrap it all in cheesecloth and let it simmer in the broth for about two hours. Take it out and spoon the broth over the noodles and add the rest of the stuff.

That's the viet version. Maybe they do it differently in Thailand. And there is no boullion that could ever work for this.

[mike_c]

6. yep-- I realized that I'd omitted star anise...

...when it was too late to edit, but I don't like a very pronounced anise flavor anyway. Some ginger would be nice, too. The main point I wanted to make is that I just don't think a good bowl of pho can be made with an instant broth. Besides, beef stock isn't hard to make, and it makes the kitchen smell great!

[XemaSab]

7. I've been thinking about this

and I was wondering if deer pho would be any good.

I don't support the commercial beef industry, but I live in a rural area, and well, things happen on the roads.

BTW, I no longer have corpse pudding under the porch. I now have several highly ill-eagal skulls drying on top of the porch. Good times, good times.

[mike_c]

8. I had a professor in grad school who occasionally harvested...

...the eastern whitetails that were hit on the highway near the mouth of his driveway. I did not eat venison at his house, so I cannot say whether this was a good idea or not.

As for deer pho-- you know me, I'm something of a purist when it comes to culinary matters-- you could certainly make a meat and noodle soup with venison, but it wouldn't be pho! On the more practical side, the meat in the bowl needs to be tender and finely marbled, and *I've* never seen venison matching that description! Maybe you could slice it paper thin and run a Caterpillar D9 over the slices a few dozen times to get them meltingly tender, but I think you're more likely to just grind up the kitchen floor.

on edit-- what happened to the coyote mummy?

[XemaSab]

9. I think you could slice it thin enough

and pound it a bit to get it tender enough.

I think you could make some damn fine pho broth out of deer.

I thought all people from the south ate roadkill, and you couldn't consider yourself a southerner unless you ate something you found by the side of the road?

That's what they told me when I ate roadkill in South Carolina...

On edit: the coyote mummy is going to go into the pot recently vacated by the bird heads. And it's NOT the cooking pot.