Faux Pho

By RoketJSquerl

Serves two, but doubles easily. And more preamble here. I used fresh mint, Asian basil, and cilantro for the herbs, all found for cheap at one of the ubiquitous Asian markets in my neighborhood. If you don’t have gems like that where you live, lots of cilantro would do. Use whatever medium-width rice noodles you like. Just make sure to prepare them according to the package instructions. Some require just soaking in hot water, and others need boiling. Even if you have bad luck and they end up all stuck together, they should separate just fine under the influence of boiling broth. And follow Lynne’s instructions to broil your veggies on a piece of foil–it worked beautifully. It will look like a lot of onions, but once they simmer in the broth, they soften and begin to disappear. You need a huge squeeze of lime once you’re at the table–the soup won’t taste like it’s supposed to without it. And one more thing–her recipe calls for very thin slices of beef round or chicken breast, dropped raw into the boiling broth and cooked at the table. We used medium-soft tofu instead.

Ingredients

• For broth:
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• One 2-3″ piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 whole star anise, bashed a bit to bruise it
• fresh ground black pepper
• Four 14 oz. cans chicken broth
• 2 Tb. brown sugar
• 2 ts. Asian fish sauce
• For soup:
• 6 to 8 oz. linguine-style rice noodles
• 6 to 8 oz. thinly sliced beef (raw) or pulled chicken (cooked)
• For table salad:
• 10 springs fresh cilantro
• 6 to 8 sprigs fresh Thai basil
• 6 to 8 sprigs fresh mint
• 2 serrano or jalapeño chiles, thinly sliced
• Generous handful bean sprouts
• 1 large lime, cut into wedges
• Sauces:
• Hoisin sauce
• Sriracha sauce

Details

Servings 2
Adapted from inpraiseofleftovers.com

Preparation

Step 1

Position an oven rack 4-6″ from broiler and preheat. Double a very large piece of foil. Scatter the onion, garlic, ginger, cloves, anise, and a generous grind of black pepper on the foil. Broil for five minutes. You want the onion to have some toasted edges, and the spices should be fragrant. Scrape everything into a big pot.

Add the broth, sugar, fish sauce, and bring to a gentle bubble. Cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the rice noodles according to package directions. When they’re cooked, rinse them with cold water, and divide between two large bowls.

Arrange table salad ingredients on a large platter and set in the middle of the table along with sauces.

To serve, top the noodles with beef or chicken. Ladle the bubbling broth into the bowls. Top with whatever you like once you’re seated–don’t forget a whole bunch of fresh lime juice.