Vietnamese Rice-Noodle Soup with Beef

This recipe may seem like a bit of an outlier, but we are including it because it comes from a great class on Vietnamese cooking that is very popular at JCC Manhattan’s Patti Gelman Culinary Arts Center. Many of us have had this wonderful soup—known as pho—in Vietnamese restaurants. Made from beef bones, onions, ginger, and lots of fragrant spices, it’s delicate yet bracing—one of those dishes you can’t get enough of. Everyone around the table gets to personalize their bowl since lots of garnishes, including basil, chiles, and lime, are passed around. Did we mention that thin slices of raw beef are cooked in each bowl by adding the hot soup just before serving?

This isn’t a difficult dish to make, but it does require attention. Please read the recipe through before making it.

SERVES 8

2 (3-inch) pieces ginger with skin, halved lengthwise and bruised with the flat of a knife

2 large yellow onions (about 1½ pounds), unpeeled

6 quarts water

5 pounds beef marrow or knuckle bones

1 2-pound piece beef chuck, halved

¼ cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon sea salt or kosher salt

10 whole star anise

6 whole cloves

1 pound dried 1⁄16-inch-wide rice?stick noodles

½ pound beef sirloin, slightly frozen

Garnishes

1 pound bean sprouts

10 sprigs fresh Asian basil, Italian basil, or fresh tarragon

6 Thai bird chiles or 1 serrano chile, cut into thin rings

1 lime, cut into 6 thin wedges

½ onion, sliced paper thin

3 scallions, cut into thin rings

⅓ cup cilantro, chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

Char the ginger and onions: Hold the ginger with tongs over an open flame or place it on a medium-hot electric burner. Char, turning, until the edges are slightly blackened and the ginger is fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes. Char the onions in the same way until blackened. Peel and discard the blackened skin of the ginger and onions, then rinse and set aside.

In a large stockpot, bring the water to a boil.

Meanwhile, place the bones and beef chuck in a second large pot and add water to cover. Bring the bones and chuck to a boil and boil vigorously for 5 minutes. (This cleans the bones and meat and reduces impurities that can cloud the broth.)

Using tongs, carefully transfer the bones and beef to the first pot of boiling water. (Discard the water in which the meat was cooked.) When the water in the first pot returns to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook 5 to 10 minutes, skimming the surface often to remove any foam and fat until the broth is clear. Add the charred ginger and onions, soy sauce, and sugar. Simmer until the chuck is tender, about 40 minutes.

Remove 1 piece of the chuck from the simmering broth and submerge it in cool water for 10 minutes. (This prevents the meat from darkening and drying out.) Drain, transfer the chuck to a plate, cover with foil, and set aside.

Add the salt and continue to simmer the broth, skimming as necessary, for at least 1 hour.

Place the star anise and cloves in a spice bag, or secure them in a piece of cheesecloth. When the broth has been simmering about 1 hour, add the spices. Let the spices infuse the broth until it’s fragrant, simmering about 30 minutes more. Remove and discard the spice bag.

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Remove the pot from the heat and add the noodles. Let stand until the noodles are tender-firm, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well and rinse under cold water. Cover and set aside.

To serve, heat 8 soup bowls by stacking them in the oven at its lowest temperature (wear oven mitts when handling the hot bowls) or by pouring boiling water into them, then drying them well. Slice the reserved chuck thinly with the grain and shred with your fingers. Slice the partially frozen sirloin against the grain into paper-thin slices. Place the garnishes of sprouts, herbs, chiles, and lime wedges in small serving bowls.

Place the cooked noodles in the bowls. Divide the shredded chuck among the bowls and top with the raw sirloin. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and ladle 2 to 3 cups into each bowl. The broth will cook the raw beef instantly. Garnish with the sliced onion, scallions, and cilantro. Serve immediately, inviting guests to garnish the soup with the bean sprouts, herbs, chiles, squeezes of lime juice, and grindings of black pepper.