This dish is not for the average eater. We love this dish, but some (aka many) people don’t, even though it is the most sent back dish in the history of Starry Kitchen even after I warn them about the funk of (super umami good) dried shrimp. Like I said, not for the average eater, but for those in the know . . . it’s not even that funky (it gets way funkier than this in Asia! ha-ha).
2–4 SERVINGS
1⅓ tablespoons minced lemongrass
¾ ounce dried shrimp
¾ heaping teaspoon minced garlic
1 cup Superconcentrated Cantonese Chicken Stock
7 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons Coco Rico brand soda
¾ heaping tablespoon creamy peanut butter
6 heaping tablespoons satay (aka sate) sauce
1 teaspoon chicken bouillon (optional)
6 ounces thin pho or rice noodles*
¼ pound ribeye steak, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and pepper
GARNISHES:
2.2 ounces (approximately 2–3 leaves) green leaf lettuce chiffonade
2 tablespoons mint chiffonade
⅓ Persian cucumber, julienned
¼ tomato, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons sesame leaves chiffonade (optional)
Fresh cracked black pepper
¼ lime
BALLS OUT
40–80 SERVINGS
1⅔ cups minced lemongrass
15 ounces dried shrimp
1 cup minced garlic
5 quarts Superconcentrated Cantonese Chicken Stock
8¾ cups water
7½ cups Coco Rico brand soda
1 cup creamy peanut butter
7½ cups satay (aka sate) sauce
6⅔ tablespoons chicken bouillon (optional)
7½ pounds pho or rice noodles*
5 pounds ribeye steak, thinly sliced
Kosher salt and pepper
GARNISHES:
2¾ pounds green leaf lettuce chiffonade
2½ cups mint chiffonade
6⅔ Persian cucumbers, julienned
5 tomatoes, thinly sliced
2½ cups sesame leaves chiffonade (optional)
Fresh cracked black pepper
5 whole limes
1. Heat pan/wok with a lil’ cooking oil over medium-high heat. With the fervor of an underground chef, sauté and brown the lemongrass, dried shrimp, and garlic, in that order, adding each ingredient after the previous one is finished. Smell the aroma. Take it all in, and transfer your aromatics to a pot. Add chicken stock, water, Coco Rico soda, peanut butter, and satay sauce to that same pot. Mix well, bring to a boil over high heat. Taste, and season accordingly with chicken bouillon as you see fit and remove from heat once it boils.
2. Next, in a separate pot, over high heat boil enough water for your noodles. Once it’s at a rolling boil, drop in noodles; start timing the moment they hit the water to track the ideal cook time for the noodles you’re using. Parboiled refrigerated pho noodles, our preferred noodle and the kind most pho shops use, take about 2 minutes to boil and get them nice and al dente.
3. Once the noodles are finished, rinse in a colander under cold water to get all the starch off. Shake off excess liquid and arrange in a bowl.
4. Heat pan/wok with some oil over medium-high heat. Lightly season beef with salt and pepper before cooking. When oil starts to lightly smoke, throw in your meat and give both sides a quick sear, but make sure you cook to medium rare. Place on top of noodles.
Over high heat, boil satay broth. Pour hot satay sauce all over those meatsies to cook them through a little more. Garnish in this order: lettuce, mint, cucumbers, tomatoes, sesame leaves, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Squeeze some lime over all of it, mix it all up, and enjoy . . . the funk!
Because there are SO many variations on pho noodles—dry, fresh, wide, medium, thin—the ideal cooking time always varies. But here’s the trick. Take the recommendation on the packaging and subtract a minute. When you hit that mark, keep trying the noodles every 30 seconds until you get that perfect al dente bite. That’s your time. Mark it down for future reference, so you don’t have to test the noodles every time you prepare them.
* I prefer thinner noodles because you can get all the layers in your mouth, which gives you an amazing texture while you chew. Lots of people like thick rice noodles, and if that’s what floats yer boat, who are we to judge?!