Vietnamese Noodle Soup

Pho

As Hieu Nguyen from Dalat, Vietnam, taught Lindsay Sterling, in Falmouth, ME July 2013

Note: Hieu gets the fresh herbs, bean sprouts, fresh ginger, fish sauce, spices, chilis, limes, rice noodles, packets of pre-mixed pho seasonings, and even Pho serving dishes (super large bowls) at Veranda Asian Market in Portland, Maine, 695 Forest Avenue, Portland, ME, 207-874-8001, (open daily 9am-9pm). Look for an Asian market near you and go - it's a great experience. 

Makes: 8 servings
Cooking Time: 3-4 hours, with a lot of inactive time

Ingredients

 For the marinade:

• 3 cloves garlic
• 2" ginger
• 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp fish sauce (he prefers Viet Huong brand)

For the broth:

• 1 whole chicken
• 2" ginger (okay to leave skin on)
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp salt
• 2-4 Tbsp fish sauce (he prefers Viet Huong brand)
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 3 cinnamon sticks (3" inches each)
• 10 whole cardamon pods
• 20 whole cloves
• 6 whole star anise
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 1/3rds
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled
• 16 oz. chicken broth

For the soup:

• 24 oz. rice noodles (1/4" wide)
• 1 bag (about 4 cups) fresh mung bean sprouts*
• 1 bunch Thai basil
• 1 bunch culantro
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 6-12 red Thai chilis
• 1 lime
• 4 scallions
• Hoisin sauce (if you are gluten free, please check the label or avoid)
• Sriracha sauce

Equipment:

• stainless steal spice ball (for infusing herbs in broth) or cheese cloth and string*
• sharp boning knife
• large cutting board
• 2 medium bowls
• 1 large soup pot or stock pot
• small handheld mesh strainer and small bowl
• large colander for noodles
• 8 larger-than-normal, pho-style bowls with base plates*
• 8 large, flat-bottomed spoons*
• 8 pairs chopsticks*

Instructions

1. Marinate the meat.

Rough chop garlic and 2" of the ginger. Put in a medium bowl. Take skin off whole chicken using a boning knife. Carve meat off the bones (breasts, legs, thighs and back muscles), trimming all fat off as you see it, and place meat in the bowl with the ginger and garlic, and the bones in a stock pot. Mix 1/2 Tbsp sugar, 1/4 Tbsp salt, and 1 Tbsp fish sauce into chicken meat with hands. Wash hands. Discard all chicken fat and skin. Wash cutting board and anything that touched the raw chicken. Cover chicken and let marinate.

2. Make the stock.

Place bones in a large soup pot or stock pot.  Cover chicken bones with cold water by 2-3 inches and turn on medium. Add 16 oz. chicken stock, 2 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 Tbsp salt, and 4 Tbsp fish sauce. Enclose black pepper, cumin, clove, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon in a cheese cloth or a stainless steel spice ball. Roast whole onion and ginger over bare stove flame until ginger skin is black and onion is steaming and put both broth. Once broth begins to steam, turn heat to low. Don't let the broth boil or simmer at all. Once the broth has been steaming for about 20 minutes, swipe a handheld mesh strainer through the top three inches of broth, removing particulate matter and any oil. Discard the contents of the strainer and run it upside down under water as necessary to clean. The goal in the end is to have a clear broth, which is achieved by getting rid of floating particles and oil, and never boiling the broth. Repeat this process about every ten minutes over the course of an hour and a half to achieve clear broth. If you have oil on the top, skim off with large flat spoon.

3. Prep the fresh toppings.

Wash the bean sprouts, all the fresh herbs, lime and chilis. Dry with paper towels and place each on separate plates. Slice the lime into 8 wedges and then slice the wedges across into half wedges so you have 16 pieces.

4. Cook the chicken.

After the stock has been cooking for about an hour and a half, remove the ginger, onion, carrot, spices and bones. Slowly submerge the marinating chicken into the hot broth. Cook for 13 minutes, remove chicken and place in a clean bowl to drain and cool. Send the hand held strainer through the broth 4 or 5 times to get the ginger and garlic chunks out. Slice the chicken into 1/4 inch slices and put on serving plate(s).

5. Make the noodles. 

Bring a full large pot of water to a boil (for cooking rice noodles). Add rice noodles to boiling water and cook for 8 minutes. Strain and run cold water over them so they don't stick together as much when they're cool.

6. Assemble the bowls. First put rice noodles in the bowl, then 4-5 pieces of chicken, sprinkle on sliced scallions. Ladle on broth so the noodles and chicken are surrounded. Pick leaves off Thai basil and cilantro leaves from stems. Add about 4 of each to each bowl. Break culantro leaf into 1 inch long pieces, and add to soup. Add a mountain of bean sprouts on top. Squeeze lime over top. Serve with fresh whole Thai chili on the side.

7. Finish each bowl at the table. Diners squirt generous squiggles of Sriracha and Hoisin sauces on top of his or her bowl of pho. Before eating, toss the contents of the bowl with the chopsticks in one hand and flat-bottomed spoon in the other as you would a salad. Use chopsticks to help load up the flat-bottomed spoon, and go ahead and slurp the contents of the spoon and juice into your mouth. Take a nibble of the Thai chili (one of the hotter chilis in the world). When all you have is broth left, it's okay to lift your bowl to your mouth to sip the rest.

Cambodian Curry Stew

These all get ground up int the curry paste

Makara and her mom keep a kaffir lime plant in their living room so they can pick fresh leaves when they need them.

This is what a banana flower looks like.

You can slice it thinly with a knife...

Or a mandolin.

This is shaved green or unripe papaya on the left and the shaved banana flower on the right.

Makara, her mom, and her friends cooked a giant pot of stew for a huge party on a propane stove. I adapted the recipe for 10 people. 

Here's what the stew looks like without the toppings on it yet. It's such a gorgeous color from the blended rehydrated chili peppers. 

Here's how Makara likes her bowl of stew - topped with tons of fresh fixings. 

Some Law

As Makara Meng, her mother, An I, and two Cambodian friends, Saran Svay and Mom Hoeung, taught Lindsay Sterling in South Portland, Maine. Photo of ingredients by Tim Greenway. Other photos by Lindsay Sterling.

Serves: 10
Cooking time: 45 minutes - 2 hours

Notes:

Making a fresh curry paste from scratch makes this stew come alive with flavor. If you don't have time for that, you can substitute 8 oz canned or jarred Thai or Cambodian red curry paste instead of making your own and have dinner ready in about 45 minutes.

Blending fresh lemongrass into the curry paste puts quite a load on the average blender or food processor. If you do not have a powerful machine such as Vitamix or high-powered food processor, I recommend steeping segments of lemongrass in the stew rather than blending it into the curry paste. You can also find frozen, finely chopped lemongrass in Asian markets which is much easier on the blender.

Adjust the spice level of your stew to your guests' liking by adding more or fewer chili peppers. I would use a quarter of a birds-eye or Thai chili pepper (the red ones above) per serving for a mildly spicy stew, half of a chili pepper per serving for medium spice level, or a whole pepper per serving for extra hot. Guests can also up the spice level of their own bowls by adding sliced fresh chili as a topping.

If you are eating gluten-free, simply add cooked rice noodles to your bowls of stew instead of serving it with sliced baguette.

Ingredients

For homemade Cambodian curry paste:

• 10 4-6 inch long dried chili peppers (mildly spicy if at all; these are for the red color mostly)
• 4 stems fresh lemongrass or 6 oz. frozen chopped lemongrass
• 10 shallots
• 1 6-inch piece of galangal root (may substitute fresh ginger root)
• 2 heads garlic
• 5-10 fresh, red birds-eye or red Thai chili peppers or 1 habanero
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 Tbsp cumin seeds
• 3 green cardamon pods (may substitute 1 tsp cardamon powder)
• 20 fresh kaffir lime leaves (you may do without but try to find them at Asian market - they are fabulous)
• 2 Tbsp salt
• 1/4 cup sugar

For stew:

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cans coconut milk
• 1 cup Cambodian red curry paste (recipe above) 
• 5 lb bone-in chicken pieces
• 1 tsp chicken bouillon (she used "Flavor Broth Mix" Dragonfly brand; I like Better than Bouillon)
• 2 sweet potatoes or yams
• 1/2 lb green beans
• 1 eggplant
• 1 yellow onion
• sugar to taste
• salte to taste
• 1-2 baguettes or cooked rice noodles (if gluten free use rice noodles)
• 4 kaffir lime leaves

Fresh toppings (all optional):

• fresh mung bean sprouts
• cucumber strips
• mint leaves
• cilantro leaves
• banana flower
• 1 lime
• green or hard, unripe papaya
• 1-2 birds-eye or Thai chilis

Instructions

1. Prep ingredients. Soak dried chili peppers in hot water to soften. If using whole fresh lemongrass, whack it all over with the flat side of a chef knife to release its flavorful oils. Slice into 4-6 inch segments (for steeping in your stew broth) or shave finely (for adding to the blender and turning into curry paste). If using frozen chopped lemongrass, thaw the package in bowl of hot water. Peel shallots. Peel galangal or ginger and cut into 1/2 inch chunks. Peel two heads garlic. Slice stems off chili peppers (use knife and fork so you don't touch the chilis or wash your hands after handling to avoid accidentally touching your eye or nose area with chili oil on your fingers.) Toast cumin, coriander, and cardamon for 30 seconds in a small, dry, saute pan to release the flavors. Cut 20 fresh kaffir lime leaves into thick strips, reserving 4 whole leaves for garnish later. 

2. Make the curry paste. Discard the dried chili stems and seeds and put the softened flesh in high-powered food processor or heavy duty blender such as a Vitamix. Add all the ingredients "for curry paste" into the blender.  Add enough water to get the ingredients moving. Blend until you have a thick red paste - don't worry about getting it super smooth. 

3. Start the stew. Put a teapot of water on high. Trim the fat and skin off the chicken. Wash your hands after touching raw chicken. In a large pot on medium heat, cook the curry paste and whole lemongrass segments, if using, in oil for two minutes. Add coconut milk, chicken bouillon, and bring to a boil. Add chicken and enough hot water from the tea pot to cover the chicken with liquid by 2 inches. Stir to combine. Cook on medium high until the chicken is opaque throughout (about 25 minutes). While that cooks, clean up your workstation - wash all cutting boards, utensils and hands that touched raw chicken.

For gluten-free version: put a pot of water on to boil. Add rice noodles. Boil for 1-3 minutes or recommended cooking time on package. Strain and rinse with cold water. 

4. Prepare final stew ingredients and toppings. Peel and cut sweet potatoes/yams, eggplant, and onion into bite size pieces. Wash and trim ends of green beans. Cover mung bean sprouts in fresh water, strain, and repeat two times. Peel and cut cucumber into thin strips. Wash mint and cilantro, and pick the leaves off the stems. Shave the banana flower across the flower bud with a mandolin or knife and soak the round slivers in water with lime juice, which helps keep the color. Peel papaya and use a wavy-edged peeler, mandolin, or box grater to make thin strips. Thinly slice 1-2 more birds-eye chilis crosswise so guests who like spicier food can add more heat to their own bowls. Slice remaining kaffir lime leaves into the thinnest slivers possible. Slice baguette(s) if using into thin slices.

5. Finish the stew. Once the chicken is cooked throughout, add the sweet potato/yam. After five minutes add the eggplant, onions and green beans. Turn off the heat after about 4 minutes - before the vegetables get too soft. (The vegetables will keep cooking in the hot stew long after you turn the heat off.) Taste the sauce. Could it use more salt or sugar? Adjust as you like. Sprinkle fine slivers of kaffir lime on top. When vegetables are just cooked, serve Cambodian curry stew in large bowls. Pile on fresh toppings and serve with sliced baguette. For a gluten free version, skip the baguette, add rice noodles to stew and top with fresh toppings.