Rouxbe Cooking School Series: fun with pho, part 1 of 2
3 Comments
Karen Hamilton
July 25, 2009
As the end of my Rouxbe cooking school membership approached, an irresistible recipe for pho cropped up to test my newly acquired broth-making skills. I am a fiend for pho, but to date, I’ve been more than willing to commute to East Vancouver and fork out $6 for a bowl that has been made with mastery. (Indeed, pho is one of the few things that will cause me to drive anywhere – I prefer to walk.)
Until Rouxbe stepped up to the plate, Tiny Bites contributor Bruce Nguyen had been my go-to person for learning how to cook Vietnamese fare. He guided me through the process of making rice paper rolls during April’s Social Bites dinner, and has described his preferred ratios for the ideal nuoc cham over many a meal together (one of these days, I must remember to write it down!).
Now that Bruce has shared his family’s pho recipe, let’s see whether Rouxbe’s version passes for the real deal. The guinea pigs: my husband, the Tiny Bites team, and the various blogathoners that volunteer their mouths here at The Workspace.
The Rouxbe recipe
Head on over to Rouxbe and take a gander at their pho recipe. Before you attempt either of the pho recipes we’ve presented, I highly suggest that you sign up for a trial run of Rouxbe’s cooking school and get yourself brushed up on stock and broth 101. Don’t worry – it’s free.
- Sign up for an extended 60-day free trial care of Tiny Bites
- Brush up on your stock basics
- Learn how to make an outstanding broth
- Skip straight to the recipe
My cooking commentary
I posted all my live cooking notes on Twitter, so here it is for your reviewing pleasure:
- Tossed beef bones, beef ribs, and oxtail into a 20 quart stock pot. Covered in cold water to blanch over med-high heat.
- Wow, this aluminum stock pot gets super hot! Definitely need oven mitts before touching those handles again.
- 1hr later: stock pot still hasn’t come to a boil. Upped the temp to maximum heat. Started on onion, ginger prep while I wait.
- Water at a boil. Transferring meat to next size pot in order to pour blanching water out. Trying not to burn myself.
- Stock pot insides lined with goop. Husband donned oven mitts to scrub it out in sink before we start the proper broth.
- 10″ of ginger peeled. 4 large onions peeled and quartered. Put under broiler on high to char.
- Meat returned to cleaned stock pot and filled with ~12 quarts of cold water. Bringing back up to a simmer.
- Cut off blackened bits of broiled onions + ginger and sliced ‘em. Setting out cinnamon, cloves, garlic, peppercorn, star anise.
- 12 quarts of water in stock pot. That means correct salt ratio would be 1/4 tsp x 12 quarts water = 3 teaspoons.
- Broth made ~10qts. Seasoned 8 quarts of it with 8 tablespoons of fish sauce, 4 teaspoons of sugar, tasting after every 2 tablespoon / 1 teaspoon addition, respectively.
- The broth is most of the work – adding the garnish and putting the pho together is almost an afterthought.
In short: the recipe was easy to follow, required little babysitting, and makes a ton for your freezer if you’re willing to dedicate an evening for broth-making every now and then.
The verdict? Keep an eye out for Part 2!
Check back later to see what our taste testers at The Workspace say about this pho.
Giveaway alert: premium access to Rouxbe.com
Anyone that has donated to our fundraiser to date was entered for this unannounced prize: a 1-year premium membership to Rouxbe’s online cooking school.
Please help us congratulate Mojgan for winning this sponsored membership from Rouxbe!
Are you sad that you didn’t win? Don’t worry – we have one more Rouxbe membership to give away tonight and another is part of the Tiny Bites Grand Prize. If you haven’t donated yet, you still have time to earn chances to win.
Categories: Blogging for Social Change, Culinary Resources, Dinner, Food, Recipes, Savoury
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Articles by Karen Hamilton
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