Recipe Category: Beef
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Ingredients
SERVES 4 – Cooker: 6- to 8-quart – Time: 60 minutes at HIGH pressure
Pho Stock
- 3 pounds cross-cut meaty beef marrow bones (ask the butcher to cut into 2-inch pieces, knuckle bones, and shin bones, cracked (a mixture is best)
- 1 package Vietnamese pho spices (or 2 cinnamon sticks, 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 3 star anise pods, 3 cloves, and 1 black cardamom pod) OR 3 star anise pods, 1 cinnamon stick, and 4 cloves
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium white onion, cut in half
- 1 (4- to 5-inch) knob fresh ginger, sliced
- 8 cups water
- 2½ tablespoons Asian fish sauce or soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 to 2 tablespoons organic beef Better Than Bouillon (optional) or salt to taste
PHO BOWLS
- 12 ounces extra thin (1/16- to ¼-inch-wide) fresh rice noodles (banh pho tuoi; also labeled Pad Thai noodles), dried banh pho rice sticks, linguine, or fettuccine
- ½ pound flank steak, London broil, or eye of round steak, sliced as thin as possible, across the grain
FOR SERVING
- 2 limes, cut into wedges
- sprigs fresh cilantro, basil (preferably Thai basil), and mint.
- 1 bunch green onions (white part and some of the green), thinly sliced
- 2 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced
- 2 big handfuls mung bean sprouts
- 1 bunch watercress
- hoisin sauce.
- sriracha hot chili sauce.
Method
- Bring a large stockpot with water to a rolling boil over high heat
- Add the beef bones and boil vigorously for 10 minutes
- In the meantime, heat a heavy skillet on medium-low heat
- Add the pho spices and toast, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes
- Dump the spices into a 6- to 8-quart pressure cooker
- Return the skillet to medium-high heat and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil
- When the oil is hot, add the onion halves and ginger slices
- Cook until the ginger is browned on both sides and the onion halves are browned and softened
- Add the ginger and the onion to the pressure cooker pot
- Add the short ribs to the skillet and brown on all sides
- Add to the pot
- When the bones have been boiled, drain, discarding the water, and rinse bones briefly to clean them
- Add the bones to the pressure cooker
- Fill with fresh water to just cover; add the fish sauce and sugar
- Close and lock the lid
- Set the burner heat to high
- When the cooker reaches HIGH pressure, reduce the burner heat as low as you can and still maintain HIGH pressure
- Set a timer to cook for 60 minutes
- Remove the pot from the heat
- Open the cooker with the Natural Release method; let stand for 20 minutes
- Be careful of the steam as you remove the lid
- Set a large colander lined with a double layer of cheesecloth over a large bowl and pour the broth through to strain
- Press on the solids to extract all the liquid
- Discard the solids
- Stir in the Better Than Bouillon, if using, for a richer beef flavor
- Taste and season with salt or additional fish sauce, if needed
- The pho broth is ready
- If using right away, keep at a simmer or cool to lukewarm, cover, and refrigerate overnight or up to 5 days (or freeze up to 3 months)
- When you are ready to eat, bring a pot of water to a boil
- The fresh rice noodles come folded over in coils and can stick mercilessly
- If yours are stuck together, place the block of noodles on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on HIGH for 90 seconds, then at 15-second intervals until you can separate the outer layer, then, after a few more bursts, easily separate the noodles
- It will take about 2½ to 3 minutes
- Cut in half if desired
- Add the fresh noodles to the boiling water and boil just to soften to al dente-as few as 10 seconds or up to a minute
- If using dried noodles, soak them in hot tap water for 10 to 20 minutes before a quick cook to al dente stage in the boiling water
- Drain in a colander and rinse immediately with hot water
- Line up 4 large soup bowls
- Arrange a plate with the lime wedges, fresh herbs, green onions, jalapeno chile slices, bean sprouts, and watercress on the table
- Distribute the noodles and thin steak slices evenly among the bowls
- Ladle the hot pho stock into each bowl
- The hot stock will immediately cook the thin steak slices
- Serve immediately with the hoisin sauce and Sriracha hot chili sauce
- -Add water or broth to at least cover the solid ingredients for the proper consistency
- The vegetables in the soup will cook and add their liquid as well
- -Do not fill the pot more than two-thirds full; you need to leave room for the steam that will be created
- This means all the ingredients, including the liquid
- If you have added lots of leafy greens, which will cook down to a fraction of their size, place a metal pot lid with metal handle on top to weight down the greens to keep the two-thirds head space
- -The temperature of the liquid when you lock the lid doesn’t matter
- -Use herbs and spices sparingly at the beginning of the cook time and always taste for the seasonings at the end of cooking
- -If you like, you can initially sweat some of the vegetables, such as onions and garlic, in butter or oil before locking the lid
- -To puree soups, use a handheld immersion blender, taking care not to hit the side of the pot with it, or carefully transfer in batches to a food processor and pulse
- -As easy as it is to prepare soups in the pressure cooker, it is important not to overcook them
- If you do, the flavor of your ingredients could become a murky mess
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