Info
- Cook time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Total time: 73 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 5
Ingredients
Beef Short Ribs (Sous-Vide)
- 4 beef short ribs
- Salt and ground pepper
- 8 tablespoons pho fat, or a neutral or olive oil, or butter, plus extra for searing
Pho-Style Pot au Feu Broth
- 5 pounds beef bones
- 2 large yellow onions, charred (see Cook's Note)
- One 10-inch piece fresh ginger, charred (see Cook's Note)
- 1 teaspoon star anise, toasted (see Cook's Note)
- 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds (about 1 seed), toasted (see Cook's Note)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon stick, toasted (see Cook's Note)
- 1 teaspoon cloves, toasted (see Cook's Note)
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted (see Cook's Note)
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted (see Cook's Note)
- Rock sugar, granulated sugar, salt, fish sauce (optional) and MSG (optional), for seasoning
- 5 pounds rice noodles or pho noodles (see Cook's Note)
- Suggested accompaniments: fresh basil, bean sprouts, thinly sliced onion, green onion, cilantro, hoisin sauce, sriracha, lime, ground black pepper, fresh chile or jalapeño
Instructions
- Prepare the short ribs for sous-vide. Set a sous-vide circulator to 58°C (136°F) in a water bucket holding roughly 6 liters. Rinse the short ribs, dry them, and season with salt and pepper. Get a pan smoking hot, add some fat, and sear the ribs on every side. Let them cool. Place the ribs in a vacuum bag with the fat, then seal with a vacuum sealer. Submerge the sealed bag in the water bath and cover the bucket with foil or a cloth so evaporation doesn't drain the water level too much. Cook sous-vide for 72 hours.
- Start the broth. While the ribs cook, rinse the beef bones and put them in a pot of water. Bring to a boil — this blanching step removes blood and impurities. Lift out the bones and rinse them well to remove anything clinging to them. Return the blanched bones to a clean pot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Skim off impurities, then reduce to a low simmer. Add the charred onions and ginger, put the toasted spices in a spice bag and add it to the pot. Simmer for 24 hours.
- Strain and season. Turn off the heat. Use a strainer to lift out the bones, spice bag, onions and ginger, then strain the broth through a fine sieve. Season with rock sugar, granulated sugar, salt, fish sauce and MSG, if using.
- Cook the noodles. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the pho noodles and cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Drain and set aside.
- Finish the ribs. Take the ribs out of the vacuum bag and pat them dry. Season on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat a pan over medium-high heat, add fat, and sear the ribs on one side. Remove and rest for 7 minutes, then slice.
- Assemble and serve. In each bowl, put the cooked noodles, sliced short ribs, bean sprouts, basil, onions, cilantro, green onion and freshly ground pepper. Bring the broth to a boil and ladle it over the bowl. Serve with jalapeño, lime, hoisin sauce and sriracha on the side. Bon appétit.
Notes
To save time, store-bought rice noodles are recommended, ideally fresh ones. Dry noodles need to be soaked in water until softened before use. To char the onion and ginger, heat the oven to 450°F (232°C) and bake until browned. To toast the spices, put them in a dry pan over medium heat and keep tossing so they toast evenly; once they begin to smoke, turn off the heat. Searing the ribs before they go into the vacuum bag deepens their flavor through the Maillard reaction, the stage in which protein browns. The broth starts at 6 liters but reduces to about 5 liters over the 24-hour cook. If it reduces too far, add water as needed to keep at least 5 liters of finished broth. Once you're comfortable making pho, try adding other beef cuts — brisket, beef balls, tripe, tendon and the like — for a deeper, bolder broth.
