Over the past month, Don and I have been on assignment for the Apartment 613 blog, putting together a pho round up. Our "A Pho Study: 5 Takes On Ottawa Pho" was posted today.

With Ottawa having so many pho noodle houses, we decided to visit several we have not yet eaten at.

A Pho Study: 5 Takes on Ottawa Pho
Though, we could not write a pho round up without including our favourite, Pho Thu Do in Ottawa's Chinatown.

Happily, we found two pho noodle houses that had us re-evaluate our Top 5 list for Ottawa. It follows:

1. Pho Thu Do - 765 Somerset Street W.
2. Springroll House Cafe - 1093 Wellington Street W.
3. New Pho Bo Ga La - 763 Somerset Street W.
4. Pho Bo Ga King - 778 Somerset Street W.
5. Pho Bo Ga (the original) - 12 Lebreton Street N.

To Apartment613's staff and editors, thanks for letting us contribute to your blog. We look forward to working with you again sometime!

To our readers, take a gander at Apartment 613. It is a great blog!

Saturday, the Ottawa Citizen (a local newspaper) reported certain foods manufactured and distributed in Canada by the ironically named "Basic Food Flavors Inc" have been voluntarily recalled. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the products have been implicated in the North American-wide recall of pre-packaged and processed foods because of potential salmonella contamination. The products, which include chicken flavoured soup mixes and instant chicken noodle soup, were manufactured with contaminated hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) ingredients. This is the same batch of HVP ingredients that has been causing recalls since mid-February. HVP is a common flavour enhancer in pre-packaged and processed foods.

Several weeks ago, a food blogger asked twitter, what pantry ingredients do you stockpile, but have a difficult time using up. For me and Jenn, we seem to stockpile soup mix packets from packages of instant ramen noodles. The pile just gathers as we never seem to tear into the aluminium foil packets to make a quick bowl of soup noodles. I find the mixes too artificially flavoured. Jenn finds them too salty.

Instead, we have batches of stock in the freezer. Some are pork. Others, chicken, pork and chicken, and beef. We also have cartons of low sodium chicken and beef broth in the pantry. Lately, we have been making pho broth. Currently, we have a pho-style turkey broth in the freezer. Here is a cook's meal we made from a pho-style pork and chicken broth.

The broth was made by placing 3 lb's of pork and chicken bones into a pot of cold water, bringing it up to a boil on medium heat, and boiling it for 30 minutes. Then, the cooking liquid was discarded and the bones rinsed. Finally, the bones were placed in a slow cooker with an onion studded with a dozen whole cloves, 3 garlic cloves, 1 tbsp whole black pepper corns, a stick of cinnamon, a pinch of salt, 2 pieces of star anise, and enough water to cover the bones. Everything was brought to a simmer on high and switched to low to barely simmer for 3-4 hours. We usually make broth overnight, letting it cool before putting it into the fridge. This way, we can de-fat the stock easily.

To finish, we re-heated the pho-style broth, strained it, diluted it to taste with water, and flavoured it with fish sauce. Regarding the fish sauce, be conservative with it. While delivering umami, it is very salty.

Here is our meal from the following day after we packaged some broth to freeze:

Instant Ramen, Shredded Meat from the Soup Bones, Sweated Sweet Onions, Chili Flake

Finished Pho-Style Broth, being Re-Heated

Pho-Style Broth Should be Clear

Dinner

For more European-style chicken stock, I invite you to visit friend, local Ottawa food blogger, and former restaurant line cook Jodi's (@simplyfresh) blog, Simply Fresh. There, she explains how to make chicken stock, using roasted chicken bones and mirepoix vegetables (2 parts by mass carrots to onion and celery). An in-home cooking teacher, she even put up a YouTube video.

Several weeks ago, Eleanor Hoh (@wokstar) started sending good #ff tweets to a number of her followers she feels are fanatic about pho. A #ff is a weekly ritual whereby you highlight, via a hashtag, tweeps you recommend others follow. foodiePrints' twitter account (@foodieprints) was one of the tweeps she included.

As the Apartment 613 blog recently confirmed, we at foodiePrints are rather pho obsessed. Practical, low cost, and satisfying, Ottawa is blessed with a large number of Pho houses. We have eaten so many fine bowls of pho we have actually developed a list of characteristics to look for.

So, it was with great pleasure I accepted Eleanor's challenge to join a number of food bloggers, make a bowl of pho, and mass post an entry into the food community of the blogosphere by March 20, 2010. Do check Eleanor's blog, Be a Work Star, for a list of blog posts.

For our contribution, we decided to attempt a lamb pho. However, we borrowed aspects from French cookery to make it: salting (curing) and searing the meat before simmering. What resulted, while borrowing aspects of the traditional pho flavour profile, was not pho. Why? The broth did not taste as clean as a pho broth should. The broth was not clear. And, the broth was overly rich, carrying too much lamb flavour.

A Bowl of Lamb Faux Pho

Overly Rich Broth
However, it was a good bowl of noodle soup.

Here's how we made it.

Broth:
We took approximately 1.5 kg (3 lb) of lamb bones with a good deal of meat on them.

Lamb Bones
We seasoned them with kosher salt and placed them on a rack set in a plastic tray. Then, we placed the tray in the fridge, covering it with plastic wrap, for 2 hours.

Lamb Curing
The idea was to draw out liquid and concentrate flavour.

To flavour the broth, we took two small onions, halved them, and impaled each half with 5-6 whole cloves. We placed each half into a slow cooker and added a tbsp of black peppercorns, a dash of kosher salt, an inch of ginger (sliced), and the peeled and separated cloves of one head of garlic.

Gathering Flavourants

After 2 hours curing, we dried the lamb pieces and seared them in a well oiled metal bottomed pan, set to medium heat on a stovetop (2 minutes/side).

Lamb Searing

Lamb Seared
With so many pieces of lamb, we worked in batches. Every time we finished with a batch, we de-glazed the pan with a splash or two of water, scraping the fond, and added the liquid to the slow cooker.

Most Asian soups (broths or stock) are characteristically flavourful, but clean in taste and visually clear. This is usually accomplished by pre-simmering soup bones and/or meat for thirty minutes to an hour, dumping out the cooking liquid, and rising everything. I have always been told this "cooked out impurities." Impurities or no, the process largely eliminates the scum (protein foam, blood, and marrow) that floats to the top of a simmering broth or stock. Left in, the scum tends to cloud a soup. This is why culinary students are taught how to "clarify" broths or stocks with an egg whites. Post-simmering, a broth or stock can also be clarified with agar agar and a centrifuge, but I digress.

For this batch of broth, we filled the slow cooker pot to just above the bones and brought everything to a boil on high, boiling it for 5 minutes.

To be Broth being Brought up to a Boil
Afterward, we let the mixture cool to barely simmering and simmered the mixture on low for 3 hours. During the first hour, I checked the broth every 20 minutes to skim off the scum.

We then placed the entire pot into the fridge so the fat can setup on top and be lifted off. After straining and re-heating, we produced a rich broth that tasted very strongly of lamb. In the background were the typical pho broth flavours.

Done
To finish it, we diluted the broth with water and seasoned it with fish sauce to taste.

Faux Pho:
To serve, we plated bowls with fresh pho rice noodles, "as fresh as we could find" bean sprouts, cilantro leaves, lime juice, and soup beef balls (from frozen).

Clockwise from Left: bean sprouts, noodles, cilantro

Fresh as we Could find Bean Sprouts
If you have ever ordered beef balls with your pho in a decent pho noodle house, you were most likely served heavily processed beef, shaped into balls, that had a strangely chewy texture. These beef balls are sold in many Asian markets in the frozen section.

Soup Beef Balls
While we went with the frozen option, I have made soup beef balls from scratch before with very finely food processor processed beef, chestnut powder, rice starch, and a little baking soda.

If you come across comments condemning pho noodle houses for serving "artificial beef" with their pho. The soup beef balls are likely what they felt was off-putting.

Here is our accompaniment plate:

Accompaniment Plate

More after the jump...

In December, the Hintonburg Supper Club held its monthly dinner event at Pho Van Van (93 Holland Avenue), a neighbourhood Pho noodle house. Interestingly, of the three long tables we occupied in the restaurant's second floor dining room, only three people ordered bowls of pho (beef or chicken), Jenn and I ordering our "usual"'s. She, a medium-sized bowl of pho bo, topped with beef, beef tendon and beef balls ($7.50). Me, a medium-sized bowl of pho bo, topped with beef, beef tendon, tripe, and beef balls ($7.50).

While Pho Van Van is no longer in our top 5 list of Pho noodle houses in Ottawa, it still serves up a decent bowl of pho bo (beef) and, as we hear, pho ga (chicken). That is, along with much more, as other supper club member demonstrated that evening.

Appetizer-wise, Pho Van Van's menu includes pho noodle house staples like Vietnamese salad rolls (Goi Cuon Tom Thit), salad rolls with shrimp or chicken (Goi Cuon Tom Hoac Ga); deep fried squid, shrimp, and chicken wings; and deep fried spring rolls. More exotic is grilled quail ($7.50/pair).

The quail comes quartered on a bed of iceberg lettuce and two sauces (lemon/pepper and a sweet chili). Curious, we first ordered the appetizer in 2007.

Grilled Quail Quarters
Demonstrating consistency, here is grilled quail we ordered this past summer (2009),

Grilled Quail Quarters
The quail tasted marinated, seasoned throughout. The meat was never dry, but it took some finesse to work with the quails' tiny bones. The sauces were great accompaniments.

Noodle-wise, Pho Van Van's menu includes another pho noodle house staple and alternative to pho, Vietnamese vermicelli noodles (Bun). Served dry and topped with a variety of toppings, bun comes with a portion of fish sauce to mix in, moisten, and season the vermicelli noodles. At Pho Van Van we have tried the grilled chicken with spring roll vermicelli ($7.50)

Grilled Chicken Bun with Spring Roll Served

Grilled Chicken Bun with Spring Roll Mixed and Ready to Eat
Please note that if not enough fish sauce is provided, you can ask for more without additional charge. I know of two people who eat bun dry.

Unlike some Pho noodle houses, Pho Van Van also serves up rice platters and chow mein (a more Chinese-style dish). Wanting a change from pho, Jenn ordered the chicken "crispy noodle" with vegetables ($9.95) one evening.

Crispy Noodle with Chicken and Vegetables
The noodles were indeed crispy, but she found the sauce too garlicky and salty. The vegetables were tender, not mushy.

Lately, friends of ours and I have been working through Pho Van Van's complement of milk shakes for dessert. Here is the soursop milk shake ($3.95).

Soursop Milk Shake
It was creamy, but had the texture and flavour of pureed pear. I have been told that the mango and avocado milk shakes are much more enjoyable.

Pho Van Van is a family-run restaurant and we have always had good service there. The waiters are friendly, attentive, and always pleasant to talk to. Regarding bills, as with most Vietnamese pho noodle houses, the waiters will rarely bring the bill to the table as it is custom not to disturb patrons. When you have finished your meal, pay at the cash and till. Your bill will more than likely be awaiting you and so will a bowl of lovely Thai coffee candies as a parting treat.

Here is Pho Van Van's card.

Business Card
Lately, the restaurant put up a more elaborate website that includes more than a link to a .pdf file of its menu.

Aside: To anyone who wonders if Pho Van Van's pho broth is genuinely made from meat and bone, Jenn and I took home some pho we couldn't finish and left it in the fridge overnight.

Gelatinous pho broth
It solidified characteristically of meat and/or bone-based stock/broth, which carries significant gelatin (dissolved from collagen). As per a discussion at a recent pho tweet-up at Pho Bo Ga La (784 Somerset Street West), pho broth solidifying is not itself indicative of significant fat content. Fat will rise to the top of a stock/broth and solidify as a separate layer. This layer is typically completely opaque, white, and brittle.

And, for those interested in pho at Pho Bo Ga La, here are my tweeted first impressions:

Pho at Pho Bo Ga La (#ottawa) is somewhat small in portion, served lukewarm, rather salty, and could do with fresher bean sprouts.

Oh and Pho Bo Ga La (#ottawa)'s pho noodles were overcooked...

You would be better off ordering pho at Pho Van Van.

Particulars:
Pho Van Van
93 Holland Avenue
(613)722-1663

Ottawa boasts almost as many pho noodle houses in the city as shawarma houses. A walk down most any busy city street has at least an example of each. With so many choices, there is competition amongst noodle houses so residents are fortunate to be able to develop a taste for good pho.

As of January 1, 2010, here is our Top 5 list of Ottawa pho noodle houses:

1. Thu Do (no nonsense great pho) - 765 Somerset Street W.
2. Pho Bo Ga King (relative newcomer in Chinatown with lots of selection) - 778 Somerset Street W.
3. Pho Bo Ga (original) - 12 Lebreton Street N.
4. Pholicious - 300 Booth Street
5. Ox Head (best pho outside Chinatown) - 1-790 Kanata Avenue

Here are characteristics Jenn and I feel are hallmarks for good pho:

When sitting down...
After ordering, the plate of accompaniments brought to the table is fresh and bountiful. Typical accompaniments include limes, bird's eye chiles, mung bean sprouts, and Thai basil. At times, there is mint. The limes should be quartered and full of juice. It brightens the broth. The chiles are typically red. They should be unblemished and have firm skins, not at all wrinkled. They provide fresh heat. Bean sprouts should be translucent or opaquely white, neither brown nor shriveled. They provide texture, a fresh crunch. Herbs should not be bruised (no brown spots) and be fragrant. They add earthy and herbal notes.

Jenn and I have noticed that the freshest plates of accompaniments are freshly washed. The herbs and chiles drain in a nest created by the sprouts, producing a very shallow pool of water underneath.

Serving-wise, there should be one wedge of lime, 2 handfuls of bean sprouts and 1-2 chiles per bowl of pho. Regarding Thai Basil, there should be an entire sprig with numerous leaves attached. Incidentally, Thai Basil turns black when cooked, so it should be added to a bowl of pho last.

When being served...
Bowls of pho (beef, chicken, or seafood) should be quickly served, large vats of pho broth already made and kept barely simmering in the kitchen. Noodles need only be flash boiled to assemble a bowl with pre-sliced beef (at various levels of doneness), tripe, beef brisket, beef balls, beef tendons, sliced chicken, shrimp, squid, or quails' eggs.

Bowls of pho should be piping hot. Tradition has it that the piping hot pho broth is ladled onto rare beef to freshly cook it.

Regarding the beef, chicken, or seafood, there should be enough of each, depending on what kind of pho you order, that it will not run out as the diner eats. The goal is to allow the him or her to layer textures and flavours on a spoon. As such, the principal ingredient should be plentiful.

Regarding the pho broth, it should taste of long simmering with meat and bone. Good pho broth should smack of gelatin and thicken when cooled. If completely chilled, it will solidify. It can come flavoured with onion, garlic, whole cloves, whole black pepper corns, and sticks of cinnamon. From time to time, depending on the cook, ginger may be added as well. It should also be lightly flavoured with fish sauce to provide salt and umami. Most importantly, it should be de-fatted. There is nothing worse than slurping noodles, whilst watching pools of grease coalesce in the bowl.

Bottles of sriracha, hoisin sauce, and chile oil/paste are normally available on every table. The sriracha and chili oil/paste add heat. The hoisin, dark sweetness and some salt. Observe your sriracha. Older sriracha will thicken, blocking the bottle's nozzle. It is after all a puree of chiles, flavoured with vinegar. Regarding chile oil/paste, the darker the oil or paste, the longer it has been left steeping. While neither really spoils, older oil/paste will be spicier.

When taking your first slurp...
Yes, pho noodles should be slurped. While taboo in European cultures, in many Asian ones quietly eating ones noodles is a sign of silent protest. The person is resigning himself or herself to eating a bad bowl and shows no gusto in his or her partaking of it.

Noodle-wise, Jenn and I prefer narrower pho rice noodles to thicker ones. Good pho, should be made with fresh noodles, as opposed to dried or instant. The latter has a denser texture, tastes more starchy, and is not very translucent. Regarding fresh noodles, we prefer ours slightly softer than al dente. However, noodles should never break or fall apart from being handled with either chopsticks or a fork. These are signs of overdone noodles.

Here are two examples of lesser pho in Ottawa.

Saigon Pho
Besides serving its pho in square bowls, Saigon Pho has the distinction of listing shrimp spring rolls as "Bikini Shrimp" ($8.99) in the appetizer section of its menu. Also in the appetizer section are "Fried Frog's Legs w/Garlic, Onion, and Butter" ($12.50).

What went wrong?

First, there is the interesting street-facing signage.

Signage
Does the caricature mean the pho is endorsed by pointy hatted Asian peasants with poor teeth, strange facial hair, and enormous hands?

Then, there were the bowls of pho that were more bowl than pho...

Rather Small Portion
At $7.99, this is what is served when you order a medium-size.

At least, the accompaniments offered reflect the pho served.

Few Accompaniments

But, the bean sprouts have definitely seen better days...

Sprouts showing signs of spoilage

Finally, there are the pools of fat that colour when adding sriracha.

Oily Broth

The pho broth tasted of instant soup mix. It had no body and was very thin.

Pho Vietnam
The first thing we noticed when we sat at a table are the challenges this restaurant must overcome regarding available electrical outlets.

Electrical Challenges

What went wrong?

On its menu Pho Vietnam offers an impressive number of appetizers. We ordered "Crispy Shrimp" spring rolls ($4.50) and what the menu listed as pork and shrimp dumplings (fried wontons, also $4.50).

Pork and Shrimp Fried Wontons and Shrimp Spring Rolls
Soggen with grease, they tasted as if they were store bought from frozen. Freshly made wontons and spring rolls crisp and colour differently when fried and have different textures. One sign is the bubbling on the wontons. Another, the spongy shrimp inside the spring roll.

The pho selections were very limited. Here is what I ended up ordering, a medium-sized beef and beef ball pho ($7.95). My "regular" at better pho houses includes beef tendon and tripe. Neither option was available.

Sliced Beef and Beef Ball Pho

The restaurant was very stingy on accompaniments.

Stingy Accompaniments
The accompaniment plate above, was meant for 4 diners. Our table of four, each ordered pho.

In each bowl served, the noodles were overcooked, readily falling apart.

Finally, like the pho broth at Saigon Pho, Pho Vietnam's was thin, tasted of instant soup mix, and had no body. In fact, as the soup cooled, it separated, precipitating out a cloudy residue.

Here is Pho Vietnam's business card.

Business Card

Please note that Ottawa serves good pho. These restaurants are definitely exceptions to the rule as most know patrons can easily go somewhere else for a better bowl.

Particulars:
Saigon Pho
232 Bank Street
(613)232-0888

Pho Vietnam
1187 St. Laurent Blvd.
(613)744-5618