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

To plate up, we brought the broth up to a boil in a pot set to medium heat on a stovetop and boiled it for 5 minutes. We actually re-heated the beef balls in the broth. Afterward, we lowered the heat to low and kept it simmering.

Re-Heating Broth
As the broth was heating, we blanched 2 portions worth of noodles as per the instructions on the packaging.

We placed the noodles into the bottom of two bowls and topped each with a handful of raw bean sprouts. When ready, we brought the broth back up to a boil and ladled it into the bowls. To them, we added some of the lamb meat (re-claimed from the bones), beef balls, and cilantro.

Bowl Being Assembled

Done

While what we made was not an authentic bowl of pho, it made a great dinner.

Next time, I will be re-attempting the broth with a mixture of beef and lamb bones. Also, I will be pre-simmering instead of skimming.

Update: The Wok Star organized Pho and Tell has been posted!

Pho and Tell
Accordingly, we're Pho Stars! Thanks Eleanor!

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