WR0026 Fairbury Pho – FrugalSpoon

Fairbury Phở

Published: July 22, 2020 by Ivan

Savory, refreshing Vietnamese Phở, pronounced “fuh,” is a recipe for my family in Fairbury, Illinois, and everyone who is a fan of Vietnamese phở and doesn’t have a Vietnamese restaurant nearby. Fairbury, Illinois population 4,000. Every ingredient is available at Fairbury’s Dave’s Supermarket for this amazing Vietnamese soup. Once you taste this soup, you will realize why it is so popular in all its forms. Phở has so many recipes and flavors that you can spend a lifetime just trying every delightful bowl imaginable.

Phở is a soup that is normally made with a beef-bone broth or chicken bone broth, rice noodles, and sliced meat or variations thereof, but phở can be made of seafood as well. Phở is traditionally garnished with fresh bean sprouts, cilantro, and mint. What makes phở so unique is “the dizzying array of condiments,” as Anthony Bourdain used to say. Typically, each delightful bite of phở is customized in a large spoon mixing drops of different condiments and fresh vegetables in the spoon with chopsticks. Think of each spoon as a sampler as served at a ritzy gastropub, mixing fresh herbs, savory, sweet, and chili heat in different quantities. That’s phở, so let’s get started making our own.

PHỞ INGREDIENTS (2 Servings)
1/2 lb Chicken Thigh, Drumstick and Wing
1 lb Beef Neck Bone
2/3 White Onion (sliced)
1/2 Cup Celery (sliced)
1/2 Cup Carrots (sliced)
5 pcs Ginger (sliced)
1 Tbsp Coriander
1/2 tsp Cloves
1 Tbsp Cinnamon Sticks or 1 Tsp Cinnamon Powder
2 Star Anise Flowers
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Crushed Black Pepper

GARNISH
Mint
Cilantro
Sweet Chiles
Jalapenos
Cherry Tomatoes
Lime Wedges
Beans Sprouts
White Onion (sliced)
Green Onion (chopped)

CONDIMENTS
Hoisen Sauce
Plum Sauce
Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce
Fish Sauce
Apricot Preserve and Hot Chili Sauce Mixture

How to make Phở in Fairbury

1. We are making both beef phở, my favorite, and chicken broth phở for my Plus 1. When choosing your protein, choose the protein that has the most bone to meat ratio.

2. I am using beef neck bone and thawed chicken thighs, wings, and drumettes. I purchased both with the intention of making stock, but they will work great for phở in a pinch. To make great broth you need bone-in meat. The more bone the better.

3. Wash both the beef and chicken to make sure there are no bone chips leftover from the butcher. Slice 2/3 white onion, 1/2 cup celery, 1/2 cup carrots, and ginger into 1/4 inch medallions. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken, beef, and vegetables, then coat them with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Brown the chicken, beef, and vegetables on a baking sheet in a preheated 425ºF oven for 10 minutes, then stir and rotate the items for even cooking. I am using an infrared convection oven with a medium rack set to 350ºF for 10 minutes on each side for the chicken, beef, and vegetables.

4. Remove the chicken and beef after they are browned.

5. Add 1 Tbsp coriander, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1 Tbsp cinnamon sticks or 1 tsp cinnamon powder, and 2-star anise flowers to the vegetables and roast the vegetables for another 5 minutes.

6. The toasted vegetables and spices will add deep flavor to your broth.

7. Place the chicken and beef into separate pots and add enough cold water to cover the chicken and beef by 1½ inches of water. Allow each to sit in the cold water for 5 minutes. This will allow the meat and collagen to tighten up like a balloon that has been deflated. We will break up the protein further. This is why stews taste better the second day after refrigeration. Cover and simmer each pot for 3 or more hours or until the meat falls off the bone.

8. As the broth comes to a simmer you will see fat foaming on the surface. Use a spoon or skimmer to remove the foaming fat to produce a clear broth. You may have to skim the foam repeatedly every 30 minutes. Eventually, the foaming fat will no longer appear. Now is the time to add the roasted vegetables to each pot. A fellow Youtuber in the Midwest, Foodish Family wraps their toasted spices in a spice bag (cheesecloth and cooking twine) and drops it directly into the broth. It really helps when it comes time to remove the uneatable spices. Allow the broth to simmer uncovered for another hour. The longer it simmers the better. Add more water if you want more broth. I am actually removing some of the broth from each pot to save for other dishes.

9. Remove the meat to a plate when it is tender and falling off the bone then skim the broth to remove the uneatable spices like the whole ginger, coriander, etc, or removed the cheesecloth spice bag you created. I added a 1/2 tsp fish sauce to the beef broth to make it more savory.

10. Add rice noodles to the broth. I used vermicelli in my beef phở for more of a bite to my noodles and rice noodles for my Plus 1. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on the packaging for cooking the noodles but you will be using broth instead of water.

Plating: Shred the meat into separate bowls. Add the noodles and broth. Serve the phở boiling hot. While plating in a bowl adds mint, cilantro, and bean sprouts to the hot broth. Garnish on the side with sweet chiles, jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, lime wedges, bean sprouts, white and green onion. The Asian condiments that I used were hoisin sauce, plum sauce, Chinese hot oil, and fish sauce available at Dave’s Market in Fairbury. I mixed apricot preserve and hot chili sauce to create my own special sauce. There is an endless number of sauces mixed in combinations as condiments for phở and you can vary the uniqueness of each sauce with every bite. You can use any jam, jelly, mustard, or even peanut butter as a condiment. Just be creative. Try a little with each spoon to open your imagination.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your own homemade phở. Remember to share your recipes.

Fairbury Phở

How to make Phở in Fairbury

All Recipes

Breakfast

Appetizers

Soups

Salads

Side Dishes

Entrees

Fair Sweets

Contact Us

Contact

Let's chat!