Pho Extravaganza in Brooklyn- we make PHO!

Last Sunday my friends and I converged on the South Williamsburg loft of my good friends Michala and Rasmus for a momentous and historically significant occasion. One may compare the importance of our little get-together to the Yalta conference held at the twilight of WWII, attended by Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt, where they carved up Europe into fiefdoms and set the stage for the cold war. Or one may not... only the test of time will tell!

Michala did most of the recipe research and we wound up using a melange of four different recipes with an emphasis on this preparation we found online at Epicurious.com.


BROTH

• 5 pounds beef marrow or knuckle bones
• 2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2 pieces
• 2 (3-inch) pieces ginger, cut in half lengthwise and lightly bruised with the flat side of a knife, lightly charred
• 2 yellow onions, peeled and charred
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 3 ounces rock sugar, or 3 tablespoons sugar
• 6 whole star anise, lightly toasted in a dry pan
• 6 whole cloves, lightly toasted in a dry pan
• 1 tablespoon sea salt
• 1 cinnamon stick

NOODLE ASSEMBLY

• 1 pound dried 1/16-inch-wide rice sticks, soaked, cooked and drained
• 1/3 pound beef sirloin, slightly frozen, then sliced paper-thin across the grain

GARNISHES

• 1/2 yellow onion, sliced paper-thin
• 3 scallions, cut into thin rings
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 pound bean sprouts
• 10 sprigs Asian basil
• 1 dozen saw-leaf herb leaves (optional)
• 6 Thai bird chilies or 1 serrano chili, cut into thin rings
• 1 lime, cut into 6 thin wedges
• Freshly ground black pepper

We planned our Pho making party as an all day event, but our broth really only had a good six hours or so to simmer. A great deal of preparation went into the event, Michala picked up 7 pounds of beef knuckle on special order at Brooklyn's famous Marlowe and Daughters. I bought a new and massive cooking pot on the Bowery and watched a butcher trim off fat as if it were butter on our "eye of round", or roast beef, at a Halal butcher in Paterson, NJ. If you've never been to Paterson for Middle Eastern food drop me a line- it's really worth a trip.

Three serious cooks in the kitchen- The Album.

Since we needed to start cooking around one in the afternoon, I also brought over some Chinese Char Su pork, egg noodles, and Choy Sum or Chinese broccoli for our lunch.

A little of this

A pinch of that

A dash of this

And you get this!

Lunch was delicious and quick to prepare. I added a little sweet Chinese sausage to my bowl and ladled on some oyster sauce to keep it real. Am I the only one that doesn't care for oysters but really appreciates oyster sauce on my noodles?

The noodle lunch was really just a warm up for the main course. We started the stock the moment we walked in the door.Pho broth needs to simmer a long time and it was clear time would be our enemy in this endeavor. First we had to bring the knuckles to a furious boil to bring out the impurities. All the liquid from the initial boil is discarded and the freshly boiled bones are added to a fresh pot of simmering water to make the beef base.

7 pounds of beef knuckle

Boiling out the impurities

Our Pho base with "purified" bones

Michala chars an onion directly on the stovetop

Once the broth was set to simmer Michala charred two onions on the stove, peeled off the crusty layer, and added them to the pot.

Anna, our star chef visiting from Denmark, added the mixture of spices like slightly seared cinnamon stick and star anise to a tea bag to marinate in the broth.

Anna admiring her handiwork

Cinnamon and star anise are seared to bring out the flavor

Since Anna was minding the soup Michala and I decided to kick back

I know it looks pretty easy in the pictures, but making Pho is labor intensive and actually required quite a bit of preparation. It took us about three hours to get to the point when we added the star anise and cinnamon, which were left to infuse in the broth and removed after thirty minutes. Meanwhile, we had frozen our eye of round so that it could be cut into slices thin enough to cook quickly in the soup. A deli slicer would have been a nice addition here, but Anna and Michala did an admirable job sawing through the frozen beef.

Slicing the frozen beef

Eye of round slice razor thin

Jalapenos in action

Ban Pho noodles left to soak- they cook in the boiling broth

The table is laid- saw tooth herb, limes, bean sprouts, and brisket to add to the PHO

After our long day in the kitchen, the guests began to trickle in and we were ready to sample the goods.

The Pho is assembled

Rasmus observes the chef

Graham, Nina, and Annamette and Anna patiently wait

and wait....

Charice enjoying a glass of Soju

Annemette finds a perch

Anna makes Eugene cry

                                                And finally we dig in!

David assumes attack formation

This is the best way to digest Pho

So, what were the results of the momentous Pho-extravaganza? We has a lot of fun, and we enjoyed learning about the work that goes into preparing our favorite soup. Did we achieve that elusive and delicious homey flavor one finds in an authentic Pho? We may have, but we would have needed to let our broth simmer and concentrate for many more hours than we had. We had a very good time, albeit labor intensive for some of us. But now we understand and can appreciate what really goes into that $5 bowl of Pho, served simmering and fragrant moments after you order it. For a minimum of effort and the least expenditure, one can have a far superior bowl of Pho. It's nice to have a party, but I'm afraid next time we'll be ordering in.

Misoya, welcome to Ramen Central, East Village NY

Eugene and I were about to grab a bowl of borscht and a tuna melt at B&H dairy on 2nd avenue and 7th street (highly recommended- sit at the counter and enjoy the banter) when we noticed a new Ramen joint next door at 129 2nd Avenue and decided to give it a try. Misoya is a Japanese chain that seems to have its sights set on US expansion, this being the second American restaurant ( the first is in Santa Clara, California). Misoya specializes in Miso Ramen, and makes a further distinction between three varieties of Miso broth: Hokkaido, Kyoto, and Nagoya style.  The menu is downright confusing and does a poor job differentiating between the three varieties, but thankfully there were some handy pictures to help us out. For a good description of the differences between these miso ramen styles check out my fellow blogger Lauhound's post on Misoya. The restaurant offers a $10 lunch set menu which includes your choice of Kara Age (boneless fried chicken), three Gyoza (Japanese dumplings), or sticky rice. We didn't realize that Cha su roast pork isn't included with the lunch special, but we were able to remedy that situation with a $1.50 side order- not bad for a tasty and surprisingly thick slab of pork. I apologize in advance for the quality of these pics- I was having a bad camera day....

Fried chicken- they need to work on that batter

Perfectly fried Gyoza

I've read some so-so reviews about the Gyoza at Misoya, but I was very happy with the one I tried. True, they are heavy on the chives but they were perfectly cooked and managed to pack in a lot of flavor. The fried chicken was filling and tender but rather bland and probably better suited to your inner 10-year old who still craves chicken fingers. I'm used to this dish being a bit spicier and saltier, a little A little Five Spice in the batter might have been a welcome addition.

Eugene ordered the Shiro Ramen, and I tried the Hokkaido style. I believe mine was made with red miso paste and Eugene's was made with white. Both of the broths were extremely tasty and redolent with veggies like bamboo, corn, and scallions. Eugene's was even anointed with a couple of pieces of fried tofu, and mine had a couple of surprisingly tasty roast potato wedges in it.

Hokkaido style Miso Ramen

Nagoya style Shiro Ramen with tofu bonus

A tasty side of Cha Su

This is what get's posted when you try to evade the camera Eugene!

The noodles didn't seem to be made in house, but they were a very serviceable version of the type of noodle you find in a package of Top Ramen, only of much better quality. They were tender and slightly chewy with a nice bounce. I really enjoyed the side order of Cha Su pork, which came fresh from the oven or pan and was still sizzling when it arrived. The pork wasn't cooked into oblivion as Cha Su often is, resulting in a piece of meat that didn't crumble to the knife .We really enjoyed our meal, and at $23 plus tip, it was a good deal cheaper of the equivalent meal at Ippudo.

The East Village is Ramen Central in NY at the moment and there are quiet a few choices, including David Chang's Momofuko right up the block, Minca on 5th street, and scores of others attempting to cash in on the current noodlemania. Compound this with the current trend of Japanese noodle imperialism: Ippudo, Ramen Setagaya, and now Ramen Misoya have all raised their flags on a patch of the East Village.  Considering the the veritable tsunami of choices, Misoya compares rather favorably with just about all of them, them, with the exception of Ippudo--only one doesn't need to wait an hour to sit down at Misoya and the price is much more reasonable. While none of the ramen restaurants can come close to either the noodles or the broth at Ippudo, Misoya does a very serviceable job. True, I couldn't taste the sweat of the pig in mine, but that's not always necessary at lunch time, especially if you'd like to move around a little bit after you eat. If you find yourself wandering around the East Village with a sawbuck in your pocket, pop into Ramen Misoya, you'll be happy you did.

More Pho Bang for your buck

What better remedy on a cold rainy night heralding in the onslaught of a long winter than the solace of a steaming hot bowl of Pho. Together with my Danish Pho posse, Michala, Rasmus, and Anna, we braved the chill damp to meet at Pho Bang for a Vietnamese dinner orgy. On the menu tonight, Pho, what else...?

Pho Bang has been around for a long time, the 157 Mott street location appears to be the flagship and this mini-chain also has another restaurant in Elmhurst. My favorite Pho Bang was a crooked little joint on Pike street that shut its doors around 5 years ago. It was staffed by loving Chinese auntie types and had a door that never shut properly. One could always count on burning off some excess calories getting up several times over the course of a meal to close the door on a cold winter day. I miss that Pho Bang and the loving attention they poured on me and on their Pho, but the big brother on Mott St. has always been a dependable stand-in. According to Wikipedia, Pho Bang is a famous street in the NE Vietnamese town of Dong Van, but that probably has little to do with he name of this restaurant and the scores of other non-affiliated  Pho Bangs scattered across the country. "Bang" translated to "state" when I looked it up, perhaps one of my thousands of Vietnamese readers would care to comment on the true meaning of "Pho Bang". Once I have the answer to this burning question, I feel like I'll finally be able to turn a page in my life...so hurry up!

We began the meal with an order of eight Cha Gio, fried spring rolls that are stuffed with pork that you roll in lettuce and dip in fish sauce. These were tasty but awfully greasy this time, and I had to pat them down with a napkin before we could dig in. We also ordered a summer roll each, good any time of year really but not very exceptional at Pho Bang. 

Spring Rolls and Summer rolls

We eat Pho all the time but we paid special attention to the flavors on this trip because next Sunday we are going to attempt to make a Pho at Michala's loft in Brooklyn, so watch the blog! As usual, I order a big bowl of the Pho Tai, which comes with raw roast beef that cooks in the soup and flavors the already fragrant broth. Michala added some flank to hers, which is fatty and good at Pho Bang.

Pho Tai at Pho Bang

Pho with Phixins'

I always love a bowl of Pho, even a slightly inferior bowl of Pho, as this one was. The broth was over-concentrated and over-seasoned with what tasted like the wrong type of flavors, namely salt. I didn't detect any of the slightly gamey beefy flavor you find in great Pho broth. Also missing were any striking notes of star anise and even a hint of Cinnamon. What we had was a salty, beefy, broth, not bad mind you, but it wasn't going to win any contests either. I've had better Pho here in the past, and I'm afraid to say Pho Bang is slipping off of its game a bit. I liked the beef and the noodles, which were cooked perfectly, but still I was distracted by what they were floating in.

Step it up Pho Bang!

Or else...

Anna will attack you with lettuce!

One very bright spot for me at Pho Bang are the waiters. This all male ensemble have all been working here for years. As a first time visitor you may experience somewhat gruff handling by the waitstaff, but once you get to know them, these guys are the salt of the earth and quick to boot.

Dinner was still pleasant although not a stellar experience and with tip it was a whopping $14 each, cash only. Still, when Pho is the namesake of your restaurant, you are making a bold statement. You are making a commitment to me and all the other Pho lovers of the world. You are saying, we are very serious about our Pho. Sadly, in that respect, Pho Bang is breaking my heart, and I'm going to have to rebound elsewhere.

Old standbys at New Malaysia

My friend and former colleague Marlon crossed the river from Brooklyn to join me at New Malaysia, located in an alley at 46-48 Bowery, just South of the Manhattan Bridge. My friends and I tend to judge Malaysian Restaurants by comparing them to Nonya on Grand Street, one of the few restaurants that stays open past 10 PM in Chinatown, and also the best in its class. I don't usually go for noodles at Malaysian restaurants, preferring to focus on other favorites like Hainan Chicken, but since Marlon agreed to split an order with me I was able to have the best of both worlds. We started out with some Ipoh bean sprouts and an order of Roti Canai- both of which should be ordered each and every time you walk into a Malaysian restaurant, unless you do so every day.

Roti Canai- crepe is not as large as it appears in pictures

Ipoh Bean Sprouts

Roti Canai, much like Pad Thai is to Thai food, is a bellwether by which you can judge whether a Malaysian restaurant has its chops or not. It is a small starter dish of not too spicy curry sauce laced with a few meaty morsels of chicken that is served with a flatbread or crepe.. The Crepe, or Roti, in particular is a good judge of the skill of the kitchen. They should be airy, fluffy, and chewy as well as slightly crunchy with a buttery flavor all at the same time, as they are at Nonya. At New Malaysia, the flavors are there, but we found the crepe itself slightly too thick, and the small pancake diameter wasn't as pleasing as the LP record served with an order at Nonya. The yellow curry was very good, in fact, every bit as good as the one Nonya serves.

I love Ipoh bean sprouts and they are one of the simplest dishes you can imagine. They are bean sprouts blanched for about 30 seconds and garnished with scallions, soy sauce, and sesame oil. On a diet and need a rice or noodle substitute? Ipoh bean sprouts will serve in a pinch. I thought the Ipoh Bean Sprouts were great but Marlon would have liked them just a little crunchier. For heat lovers they are perfectly mated with some Silipadi (see-lee-pa-dee) chili peppers served in soy sauce, available upon request for no charge. The way I remember the name of these chilis is of course to think of Silly Putty, which was ubiquitous in my 70's childhood. If you pressed this magical putty hard enough against a newspaper, you could make an imprint of the funny pages. The putty resembled a big hunk of chewed bubble gum, which is why I'm guessing there are still remnants in my intestinal tract...

Silly Putty in my belly?

Silly putty plagiarizing- so am I by stealing this image.

For the main course, I ordered the curry chicken noodle soup, or Mee Kari, and Marlon had Chow Kueh Teow, a stir fried rice noodle dish with shrimp. My curry soup was pretty good, I'm a sucker for curry soups and usually enjoy them, but the New Malaysia version is no match for the incredibly delectable curry soup found at Cong Ly on Hester St. I'm not a fan of the thick egg noodles they use at New Malaysia- next time I'll have to ask about what some other noodle options are. Marlon enjoyed Chow Kueh Teow. I thought it was tasty, but when I'm going to order flat stir fried noodles with meat or seafood I usually prefer the Chinese preparation of Chow Fon. My favorite variant is Beef Chow Fon, and it's just about the only beef dish I'll order at a Chinese restaurant, barring beef with scallions at Joe's Shanghai. Why order beef when pork, chicken, duck and seafood are so excellently prepared in Chinese restaurants? But I digress...

I want "He loved his curry chicken noodles" as my epitaph

Chow Kueh Teow

Did somebody say cold, boiled chicken? Don't turn up your nose. The very best dish we had at New Malaysia was Hainanese chicken, AKA chicken rice.This is a very popular dish in SE Asia and China too, but alas it's not very popular in the US. That's probably because most people here don't want to eat cold chicken, or boiled chicken, but if you haven't tried this dish, I would strongly encourage you to do so. It is served along side chili sauce and mashed ginger but Nonya makes my favorite preparation, a fantastic variant they call "Thai Chicken" which comes smothered in a brown onion sauce. At New Malaysia, the chicken was perfect, soft, tender, and silky in texture and wholesome and meaty to the tooth. Marlon and I devoured the whole thing, in addition to our main courses and the preceding appetizers. Before you call me a glutton, remember, I'm a professional....I have a blog.

Hainan Chicken and her friends

Marlon hard at work

I eat therefore I am.

We really enjoyed New Malaysia and I actually prefer the setting, tucked in an alleyway off a busy thoroughfare, to Nonya, which moved and remodeled a couple of years ago and no longer has any "noodle joint" feeling to it. Nonya is fancy now and is only really on my radar for dinner and delivery, whereas New Malaysia has the the feeling of a workaday restaurant where the standby dishes are executed well. I'll be back for some Hainan chicken and Ipoh bean sprouts, and perhaps next time I'll try one of the gooey chipped ice desserts Malaysian restaurants do so well. Go get yourself some cold, boiled chicken, you won't regret it.