SBAF Meets Up for Pho Fridays in Porn Capital of USA

Discussion in 'The Meeting Place' started by brencho, Oct 24, 2017.

  1. BillOhio

    BillOhio Friend

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    For a moment I was wondering how I'd recognize anyone at the restaurant and then it occurred to me that you guys will probably be the the only ones wearing headphones. Just for recognizeability I'll have a blue Toronto Blue Jays ball cap on. I'll try and be there a little early so that someone can spot me on their way in.
     
  2. Bill-P

    Bill-P Level 42 Mad Wizard

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    Yeah, I really had fun this morning. Thanks, guys!

    @Marvey, I can certify that that was one of the best Pho I have had in a while (and that's considering I frequent Vietnam quite regularly). Taste was legit and broth indeed not the watered down shit at the more generic joints. I left feeling very fulfilled.

    Why don't we have a "restaurants worth visiting in LA" thread?
     
  3. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    Well I'm on the ass-end of Africa...anyone got a basic, authentic Pho recipe? Like from their Grandma kind of thing that I can start with? I make a Morroccan lamb stew that's actually really close in technique to what I see online, but I have no way to vet those recipes. The Morroccan thing is delicious, so I;m eager to try my hand at Pho.
     
  4. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    @GoodEnoughGear can I grab that recipe from you? Winters coming and I love stews!
     
  5. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    I can get you a pho recipe. Just takes a long time to make and need a fine strainer. There are tricks to cooking the beef bones so the coagulated blood doesn't cloud up the broth. Also a few other tricks to the ginger and onion. Mostly technique and the Force. I don't specify exact amounts of spices. That's all by feel and smell. Knowledge is passed down by Pho Yodas. No handy Rachael Ray or Nigella Bites shit here.
     
  6. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    I have a fine strainer, and spent some time getting good at basic stock. You get the feel of it, it takes tending. Music goes well with that.
     
  7. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    This is simple as it gets.

    Morrocan Lamb Stew
    Servings 8


    A rich and simple lamb stew.

    Prep Time: 15 minutes
    Cook Time: 3 hours
    2 kilograms lamb knuckle
    3 large carrots
    2 large onions quartered
    1 head garlic peeled
    120 grams tomato paste
    2 teaspoons cinnamon
    4 teaspoons cumin
    8 teaspoons paprika
    2 teaspoons sugar
    2 teaspoons salt
    1 teaspoon black pepper
    1 liter water

    Combine all ingredients except the lamb in a large pot. Turn on the heat to bring to a boil.

    Brown the lamb in a heavy-bottomed pan and transfer to the pot.

    Simmer 3 hours or until the meat falls off the bone.

    Serve with rice or pasta.
     
  8. GanGreinke

    GanGreinke Friend

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    I know what you are referencing; but in all seriousness, Benning Violins is a shop with a really strong reputation. Jascha Heifetz used to take his Guarneri Del Gesu to this shop for adjustments and repairs.
     
  9. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    The deal with the beef bones is that some people prefer to do an initial quick parboil with the bones to release all the crap out of it, and then toss that water out before the long simmer.I don't like to do that because some of the flavor and oils gets lost. To get around this, I will roast the bones in an oven for about 20-30 minutes. This roasting process keeps the coagulated blood together so scum and crap doesn't float out during the simmer. This is not necessarily the right way to do it, but one way to do it. There are lots of variations of recipes passed down through family lines. There is no Jedi high council here determining proper dogma, although there are certain precepts for what constitutes proper pho. (The most digusting totally wrong pho broth I've tasted has been fake Vietnamese pho places run by Koreans, one in Santa Ana, and another in Santa Clarita. Yuck totally disgusting.)

    The other deal is charring the ginger and onion. This step cannot be bypassed and is absolutely crucial to the flavor and color of pho. An oven won't cut it. We will need flames. After we char the outside of the ginger and onion, we scrape all the carbonized crap off. We then cut the ginger and onions in half. One 6" piece of ginger and 2 medium onions should be around right for a big stock pot.

    The spices (the crucial ones are star anise, cinnamon, and to lesser extent the cloves) I like to roast in pan first along with a drop of oil. I don't like to OD on the cloves. I also like to drop two black cardamom pods (if necessary, white is OK). We can throw fennel and coriander seeds in too, I might throw in a pinch, just a pinch for extra complexity. Finally we absolutely need to use rock sugar. Refined granulated sugar is not a substitute and will f**k things up. We're just talking about a small 2" chunk to bring out, but not replace the inherent sweetness of the other ingredients.

    On the fish sauce: Do not use the Thai fish sauce found at the white people supermarkets. Thai fish sauce if gross, too salty, and lacks any kind of real flavor. I prefer the lighter less salty more complex Vietnamese fish sauces (Three Flying Lions brand or whatever, I'll know it when I see it. They all say the are from Thailand, but they really are not). The fish sauce thing can demand entirely another thread. Just do some Internet research or best try for youself. Add a few tablespoons of fish sauce per taste.

    Basically the bones, maybe 6 pounds worth, and everything else should be boiled for three to four hours. In the last two hours, we can drop a chunk of brisket in there, of which we can later remove and cut into small slices.

    Finally, it all comes down to practice (Kung Fu) and using your senses. The best way is to know how pho actually tastes like is to try it, even mediocre or bad pho. This is why I never give out recipes with exact measurements. Always taste while cooking and adjust for flavor. I tend to "mess up" by making my pho broth with too much of the spices because my senses to get too accustomed while tending the cooking, so this is one thing to be careful of. I also tend to get spices from Indians places which have fresher higher quality spices compared to stale spices at Asian stores.

    So not exactly a recipe, but more a variety of techniques and "secret" knowledge on what separates superior pho from average pho. There are plenty of recipes out there on the Internet to give you a start.

    And yes, this has everything to do with audio. You can't measure your way to good pho.

    P.S. Another secret ingredient, harder to get, are the dried seaworms thingies. Very hard to get this. Only way is you know have Vietnamese neighbors who might have brought in a secret stash from abroad. Dried scallops or micro-shrimp can be used a substitute.
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2017
  10. BillOhio

    BillOhio Friend

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    Apologies for not doing so sooner but I wanted to say what a pleasure it was to meet Marvey, Brencho, Bill and Paul. Also, that Pho was fantastic. It was Very cool to have a chance to connect with some of the local crew as I pull in to this new town. Thanks also for the insight re which part of town to apartment hunt in, I'm enjoying my Glendale location more and more.
     
  11. BillOhio

    BillOhio Friend

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    I know I could have edited my last post but I just got home from game 7 with an above average buzz and felt, in my current state that this was worth it's own post. I came to LA to connect with the LA animation scene and tonight, while Google mapping a bar to watch the game at, I realized I randomly live .7 miles from Dreamworks (Shrek, How To Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda, etc. etc. etc. ) Animation. I'm pumped.
     
  12. PTS

    PTS Friend

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    Any chance of some festive Pho before the year ends?
     
  13. netforce

    netforce MOT: Headphones.com

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    I'd be down, over here in the SGV I been hitting up all the different Pho places here to enhance myself.
     
  14. Mdkaler

    Mdkaler Friend

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    My bậc thầy once said pho places with numbers in the name are legit.
     
  15. BillOhio

    BillOhio Friend

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    I Googled 'bậc thầy' and can't read any of the search results.
     
  16. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    6AE3BF62-E575-4120-B9A9-558CC0905563.jpeg

    Translation might be sketch though. @Bill-P or @ductrung3993 would know better.
     

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