Faux Pho (we know it's pronounced Fuh!)

Southeast Asian Rice Noodle Soup with Beef (Pho)

From 5 cups of the stock that we made last night, we decided to add the Asian flavors that make a Pho-like soup. From the recipe our "The New Best Recipe" book from Cook's Illustrated, we added

• 4 medium garlic cloves, smashed and crushed
• 1 2-inch piece of ginger, cut into rounds and smashed
• 2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
• 2 star anise pods
• 2 Tbsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sugar

and we simmered it while Peta cooked bacon and eggs and toast for breakfast. Then we went to Stone's and watched the Pats get crushed by the Ravens. We're having it for lunch tomorrow and will report on the results. To the broth, we'll add and soak rice noodles, thinly sliced, semi-frozen venison, mung bean sprouts, jalapeño pepper, scallions sliced on the bias, basil, mint leaves, cilantro leaves, chopped dry-roasted peanuts and garnish with lime wedges. We didn't list any amounts here because it's an "immediate build" soup and can be made to taste.

NOTE: actually just ate the soup in the future. The noodles took way longer to cook and the broth got cloudy. We discussed this over Mithia Sahanaki (Mussels and Feta) and figured that there was some sort of reaction between the meat protein and something in the broth. But this doesn't happen in the restaurant when the broth is ladled over the meat. The pho broth that restaurants use must be clarified by egg shells or whites or something like a consommé. Jim did a little research and read that the broth is cooked at too high a temperature. "Once it has reached a boil, lower the heat and let it barely simmer slowly for a long time (anywhere from 2 to 24 hours). High temperatures cloud the broth and remember to skim off surface scum once the broth comes to a boil to avoid making the broth cloudy" A more detailed explanation from the same board reads "boiling, in turn, breaks apart the proteins which would flocculate with a gentle simmer. As the flocculated proteins become larger they are too heavy to remain in solution. These broken proteins will not settle to the bottom resulting in stock that is cloudy. The purists may cringe but I cover my stock pot, put it in the oven, and hold it at 220 F overnight. I end up with rich stock that is very clear and flavorful. My best guess is that the gentle cooking allows the solids to flocculate (stick in clumps) rather than be broken into apart by the boiling action. The solids then settle to the bottom of the pot and are discarded. In the morning I still have a clean stovetop and not much to clean up. Also the oven uses less electricity than a burner"

Jim admits that he was pretty bad with respect to skimming and that the above "research" is pretty shitty.