Alton Brown reloads this pressure cooker recipe with a brand-new broth and his take on the Vietnamese classic, pho.
ingredients
Beef Broth
To serve
directions
Hardware: pressure cooker
Toast the spices over medium heat in a large pressure cooker 3 to 5 minutes or until fragrant.
Add the ginger and onion and blacken slightly. A few of the spices may burn a bit and that’s fine.
Add the shanks, oxtails, chicken wings, apple, salt and 10 cups of water. Attach and lock the lid according to your cooker’s instructions and bring to full pressure over medium-high heat. Once the cooker is steaming and whistling, back down on the heat to just maintain full pressure and cook for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, firm up the eye of round by placing in the freezer for 20 minutes then slice very thinly across the grain. Cover and refrigerate while the broth continues to cook.
After 30 minutes kill the heat and allow the pressure cooker to cool for 5 minutes, then slowly vent the pressure using your cooker’s pressure relief valve or park under cold running water until the safety lid lock disengages, usually around 30 seconds.
Carefully remove the lid and remove the larger pieces of meat, then strain first through a colander then again through a colander or fine strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth. Finish by stirring in the fish sauce and palm sugar.
When the shanks are cool enough to handle, slice or pull the meat from the bones and set aside.
Note: everything up to this point can be done up to a day ahead. When you’re ready to serve:
Place the rice noodles in a baking dish, cover with boiling water and soak for 15 minutes before draining thoroughly.
Distribute the noodles into wide soup bowls (better be deep too) and top with the slices of (raw) eye of round and a few pieces of the cooked beef.
Pour on the hot broth to cover and garnish as desired with the scallions, chilis, sprouts, herbs, and limes.