Adventures in Israel: The Pho-tastic Voyage

These past few months have really challenged my cooking prowess, especially because our kitchen consists of a double-burner hot plate--and nothing else. This hardware lackage has pushed me to try out some new dishes previously left on the back burner. I have experimented with turnip latkes, nearly perfected sweet potato gnocchi, dabbled in Udon noodles, and most recently delved into the world of soup. One of my longtime goals has been to make soup stock from scratch and the opportunity presented itself quite magically this past weekend.

My friends Stefan and Aaron, whom I met during my week in Tzvat, came to visit Be'er Sheva and see how the non-Tel Aviv crowd of Masa participants live. Aaron happens to be a trained chef who had a hankering to make 2 kilos of beef bolagnaise pasta for our weekly Shabbat-luck (group pot-luck dinners) and the Russian butcher in the shuk bestowed two beef bones upon us as a parting gift--the cooking gods were smiling upon us that day. I got a few pointers from Aaron while acting as his sous chef, but those beef bones in the fridge kept crossing my mind. Even the next morning as we cooked burgers and eggs, which was also phenomenal, all I could think about was making some beef stock for some Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup).

As they departed Aaron gave me some last minute suggestions from the bust station steps, inspiring me to take the plunge into making soup from scratch. Making stock is actually remarkably easy; I filled a pot with the beef bones (marrow exposed for its flavorful goodness), onion, smashed garlic, fresh dill and cilantro, and celery greens for some extra flavor. After bringing the pot to a boil I set it to simmer overnight, in total about 10 hours. This allowed the natural flavors in the bones to seep into the broth until it reached a nice caramel-brown color and beefy taste. Although it is difficult to get the deep flavors I was seeking without charring/browning the bones and vegetables in the oven, I was happy with the end result.

I was also happy to share it with another visiting friend. We feasted that night on bowls (okay, they were Tupperware but I'm a volunteer so deal with it) stocked with rice noodles, fresh and sauteed chilies, broccoli, cabbage, bean sprouts, all with a sprinkling of fresh herbs and chives and swimming in homemade broth. The sriracha and soy sauce added some nice complexity to the flavors as well and helped bring together a delicious meal!