in Saigon Social New York City chef and owner Helen Nguyen creates her own pho broth using oxtail, brisket, beef shank, and dry-aged rib bones. “My style of pho is not traditional,” Nguyen says. “I was able to add different layers that were very true to the way I eat and cook.”
When Nguyen first started making pho, she went to the store, picked up a bag of bones, threw them into a pot of water, and made bone broth. As I continued to cook, I noticed that the color and taste of the soup stock changed, so I decided to investigate why. That brought her to the Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors warehouse six years ago, where she spoke to owner Pat LaFrieda about her meat and why people use different cuts for different dishes. She said she wanted to know more.
“If a chef comes in and wants to learn how to cut meat, we want to accommodate that,” says Nguyen’s LaFreida.
Now, Nguyen heads to the warehouse every 10 days to butcher meat for his famous pho and other dishes. After collecting the meat, Nguyen returns to her social base in Saigon and begins “Mother Stock.” The goal of her stock, which she reopens once a year, is to create a hearty beef base that can be used in a variety of dishes. “Everything that comes out of the pot serves a great purpose,” she says. Preparing this stock takes her more than eight hours (not including time spent at LaFreida’s).
Nguyen goes to great lengths to ensure that all of the meat that goes into the stock is used in other dishes. Oxtail, brisket and ribs all come out of the liquid and are used in at least five of his dishes, including oxtail fried rice and shaken beef steak. Once all the meat is removed, Nguyen adds spices and flavorings to transform the stock into a pho broth.
Watch the full video to see more about how Helen Nguyen cuts, braises, scoops, and tastes the meat to create her unique pho.