Asian Beef Broth

This broth is based on my pho recipe, but I scaled back the spices relative to the beef flavor a little. I also took a couple of ideas from the cinnamon beef recipe, adding a cinnamon stick and a little soy sauce. Finally, I added some mushrooms for a little more umami. The result was very good, a bit fuller and meatier than my usual pho broth (which is frankly a little thin compared to good restaurant pho), and with less of the spice flavors that E sometimes finds overpowering. It’s a good general-purpose broth for Asian soups. This recipe makes enough for 4-6 bowls of soup.

Ingredients

3.5 lb beef bones
2″ ginger, sliced
1 white onion, quartered
1/2 lb small crimini mushrooms, halved
10 c water
3/8 c soy sauce
1 star anise star
8-10 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/4 c fish sauce

Directions

In a large skillet, toast the star anise, cloves, cinnamon, and peppercorns on high for a few minutes. Remove and toast the onion, ginger, and mushrooms. Put all the ingredients except the fish sauce in the pressure cooker and bring to a boil on high. Seal the pressure cooker, lower the heat, and bring to 8 lb pressure (first red ring on Kuhn Rikon cookers). Cook for 1 hour, remove from heat, and let cool until pressure returns to normal. Open top and skim off fat (or refrigerate overnight and skim solid fat off the next day). Add fish sauce.

Use for pho, rice and pork soup, or other recipes calling for Vietnamese or Asian beef broth.