Venison Pho Recipe

I would argue that Pho (promounced fuh) is the greatest soup on the planet. I’ve been in love with this amazing Vietnamese soup ever since I first tried it at a dinky Vietnamese restaurant years ago, and I aim to have it as often as I can ever since. This warm, flavorful soup is especially enjoyable after a hard day of hunting, or really any cold day.  I finally got the courage to try it myself, but with a venison broth and using thinly sliced venison in place of the traditional beef. Venison stock and broth is an essential cooking skill that all hunters need to learn. Simply put, stock is made from cooked down bones, broth from cooked down meat. (I’ll use both terms interchangeably, as it’s a seasoned stock with some meat attached to the bones.)

There really is no comparison to a homemade stock or broth and to the store bought cans and boxes.  This recipe takes that core skill, and adapts it to the amazing spices and flavors of Asia, turning your basic stock into something incredible. You can use any bones from your elk, moose, or antelope. Bones with more connective tissue and collagen help to give the stock more body and flavor.  This particular recipe used mule deer and pronghorn bones from the end cuts of shanks, whole shoulder blades, some pelvic bones, and the leg bones. If you don’t have many (or any) venison bones, you can absolutely follow the traditional recipe and use beef bones and oxtails.

 

VENISON PHO RECIPE INGREDIENTS

For the Venison Pho Broth:

• 3-6 lbs venison bones (cut into pieces to more easily fit into your stock pot)
• 2-3 sliced onions
• 2-3 knobs of ginger root (or around 6-8″ of sliced ginger)
• 6 star anise pods (commonly found at most grocery stores)
• 12 cardamom pods (might be a bit tricky to find the whole pods, but try your local specialty grocer)
• 7 cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp. fennel seeds (you can substitute caraway seeds if you can’t find fennel)
• 3-4 tbsp. sugar (start with 3, add another to taste)
• 2 tbps. salt
• 1/3-3/4 cup fish sauce
• 1-2 gallons of water (enough to completely cover the simmering bones)

For the Assembled Venison Pho Soup:

• Thinly sliced venison backstrap or other steak
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2-1 lb. mung bean sprouts
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1-2 bunches thai basil
• 1-2 limes, cut into wedges
• hoisin sauce
• Sriracha sauce or chili paste
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalepeno, sliced

VENISON PHO RECIPE DIRECTIONS

1. BLANCH THE BONES: Rinse your venison bones in cold water, then add to your stock pot and fill the pot with cold water. Bring to a boil for 5-10 minutes, skimming off all the scum and gunk that floats to the surface. Then, dump all the bones out into a large colander and rinse with cold water. Clean out the stock pot and make sure you remove any of the scum that cooked off while you’re blanching. Once the pot and bones are clean, put them all back into the pot and cover with water.

2. ROAST THE ONION AND GINGER:  This is a step that some argue isn’t necessary. I like to roast the onion and ginger to help bring out some of the flavors that develop when you caramelize the veggies during roasting, but it’s up to you.

3. COOK THE STOCK: Bring the pot full of bones and water back up to a simmer, taking extra care to ensure that it DOES NOT BOIL. Boiling the stock with make it cloudy and break down too much of the bones, adding a lot of unneeded scum to the stock. For the first 10 minutes, skim off any additional scum that comes to the surface, then add in the onions and ginger.

4. TOAST THE SPICES:  In a dry stainless steel or cast iron pan, add in the star anise, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and fennel seeds. Set to medium high heat, and keep the spices moving in the pan so they don’t burn. Once you can start to smell the amazing spices and see a bit of color, take them off the heat.

5. ADD THE REST OF THE SPICES AND INGREDIENTS TO THE STOCK:  Once the spices are toasted and the stock is scum-free, add in all the toasted spices, fish sauce, sugar, and salt to the stock. If you have some disposable tea bags, you can add all the spices in a tea bag to help keep them contained. Otherwise, toss it all in the pot.  NOTE: If you want, you can hold off on adding the spices until the last 1-2 hours of cooking. This makes the soup a bit lighter and helps each spice to stand out on its own a bit better. If you like a more homogeneous soup, you can add the spices at beginning and it’ll taste just fine.

6. SIMMER IT DOWN:  This is where personal preference and time constraints comes into play. Ideally, you’d simmer the stock all night to really develop all the flavors and bring out all the goodness from the venison bones. The longer you cook it, the more flavor you’ll develop. However, the soup can be ready in as few as 2-3 hours if you aren’t patient or don’t want to cook it all night. Continue to keep an eye on the soup, and skim any additional scum and fat that works its way to the surface. NOTE: if you’re going to simmer it overnight, make sure you set your temp and check on it AT LEAST an hour later to ensure that the pot has reached the simmering temperature you want. A large stock pot can take a LONG time to heat up, and if you don’t check it to ensure the temperature is where you want it, it could climb too high and start to boil, cooking all (or most) of the liquid out of your pot. You want only small bubbles and steam to form, not a rolling boil.

7. STRAIN THE SOUP: Once the soup is tasting about how you want it, strain out all the bones, spices, and sediment that has collected in the soup. Depending on how big of a strainer you have, you may need to do this in batches. I’ve found the easiest way is to pull the big pieces out with a pair of tongs, set them in a colander over a bowl, and let them drip. Once all the big pieces are out, pour the excess liquid back into the stock pot, set a wire strainer over a big bowl, and pour all the liquid through. If you want to really make sure it’s clear, repeat the process with a paper towel or coffee filter lining the wire strainer to get the last sediment and particles out of the soup.

8. ASSEMBLE THE SOUP:  The soup is done! You can freeze the soup stock as-is, or get ready to eat. Sear your venison backstrap in a REALLY hot pan, then slice VERY thin. You’ll want to keep it raw, with just a brief sear on the outside to add some flavor. Cook your rice noodles according to the instructions on the package. Now it’s time to assemble. Add the noodles to the bottom of the bowl, and place the sliced onions and sliced venison on top. Heat the soup stock up as hot as you can without boiling, then ladle over the noodles and venison. Let it sit for a minute or two to allow the hot broth to partially cook the venison and soften the onions. From here, you can add whatever ingredients you wish – bean sprouts, sliced jalapenos, chopped green onion, thai basil, Sriracha sauce, hoisin sauce, lime, the options go on and on. I always make sure to add lots of sprouts, thai basil, and lime wedges to my Venison Pho.

When you make it (and I know you will) be sure to tag #livewildeatwild so we can see your handiwork!