ChowTown.ca

The Current Titan of Cowtown Comfort

You may know my track record here as regards local creations and modifications to existing culinary transplants. —assuming you’re a former reader. Anyway, over the years, I’ve hunted down, unpacked, rebuilt and posted the absolute best home-cooked ways to enjoy the icons of our city’s culinary history—from the crisp, airy batter of Silver Inn’s legendary ginger beef, to the exact spice ratios of a great Caesar cocktail, and recently, how Calgary and Edmonton separately made the donair their own. I thought I had the Calgary-created food pantheon completely mapped out.

I was wrong.

It feels entirely criminal to admit this, but up until embarrassingly recent times, I had a massive, gaping blind spot in my local food knowledge: Calgary’s very own remake of Phở Sa Tế.

Now, I’m no stranger to a great, sloppy bowl of noodles. I’ve eaten authentic phở and its innumerable cousins all over the world, including right at the source throughout many regions of Vietnam. I’m used to the generally traditional, clear, delicate broths of Southeast Asia. So when I was looking for new things to try in Calgary following our evacuation and my most recent surgery, which left me with a great deal of time on my hands, I figured I’d mostly—in all likelihood—seen it all. Then I discovered the rising reputation of our very own hyper local Satế style of Vietnamese Phở.

The creation that has taken hold here in recent years is by no means a light soup; it’s a thick, fiery, peanut-creamy masterpiece heavily specific to Calgary’s Vietnamese diaspora and the grateful foodie throngs who have discovered its excellence.

As I mentioned earlier, life threw me a bit of a curveball recently. I’ve been stuck in the hospital dealing with a lengthy stay and multiple major surgeries. It has been a rough ride, but let me tell you, this dish is sitting firmly at the absolute top of my list the second I am back to normal and can survive the aftermath.. While trapped in this hospital bed, I became completely obsessed with making new content for chowtown. I’ve spent hours researching and creating both this and other new recipes based on the exact food science of each—more specifically in relation to the case at hand, the ultimate Calgary-style phở Satế recipe.

The secret to this recipe is frying down the lemongrass, garlic, and peanut butter into a rich paste before whisking it into a deeply extracted, bone broth base. Since I’m still on the mend, I need you guys to be my taste testers.

I’ve followed my usual M.O. of scouring the foodie world for recipes and correct methods before stitching together something entirely new that looks like it would work. Okay, it isn’t that simple. I’m a compulsive researcher—one who digs for as much information on the current thing in my head as can be found.

So, call it process or proclivity, I really do my homework. New tools that allow me to check for possible issues and make corrections before even the first test cook have also turned my recipe-building game on its head, saving both time and ingredients (money) when bringing a new recipe to life.

If you’re brave and this recipe appears up to the task, then please give it a spin, tell me how it turns out, and help me pass the time.

Sláinte,

THE CALGARY-STYLE PHO SATE 

INGREDIENTS:

The Aromatic Beef Base:

• 4 lbs beef marrow and knuckle bones
• 1 lb beef brisket
• 1 large yellow onion, halved
• 4-inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced open
• Spice pouch: 5 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 black cardamom pod, 1 tsp coriander seeds, 4 whole cloves
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp yellow rock sugar* (or 2 tsp regular white sugar)

*Chef’s Note: Traditional Vietnamese pho cooks prefer yellow rock sugar because it provides a clean, bright, and incredibly mellow sweetness. Unlike regular white sugar, which can taste sharp and aggressive, rock sugar rounds out the salty fish sauce and intense beef fats without making the broth taste like dessert.

 Sate Paste (Tương Ớt Sa Tế) “The Bomb”:

• ½  cup neutral oil (like canola)
• 6 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 stalks lemongrass, bottom thirds only, crushed and minced fine
• 3 tbsp Vietnamese chili flakes aka: Crushed Bird’s Eye Chili (or use crushed red pepper)
• ½  cup creamy peanut butter *look for a lower sugar brand or better yet a natural peanut butter
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (or regular)
• 1 tsp tomato paste

Assembly & Serving:

• 1 lb eye of round steak (beef round), sliced paper-thin against the grain
• 1 lb medium, dry Bánh Phở Khô noodles cooked and rinsed
• Toppings: Sliced white onions, green onions, cilantro, fresh bean sprouts and lime wedges

METHOD:

1. Roast the Bones and Sear the Brisket

Preheat your oven to 425°F (220°C). Arrange the beef marrow and knuckle bones on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes until deeply browned and sizzling. While the bones roast, heat a thin film of oil in your large stockpot over high heat. Sear the beef brisket on all sides until a dark, rich crust forms, then remove the brisket and set it aside. This roasting and searing replaces the traditional parboiling step, injecting a massive wave of caramelized beef flavor that holds up perfectly against the heavy sate paste.

2. Char the Aromatics and Toast Spices

Place the halved onion and sliced ginger cut-side down in a dry skillet over high heat until deeply charred. In a separate dry pan over medium heat, toast your star anise, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, and cloves for 3 minutes until aromatic, then transfer them into a mesh spice pouch.

3. Simmer the Rich Beef Base

Transfer the roasted bones directly into your large stockpot along with the seared brisket. Pour a splash of boiling water onto the roasting pan, scrape up all the delicious browned bits, and empty them into the pot. Add 5 litres of fresh water, the charred onion, and charred ginger. Bring to a gentle boil, then drop to a low simmer. Skim any foam that rises over the first hour. Remove the brisket after 2.5 hours (chill and slice it later), but let the bones simmer for at least 6 to 8 hours to extract maximum gelatin.

4. Infuse Spices and Finish

Drop the mesh spice pouch into the broth during the final 90 minutes of the simmer—adding them too early will make the broth bitter. Once the simmer is complete, strain the liquid, discarding all the solids. Stir in the fish sauce and rock sugar, keeping some of the rendered surface beef fat intact to help bind the heavy peanut oil later.. 

5. Fry the Sate Paste

While the broth is finishing, heat the neutral oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the minced garlic and lemongrass, frying for 2 minutes until intensely fragrant but not browned. Stir in the chili flakes and tomato paste, cooking for 1 minute. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the peanut butter (opt for a lower-sugar brand to avoid burning), hoisin sauce, and soy sauce until smooth and thick.

6. Marry the Broth

Whisk the warm sate paste directly into your strained, hot beef broth. The soup will transform into an opaque, vibrant orange-red broth with a rich layer of aromatic oil on top. Taste and adjust with a pinch of salt or an extra splash of fish sauce if needed.

7. Assemble the Calgary Way

Divide the cooked noodles among large heated bowls. Top with slices of the cooked brisket and paper-thin strips of the raw eye of round steak. Ladle the boiling-hot sate broth directly over the raw beef to cook it instantly. Garnish generously with white onions, green onions, and cilantro. Serve the bean sprouts and lime wedges on the side.

Listen, building out a recipe for a dish this rich and profoundly complex while surviving on hospital food is a special kind of self-inflicted torture. But some things are worth obsessing over, and Calgary’s legendary pho sate is absolutely one of them. If you give this recipe a spin, please leave a comment and let me know how it goes. Be my taste testers, give me your honest feedback, and help me count down the days until I can get back to a real kitchen and cook a bowl for myself.