Guay Teaw (AKA Pho)
Whenever my family would host a get together, everyone would bring a signature dish, and my mom was ALWAYS in charge of this one. No one else made it as well as she did - and I've not found a restaurant that was just as good. This dish is typically not found in a Thai restaurant, as it is commonly made in the Northeastern section and is more known as the Vietnamese version of Pho. People who HAVE heard of this mistakenly call it "curry soup" which as you can see is incorrect as there is no curry. People like me add peanut butter, chili peppers and siracha so it LOOKS like curry to someone not eating it, LOL. As a child, I loved having a big bowl of this and a tall refreshing glass of Pepsi! Every time we would eat this, my father would always talk about how after checking on my mom right after she gave birth to me, he went down to the closest street vendor and had himself a big bowl of Guaw Teaw to celebrate.
BTW - its pronounced "Gway" like Gwar.. but Gway... then Tee-Oh! "Gway Tee-oh!" :thumb:
INGREDIENTSRice Noodles (any kind – various is best)
Dash of salt
Beef Boullion
Preserved Pickled Garlic
Ginger - cleaned, not peeled, cut into chunks
Fish Sauce
3 lb meat (usually rump roast) - this is usually for 2 gallons of soup.
Celery (cleaned and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces)
Dried Anis seed (Star anise)
Thai Beef Meatballs (Best brand is "Bangkok Meatball Corp") 3-4 packages for 2 gallons of soup
Sweet soy sauce
Scallions - chopped finely
Cilantro - rough chop
Bean sprouts
MSG (optional)
Oyster sauce (optional)
Cinnamon sticks (optional)
Oxtail (optional)
Chinese Broccoli (Gah-Nah in Thai) AKA Kai-Lan (optional – just clean it and chop it up)
Shrimp (optional – but needs to be added at the last moment)
DIRECTIONS1. Soak rice noodles for 2 hours, until soft. Once soft, drain, let set in colander until dry. Once dry, store in gallon zip lock bag(s) and store in fridge for later.
2. In a large pot – add all remaining ingredients except meat & vegetables, along with 1-2 gallons of water.
3. After boiling, add meat, whole. Slicing before is optional, but it tends to overcook the meat.
4. Once meat is cooked, take out, slice, put back in – put on lowest heat, cover
5. Add vegetables – allow to cook
6. Add meatballs – allow to cook
7. Stock should cook for several hours – best after 24 hours
8. In a separate small - boiling water. Get the a handful of noodles from the ziplock bag and put noodles in boiling water and cook for no more than a minute - then drain. Having a strainer for this will make your life so much easier - you can put the noodles in the strainer, and dip it into the boiling water and stir the noodles with a chopstick, then you got an easy way to drain it. Viola!
9. Put noodles in bowl with bean sprouts and chopped scallions and chopped cilantro
10. Add soup, with meat and veggies
11. Add toppings that you like:
Sugar
Dried chili pepper flakes
Chilli pepper (siracha) in vinegar
Jalepenos
Crushed peanuts or peanut butter
Mint leaves - fresh and chopped
Basil leaves – fresh and chopped
Lime juice
Fried garlic in oil
Fried onion
Fish sauce
Soy sauce
Oyster sauce
Preserved cabbage leaves
MSG
Now, the reason that there is no measurements is because this soup is always made "to taste". The chef makes the broth to their taste, and the guests make their own individual bowls to taste. Typically, you'd set the toppings on the table within reach of everyone - and they would add what and how much of what they want.
TIPSTypically, what I like to do is put the non-eating stuff (preserved pickled garlic, ginger, cinnamon sticks, star anise) into cheesecloth - do 4 of them, tie them up with extra long twine, and hang them over the side like teabags. I always hated biting into the anise or ginger by accident. My mom ate the garlic one time on a dare - that was funny. And the oxtail comes out soooo yummy!
What I've also been doing is setting aside really thin slices of the meat before i cook it - and adding it on top of each bowl as it gets served. I noticed restaurants doing it. The soup is HOT and cooks the meat and its just so tender!
Since this was always a party food for us - the recipe is more than enough to feed the Thai army! But, even if it was just my parents and I, she would still make the same amount. The soup actually freezes quite well, and so do the noodles - just fully defrost before dropping it into the boiling water. And if you have a bowl or less left, it can always be added to the next batch as sort of a starter! I actually like this - we make a tradition out of it - makes me remember all the parties we had before.......
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