Pro Chef Reacts... to Uncle Roger Found THE WORST PHO (Rachael Ray) 

So, if you want a shotcut to authentic pho, find a vietnamese place and buy it. There are plenty of good noodle dishes (like that chinese style freshwater fish noodle soup) you can make relatively fast or with shortcuts. pho is not one of them.

Many moons ago I interviewed a chef whose restaurant was featured on Rachel's "$40 A Day" show. I asked him about his experience and his face went dead and he said, "She's a crazy bitch." That quote has stuck with me ever since.

Right up until she BOILED THE STEAK, I was accepting this as "quick western version", like texmex. Then she BOILED THE STEAK

"dis not short cut... Short cut still bring you to correct destination" I haven't laughed so hard in a long while.

Vietnamese here, if you are interested in Vietnamese cuisine or a traditional bowl of pho, these might be suggestions for you. 1. Broth: you should choose beef bones and chop them into small pieces. Boil it once, then discard the water and add new water. Boiling time depends on the size of beef bones, usually about 8 hours. The ratio of bone and water is about 1:4. Don't let the water get too dry, it will turn cloudy. Also don't roast beef bones, your broth will smell burnt. 2. The seasonings for the broth: shallots, coriander seeds, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, rock sugar (you can choose white sugar if you follow Southern style), salt. Traditionally, pho does not use onions and cloves (the flavor of cloves is strong but slightly burnt). All these ingredients (except salt and sugar, of course) are grilled (best if charcoal grill) and stewed with broth. Depending on your taste, you can take out the seasoning early or late. You can add fish sauce or MSG if you like. 3. Vegetables: Usually, there will be vegetables served with the Northern style, such as coriander, basil, and green onion. Southerners use more vegetables. 4. Beef: If you are using cooked beef, use brisket, boil and let it dry, then slice thinly so that there is enough fat and lean meat. If you want to use rare beef, use beef tenderloin. Normally, Vietnamese beef is tougher but sweeter than American or Japanese beef. In fact, you can find cheap beef that sometimes makes your pho taste better (that's the great thing about pho, making cheap ingredients weirdly delicious). 5. Pho: You should buy fresh pho, but if not, you can buy packaged pho. You should dip the pho in warm water (70-80 degrees Celsius) before putting it in a bowl and pouring the broth in. Usually pho is very fragile, so if it is too hot, it can affect its quality. 6. Additives: You can add chili garlic vinegar, lime juice, fermented chili sauce (or sriracha) along with the fried dough. However, in my opinion the cheapest, most time-saving way and you can "Cheat" is to go to the local pho shops, ask them to buy a broth. You can then put them in bags and store them in the freezer. Every time you use it, you just need to put raw beef and vegetables in the bowl. Then pour the boiled pho water and you're done. Pho sellers will sell you broth for a very cheap price (because they throw away the excess stock at the end of the day to make a fresh batch).

Food without love isn’t good. This is food that’s being made to fill a time slot.

I’m Vietnamese and my family has been In the restaurant business since I was 13 and I’m 48 now that’s pretty much all I know. Watching her make pho made me cringe, definitely no garlic in pho!

I'm here to confirm that bay leaf is not used in pho. I have never ever seen a real bay leaf in my life

Man didn't realise that I can learn so much from a reaction video of a reaction video. The differing opinions highlight and enhance specific points that were brought up. Keep up the good work!

They say pho is one of those things you can’t go wrong in a restaurant. So clearly she done an amazing job🤣

This pho is like someone heard about it and some of its ingredients, did 0 research, and then make it by memory alone.

Jamie doesnt just fuck up Asian food, hes practically pissed off the food culture from every country and continent

The fact that this is brian reacting to uncle roger reacting makes this a lot better

"Jamie, you just like fucking up Asian dishes don't you?" It's Jamie Oliver... what do you expect

Pho is literally one of my all time favorite foods. I’m lucky enough to grow up in a neighborhood with a ton of Pho restaurants, and I guarantee if I selected one a random, they would wipe the floor with Rachel Ray.

I completely agree that pho is a dish that cannot be cheated. Imagine my complete grief when my mom poured out my pho broth after simmering everything for 7+ hours. Plus, my mom does what Rachel Ray does with the beef to my broth all the time. Cooks stuff that shouldn't be cooked in the broth.

12:17 To answer your question, traditional proteins used for pho bo include eye of round, brisket, bo vien (Vietnamese meatballs), and tripe. 🙂

"Phó is not shit soup!" Well, I just found my newest catchphrase.

This is typical of the slipshod cooking being “fed” to the American home Chef by Celebrity Chefs! Thanks for reviewing Uncle Rodger’s video and exposing the misinformation network. I just found your channel and will follow to continue my exposure to quality cooking techniques and ideas.

Brisket works well in phở. It's one of the most popular toppings. But it has to be slow cooked until tender.

I have never considered the shape of bowls before and that was actually super helpful information, thanks for the knowledge!

Pho can come with a variety of beef/steak toppings. Chuck, brisket, flank steak, skirt steak can all be used as a COOKED Pho topping. These cuts of beef are often boiled as part of the first part of making of the broth, taken out when fully cooked, refrigerated for several hours while the pho broth continues to cook, then sliced thinly right before the bowl of pho is made. Quickly cooling the meat after it has been boiled causes any connective tissue that was gelatinizing to congeal and change its texture, giving it a nice slightly chewy bite. If you want the UNCOOKED, rare, beef that is cooked in the bowl by the broth, you want eye of round sliced paper thin against the grain.

I will admit, Rachel Ray once visited a restaurant I had worked at for her show on dining for 30 dollars a day and I thought "wow, that's really cool." This Pho is not cool however.

Thai basil is worth growing hands down ❤️ I use it for pho, salads, spring rolls, and rice bowls. I’m sure I could make a sandwich and pasta dish with it too.

i'd love to know where these celeb chefs get their info, like did she / her team never consult a single vietnamese person to find out how it's traditionally made. just wing it lol

This is so refreshing to see a youtuber who makes a reaction video and actually is honest when he doesn't know something. This is great! Keep up the good work :)

No garlic. My family doesn't use bay leaf. I imagine other spices would override the bay leaf fragrance. I use a little bit of Chinese 5-spice and cloves but not coriander. I got the idea from a popular brand name's pho spices sachet. I do cheat with the pressure cookers, Sriracha sauce substituting red chili, and arm or chuck roast beef. Thin slice beef is dunked quickly in the individual broth pot for each serving, then all is poured into the bowl of noodle. Yes, the broth doesn't look great or clear with the way I prepare the beef. But I wanna make sure my kids eating no uncooked meat. Now, my kids are men, and they prefer to chew on a cow's leg instead of a medium rare steak, jk.

Fun fact: there's also a vegan version of pho called pho chay ('chay' means vegetarian in Vietnamese), since many Vietnamese people who follow Buddhism don't eat meat.

I added MSG to my spice cabinet because of Uncle Roger, and I cook with it regularly now. MSG is the tits!

Wtf 🤮. Some grocery stores sell pre-sliced beef in the frozen section. That would have been way better than the boiled chunks she used.

The only "cheat" I do in making pho is using a pressure cooker to speed up the time. Everything else should stay the same or it wont taste like pho anymore

I made pho the other day. It was my 3rd attempt and I nailed it. I finally got the balance between the spices, onion and ginger perfect. The bones I used were direct from a butcher instead of the supermarket. I am convinced that made a huge difference. I eat Vietnamese whenever I am in Dorchester/Boston. It's the closest I have ever come to a great pho. Its black cardamom not green.

The French influence especially in baked goods. A great Vietnamese bakery always such a delight.

MSG also occurs naturally in foods like tomatoes and soy sauce. People say they’re allergic to it or it gives them headaches but it’s very hard to eat a diet completely free of it honestly!

She literally says we're using beef stock because we are making beef pho. Then goes on to say beef, chicken, fish, doesn't matter. Well which is it Rachael?

If you thought this was bad, look up her first video where she made pho (she pronounced it fo), with pork and egg noodles. It was so offensive I wrote her a letter.

I am working in a Vietnamese restaurant, I love pho and my family loves it too. So we NEVER put garlic and bay leaves in pho stock. If you do that, your fucked up 🤣 and yes we love msg, we do put msg on the table

16:18 My family used to live on Guam, and my dad got hooked on Thai birdseye chilies. He found some seeds and now he grows his own.

The headache, sleeplessness, cancer and all the other stuff was never proven and is most likely solely in people's heads. There are enough papers on it as Karen's insisted it is unhealthy. It's literally less unhealthy than tablesalt.

Chef Brian! Recently found your vids! Love the educational part of them! It has really helped me understand the cooking process and made my stomach much happier!

My grandma do “short cut” pho when she don’t have time but even that would usually take her a few hours. There is no such thing as short cut like how Rachel is showing you. Please just to go pho at a pho restaurant.

Would love to watch your reaction to Uncle Roger's reaction to Chef Wang Gang's fried rice. I think that's the best fried rice that's ever been featured on his channel and would love to hear your input as well

Uncle Roger's reviews crack me up. She pho'd that dish all the way up.

Absolutely love your type of content, providing great facts and knowledge, very much appreciated

I enjoy how you explain things. Thanks for the great content!

Re uncle roger going off on rachel ray garlic/bay leaf addition. Uncle was right, we don't use garlic or bay leaf in pho broth. Only charred onion and ginger. Speaking as an actual restaurant pho owner/cook.

Im fairly certain when I was doing my training, that my head chef taught me that bay leaf isn’t out of the question due to the French influence and that pho is heavily influenced by the French dish “pot au feu”, which is also where the roasting of the onion comes from

Always makes me sad seeing people butchering other countrys cuisine. Just tells you they dont respect the craft.

As a Vietnamese from the capital, watching this video kill me inside. The amount of things she did wrong make me cringe so hard.

9:30 yes, we do grow bay leaves in Vietnam, especially in the South since that was where the French first set foot on Vietnamese land a couple of centuries ago.

We don’t use bay leaf in Pho though

The only "fish" pho I've seen is a seafood pho is with fish cake, crab, and shrimp. I'm not sure if there's any other kind

Aw, you talked over my favorite part "If you don't live near good Vietnamese restaurant, move to better city!" Lol

Pho broth is ultimately a French consomme like you've mentioned there's a lot of French influence in Vietnamese cooking. Especially with Pho and Banh Mi. BTW Pho is one of those dishes that shouldn't have "shortcuts." But I don't put bay leaves in my pho broth. Something else she fucked up is that I like to toast my spices in a pan on low heat to bring out the natural flavor and aroma. I cook my bones for 8-9 hours but add my spice bags later (with 2 hours left). If you put the spice bag in TOO early, the flavors of the spices dissipates so I like to put it in later so the flavors are there and noticeable.

Fun fact there is no blood in meat (as the blood would make it turn rancid extremely quickly due to its oxygen content) that is in fact myoglobin (what is often mistaken for blood in a steak) while they perform similar functions they are different chemicals.

This is the equivalent of me watching someone butcher gumbo roux. There’s just certain bases that must be respected. Pho broth & Roux are sacred dammit lmfaoo😂

I grew up eating all kinds of pho from the street stalls right in the alleyway to fancy restaurants famous nationwide and I have never been unhappy with my experience. This pho makes me so sad just to look at it. I can't imagine being served this and have to eat it out of social courtesy.

these videos are great. I'm having a really good time right now watching these

For the thinly sliced raw beef in pho, top round is best. I also used arm roast quite a bit...my market has this on bogo sale a lot. For the cooked beef in the broth when you are making it, brisket and flank is typical, but I have also used skirt steak because my Mexican market has it on sale often because fajitas! But it's not the best honestly...a little tough. There ARE a decent shortcut...frozen pho broth concentrate works in a pinch. Mama La's is what I usually use. In college I also had pho broth in cans (it was in a blue can) in my pantry...it was okay. Convenient for quick single/double servings. Both shortcuts are better than whatever Rachel made.

Wow. I thought my pho was terrible (it is, compared to legit pho) but Rachael took it to another level. Brian... you should do Mexican mom's reacting to Rachael Ray pozole next if you haven't already.

I'm having so much fun with your videos, and I'm learning too. I'm subscribing.

Apparently, the Bay Leaf used in this video is the wrong kind, though. There's a variant that grows in the whole South East Asia called Indonesian Bay Leaf or Salam leaves. I think that may be it.

Thai basil always tastes nicer & better instead of Italian basil which has a stronger earthy slightly bitter kick to it.

I love Brian explaining things technically makes me forget i'm an idiot that burns water directly from the tap

Great quote "pho is not sh*t soup" agreed

Usually, I call that plate. It's definitely not a bowl.

Thank you for reviewing. I knew the steps were bad but having someone explain why was perfect.

I had to pause the video when you started talking about Consume. Another way to make a clear stock without the use of an egg, is to freeze the stock, not matter what stock it is. Then, place it in a strainer covered with cheese cloth, or several chux cloths, over a bowl and allow to slowly defrost in your fridge. All the solid is left behind and the stock/broth is clear

Love this, this woman, should not call this dish pho, call it whatever you put into soup.. :(

Seeing the boiled strip steak slices reminded me of the 80's movie classic, "Better Off Dead" starring John Cusack. In the film, hit on-screen mother boiled bacon for one of the dinners. Also as disgusting...

Found this channel at like 7 and already like 5 videos deep. It’s addicting 😂

Love the channel and content!

You said Mirepoix and flashbacks to school days with my first teacher's voice asking every student who was distracted how to make a mirepoix. Every once in awhile someone would actually pass the question and ask what sort of stock she wants before guessing on the bones.

I learned to make Pho from a Vietnamese grandmother. I watched this on Uncle Roger's channel and I could hear her cussing and spinning in her grave. I called my friend and we watched it together. Best laugh in ages. One question. WHAT THE HELL IS "FORTIFIED. " broth?

Depending on how you like your pho, you can have just brisket, just raw thin slices, both or the combo that have both with tripe and tendon (my fav)

The pho place by me uses thin cut flank steak and they bring it to you raw on a plate you add it in yourself like hot pot so it's rare

Brian I don’t know if you’ll read this but your failure speech made me cry. I wrecked my car and got laid off in the same month. I’m so lost with living in the middle of nowhere and no car to get to interviews or to work if I get a job and hearing you talk about overcoming your failures is the first time since July when I got laid off that I felt some sort of hope. Thank you.

I love your comments regarding both the cook or Chef that you and uncle Roger are talking about you’re both hysterical your reactions and your commentaries just I kept laughing out loud I’m hooked on you now so I subscribed

while a french cut, I really like Bravette for Pho, it's tough if you don't cook it fast and hot, but if slicing super thin for pho, it works amazingly, also super cheap cut

Brian, beef pho uses eye round/eye of round as the "lean" steak and brisket as the "fatty" steak.

I've always loved pho, but never attempted to make it - I had no idea how to go about it, and I'd rather support the local restaurants here that do an amazing job. One of the places near me has a very unique blend of several influences - vietnamese, chinese, thai, and more. As a result they serve both an amazing traditional pho and a house-made special with wonton. Nothing I try making will compare...especially not if I follow Miss Ray's example 🤣

Love the vids keep it up!

Confirmed no garlic and bay leaf in Pho. My gosh watching this is painful 😣

Great channel I actually used to remember you back then when u were doing the Bobby Flay challenge i actually was rooting for you to win and im glad u did.

I've never been to Vietnam, but Hacienda Heights is pretty close; I'm on the west coast (USA) and the Pho we get here always comes with a plate of fresh basil, mint, cilantro, bean sprout, lime, and thin sliced green chilies. These are always served on the side, never cooked in the soup. I would be disappointed if my Pho arrived with all that stuff already in it.

There's one thing in that Pho that relates to Vietnam though, the colour of the broth is the same as the Mekong

I just learned that the pho restaurant near my parents house is really authentic. They do everything you mentioned except they use Jalapeno's instead of red chilis. But I feel like I can allow it given how good the food tastes.

Maybe try Uncle Roger's reaction to Jet Tila's Pho, it was pretty good according to Uncle Roger.

Love you videos, was born in Brooklyn. Grew up and Staten Island and now live in Georgia. I wish I can get a taste of some of your food. But I'll just have to settle for Southern BBQ

They use brisket and eye of round, but any extremely thin cuts is fine. My favorite is brisket and boneless shortribs.

I am amazed how it is even possible to go so wrong with a dish...

A good shortcut to Pho is to simply make the pho broth it self ahead of time and freeze it. In my case I cooked it down so that it was reduced and put it into ice cube trays. Now I have a legitimate instant pho broth that I can head up and add some water back to for consistency and voila. Instant Pho broth without having to do what Rachael Ray did.

Watching all your videos makes me want to learn more about Asian cooking-- I've been binging them lol

Brian: Runs the world renowned kitchen. Me: Never heard of it :)

I absolutely LOVE pho! We have a lot a fantastic Vietnamese restaurants that serve it nearby. I have never made it...but maybe after these reaction videos I might try it. Poor Rachel has never enjoyed this in a restaurant. It's too bad...

If you like Puerto Rican food, it's also full of MSG. Adobo, Sazon... all full of MSG.

Most pho place in chicago use eye round, it fits nicely on meat slicer wen cold enough u can slice it paper thin.

19:02 I feel the pain in your voice when you groan in frustration as Rachael Ray added the Beef straight into broth

There is no fish pho but there is a seafood pho. With Kani stick, shrimp, squid and fish ball

That's so many herbs. It's like a pound of herbs for one bowl. At a Vietnamese place they give you like two sprigs of basil.