Slicing beef eye round thinly for pho

[Hualicopter]

So pho is one of my absolute favorites dishes, but I've always been at the mercy of my local grocery stores selling thinly sliced beef eye round to use in the dish. The eye round is usually poor quality, too thick, or absurdly expensive. I know the best way to do this properly would be to just get a meat slicer but now that I'm dabbling in nicer knives, is it reasonable to expect to be able to make such thin slices of eye round with a knife or is this just not the right tool for the job? Would splurging on a suji make any difference compared to my gyuto? I was able to get a couple mm slices but still much thicker than I'd like.

Thanks for the insight!

 

[ptolemy]

i'd recommend freezing it for about 30-60 minutes and then use longest possible knife blade so u can do it all in 1 slice. then, if it's sharp enough, it should slice it thin enough... but if you're making pho often enough (at least once a week, i'd def invest in a electric slicer)

 

[Simply]

+1 even 30 mins in the freezer can make a big difference.

 

[panda]

roll into a tube with plastic wrap, pop in freezer for 1 hour. use x-large benriner

 

[Heckel7302]

Yeah, for super thin slices of meat, partially frozen is the best, most effective way.

 

[blokey]

2 dimensional cow

 

[hd_snow]

I make Italian Beef frequently. The freezing suggestion helps a lot as does having a long sharp blade. But honestly absolutely nothing I tried came close to an actual slicer. I use it for other stuff as well turkey, ham, cheese, etc. The only thing is I never cut raw meat on the slicer. It all roasted or smoked and typically chilled first. Not that it can't but it woukd add a new dimension to the clean-up and sanitizing.

 

[Justinv]

my vote is partial freeze plus Chinese vegetable cleaver.

 

[Just a DK]

use chicken or short ribs / tongue / tripe for home.

My viet friend said beef is a southern / westernized thing though and gets up in arms about beef pho.

 

[M1k3]

Partially/nearly frozen is the trick.

Deli slicer > mandolin > thin (height and thickness) long knife, Sujihiki is great > Gyuto/Chef > Work Donkey Gyuto > Meat Cleaver

 

[Hualicopter]

It's safe to use a suji with partially frozen meat? I wasn't sure if that would damage the knife or not. I did not think about a mandolin at all, I may need to look into getting one and it'll be way more useful than a deli slicer.

use chicken or short ribs / tongue / tripe for home.

My viet friend said beef is a southern / westernized thing though and gets up in arms about beef pho.

I'm actually not a huge fan of pho ga. Very much prefer pho tai. I'm not sure about beef being westernized though, I grew up eating it primarily with beef but I could see how the eye round is westernized and it's traditionally with tripe, shank, etc.

 

[M1k3]

It's safe to use a suji with partially frozen meat? I wasn't sure if that would damage the knife or not. I did not think about a mandolin at all, I may need to look into getting one and it'll be way more useful than a deli slicer.

I'm actually not a huge fan of pho ga. Very much prefer pho tai. I'm not sure about beef being westernized though, I grew up eating it primarily with beef but I could see how the eye round is westernized and it's traditionally with tripe, shank, etc.

Yeah, it's fine. If the meat was frozen solid, then it'd be an issue.

 

[Hualicopter]

Yeah, it's fine. If the meat was frozen solid, then it'd be an issue.

Gotcha okay, I will try again with my next eye round! And if my gyuto doesn't cut it then I will use it as an excuse to buy a suji hahah.