Anyone Ever Made Vietnamese Pho?

[On the Road]

I just did tonight. It was an experiment that turned out better than I expected.

Yesterday, I bought some beef bones and brisket to make a hearty stew. Snowstorm in Maryland kind of thing. Also browsed through a nice Asian supermarket and bought a lot of funky stuff, including rice noodles.

Once the bones had been boiling for awhile, pho just seemed like a more interesting alternative than beef stew, but I didn't know how to make it. There are a ton of recipes on the internet, all different. Apparently, pho is like barbeque for Vietnamese. Every family has a different recipe, and they all claim theirs is the best. So some choices are required.

I had to go out again to get fresh cilantro, mint, basil, ginger, scallions, limes, and bean sprouts, along with fish sauce and chili sauce. I used five spice instead of the cinnamon and cloves called for and put a ton of ginger in, which made a big difference. And juiced up the broth with some of that powdered Korean beef broth and a little sugar.

The soup itself was pretty easy, but a lot of time went into rinsing and prepping all the fresh sides -- most of the vegetables are put in the soup raw on the table.

It was great -- the only thing I would do differently next time is adding some flank steak to the soup at the end -- part of the soup meat is supposed to be served kind of medium rare.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. pho bang.... yum yum

[On the Road]

3. I Figured There Must be Another Fan Here

I've seen DUers carrying on about pho on other threads.

[Syn_Dem]

2. Pho Bo Vien

The best stuff :9

[Field Of Dreams]

4. Never made it myself...

but god, I love that stuff.

I travel 45 minutes to get it at some good places outside Washington D.C.

[On the Road]

5. What's Your Favorite, Field Of Dreams?

I love the stuff in Pho 75 in Arlington and Nam Viet in Upper Georgetown. There is a down home place in Wheaton that's actually kind of bland. I know there are others but I haven't experimented.

If you love it, seriously think about making it for friends. It takes a little time but was not that hard.

[Orangeone]

6. What about

Star Anise? That's the most important ingredient.

[chaska]

7. Oh man, you're killin' me.

I used to go a couple of times a week to my favorite pho place in Seattle when I lived there. Now that I'm back in Bubbaland USA (SC) I can't get it anywhere.

I may have to try making my own, too ... just like I had to do with green tea ice cream.