Pho

Phởơ is a Vietnamese classic. It is a delicious soup consisting of broth, meat or seafood, noodles and greens. The Vietnamese tend to eat Phơ for breakfast, and you can get it at roadside stalls, small cafes or fancy restaurants. It won't ever truly taste the same twice, which makes it a good dish for a novice cook.

The first ingredient you buy is this:

which is nothing more than a Phơ bouillion cube. It goes into a nice big pot of water with your chicken to start off your broth and to cook your chicken (if you are using it). I decided to use both chicken and beef.


After the ginger and onion finish roasting on the stove, you (or Ty because she has teflon hands) peel them, flatten them and drop them in the broth for added flavor.

Here are the rest of the ingredients we used:

1. Thinly sliced sirloin that you add to the Phơ right at the end - it cooks in the soup and it was delicious.

2. Spring onions and chives - also added at the end to cook in broth.

3. Bean sprouts and a green herb (seriously, it won't be long before Buon Appetit calls and offers me a job!!). These are not cooked, but placed on the table and people add to the top of their soup.

4. I wasn't sure Alli would eat rice noodles, so I bought teeny, tiny star pasta hoping to turn her soup into a chicken noodle-type deal.

5. Sliced limes and chilis are also placed on the table for diners to add at their choosing.

6. Cooked rice noodles and the cooked chicken that has been shredded.

Alli and I have been reading this book, so I thought now might be the right time for her to try out soup. Her declaration - "This is the best dinner ever!"
In all fairness, she is a tad dramatic, but it was lovely that my second foray into Vietnamese cooking resulted in something the WHOLE family could eat.

Ratings - 4 out of 5 lotus flowers - easy to prepare, family approved, healthy - not sure I had my ingredients to broth ratio right and I think it could have been more flavorful

AND NOW.......

In the spirit of sharing, I am happy to add on this little segment called "Keeping it real" where, when possible, I will share my mess-ups, mistakes, oopsies and catastrophes.

I had planned on just adding the star pasta to Alli's Phơ when it was steaming hot and thought that the pasta would cook (somewhere all Italian grandmothers are shaking their heads in disgust) but it turns out, that doesn't work at all. So they got tossed, but on the flip side, it forced Alli to eat the rice noodles which she loved.

and I may have accidently set fire to one of our kitchen towels by leaving it on an electronic burner.