By guest blogger
This week’s blog is all about pho. I love pho because of the aromatic broth, the clean cuts of beef, the crunchy scallions and the chewy rice noodles. The name pho is thought to be derived from the french word feu which means fire.There are two types of pho: northern pho and southern pho. Northern pho traditionally is light and its condiments are a watery chile sauce, bird’s eye peppers and scallions. On the other hand, southern pho has bean sprouts, jalapenos, hot sauce and a whole plate of herbs!
You make pho broth by simmering soup bones in boiling water for 6-8 hours with the spices. The main spices are anise, cardamon, cinnamon, cloves and coriander. Once you have tasted your broth you will notice that the spices add most of the flavor. Then you can cook some rice noodles according to the directions on the package. Slice some partially frozen beef into thin strips and put the beef into bowls.This makes the meat easier to slice. Then add the rice noodles and pour your boiling hot broth on the beef and noodles. It is okay if the beef takes a while to cook in the broth. This is natural. Chop up some herbs–you can use basil, bean sprouts, cilantro,mint and jalapenos. Finally, put your pho and condiments on the table and you are ready to eat.
We made pho not very long ago and were not super happy about it. The broth was bland and did not have much flavor. The beef, however, was good. It was juicy and cooked considerably well in the soup. The soup didn’t have a lot of flavor because we did not use fish sauce or toast the spices for very long for fear of burning them. Along with making our own pho we also tried instant pho which was also not very good because the noodles had a paper-thin texture. We tried using the leftover beef broth from our homemade pho and we also used the instant pho’s oil and spice packet, which both made it better. Neither was a great on the first try, but we will try again.
In conclusion, you should try pho and then try making it at home. You might love it like I do.
Sources:
Lucky Peach Issue 19
Hannah Huyunh’s Prezi All about Pho: What’s Pho? And is it good for you? https://prezi.com/lkrm-njfwpzn/all-about-pho/
How my dinner got on my plate 
What an interesting post! I enjoyed reading about the different types of pho and was surprised by the number of condiment choices. What are your favorite condiments? Do you prefer northern or southern pho? I will look forward to reading your next post. Can’t wait to find out your solution to the perfect broth!
Gena