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Vietnamese classic pho

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gonefishin View Drop Down
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    Posted: 15 January 2014 at 08:03
   Here is a wonderful page on Vietnamese Pho.  You can visit the page directly by visiting JSonline

Vietnamese classic pho gains steam in America By Jan Uebelherr of the Journal Sentinel






Thi Cao left his native Vietnam in 1975 in what he describes as a "fairly dramatic" journey.

He was just a few months old, so he had only heard of the long trip to America. "There were helicopters, running, refugee camps, lost identity and a boat ride over," Cao said.

They left behind the life they knew, settling in Madison and a new world. They missed many things, but one dish pulled at them: pho.

NATIONAL DISH

Pho (pronounced fuh) is a fragrant broth-and-noodle dish that has been described as the national dish of Vietnam.

"The broth itself is so flavorful," said Cao, a longtime Milwaukee-area chef who is now at Buckley's Restaurant and Bar at 801 N. Cass St. - where he included pho on a recent Vietnamese New Year menu.

"People in Vietnam eat it pretty much all hours of the day," he noted.

But very few people there make it themselves. Why bother? It's time-consuming, taking hours to simmer just the broth.

Besides, steaming bowls of savory pho can be found on nearly every street corner, and for not a lot of money. The classic version of this beloved street food uses beef, but there are chicken and vegetarian versions as well.

Pho is thought to have originated from the French pot au feua traditional and hearty stew. It was introduced to Vietnam during the French colonization during the 1880s, according to Cuong Huynh, who - like Cao - fled Vietnam in 1975 during the fall of Saigon.

He settled in California and, like so many Vietnamese establishing a life in America, missed being able to go out on a street corner and get a comforting bowl of pho.

"Vietnam is a country of comfort food and snack food and street food," said Huynh, who is working on a documentary film called "A Century of Pho."

He added, "A lot of people do not have money, but they do like to hang out. Street foods are all over the place. One bowl of pho will get you going in the morning."

Huynh is a managing partner in Ui-Cha! Pho, which has a pho shop at a university in Missoula, Mont., and plans for more cafes on other college campuses.

He started a blog called Loving Pho about three years ago when he saw a lot of information about pho on the Internet - much of it wrong.

First, he pointed out, pho is not soup.

"This is a noodle dish," he said. "There's a distinct difference. For Asians, it is the noodle that is more important. The broth is the agent to keep the dish together."

But the broth provides a hearty base, blending spices and charred ginger and onion.

"There are variations, depending on region, depending on personal taste, depending on the family, even. But without fail - what makes it so different from other noodle dishes is the spice you put into."

NORTH AND SOUTH

Pho started in the north, in a town called Nam Dinh in the Hanoi area, where it was a simple dish.

In 1954, there was a mass migration to the south when the country was split into North Vietnam and South Vietnam, with many fleeing to avoid communist rule in the north. With them came pho, and in the south it was transformed.

"It morphed into something a lot more elaborate - a lot more meat options and fresh herbs," Huynh said.

"In the north, you make the broth and if you want the meat variety, you have just the flank and brisket. In the south, people start throwing in meatballs, tripe, tendons. You have five or six or even 10 different parts of the cow. In the north, there's not much garnishing - just a chopped scallion and cilantro."

In the south, the garnishes may include bean sprouts, chilies, lemon or lime and a variety of herbs such as Thai basil.

"Compared to northern-style pho, southern pho is sweeter and more elaborate in the sense that it's served with the fanciful plate of garnishes and often presented in bodacious big bowls," said Andrea Nguyen, author of "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors" (Ten Speed Press, $35).

"In the northern region, the stalwart pho shops don't give you much in terms of garnishes, and the portions are moderate. Northern cooks also don't like to sweeten their pho broth. It tends to be on the savory side than on the savory-sweet side. There's a certain purity in the northern pho, and aficionados say that it's the best."

FINDING PHO IN AMERICA

Today there's no shortage of pho restaurants - including Cao's favorite spot, Pho 27 in Greenfield.

It's run by Lia Huynh and her husband, Hao Huynh, who makes the broth from a family recipe that dates back four generations.

It's a southern recipe that contains all the usual ingredients, but it's the process - which takes 12 to 16 hours - that is critical, Lia said.

The process includes pan-searing the spices and constant skimming of residue from the top as the bones cook.

Another critical step:

"It's always on simmer all the time," she said. "We never let it cool, even overnight. If we let it cool totally down, it gets really, really salty."

The broth is the basis for chicken and beef pho, a vegetarian variety with tofu (though the beef broth makes it not-so-strictly vegetarian, Lia said) and the house special - the most popular version - featuring six kinds of meat, including meatballs, tendon and tripe.

"I said once to Hao, 'Show me how to make the pho.' He said, 'Uh-uh. It's got to be perfect. If you miss one step, it's not the same.' "

Before restaurants like Pho 27 popped up, Cao, the Buckley's chef, was eating it at home, thanks to his mother, Bichyen Tran.

Like many Vietnamese new to this country, her memories of pho pushed her to take on a task she never would have dreamed of - making her own pho.

"If one lives in Vietnam, not many families actually cook pho at home," said Huynh. "They go out to the corner and buy it. Why spend hours and hours on end to cook this broth yourself? It wasn't until Vietnamese refugees left Vietnam that we had to make it ourselves. One of the first challenges was to find ingredients. By and large, we made do with whatever we had."

Cao remembers the fragrant broth coming together in his mother's kitchen.

"I remember my mom started making the broth early in the morning," he said. "It would be like an all-day event. You had to get the bone marrow, boil it off, dump the water - otherwise it would be kind of cloudy. You want a clear, clean broth. For such a simple dish, there's a lot of time and love involved."

CRUCIAL INGREDIENTS

While spices and condiments may vary, certain methods and ingredients are crucial.

Cinnamon, star anise and cloves are the main spices, Cao said.

"People may put like banana peel, orange peel, to get that nice citrus essence in there," he said. "I go very traditional."

Other key elements are charred onion and ginger, which are added to the broth for a robust flavor.

"The charring is crucial, and so is using good bones - leg bones with marrow," said Nguyen, the cookbook author, whose family also fled Vietnam during a dramatic trip in April 1975.

"People try to use neck bones, but they just don't add the right flavor," she said. "Every year I buy a share of a grass-fed cow and make sure to order extra bags of bones that I freeze for pho."

Cuong Huynh has an opinion about those bones, too.

"The meat bones, that's what makes the broth. If you want to spring for the best flavor, you spring for the ox tail. That's even better than the beef bones," he said.

Pho recipes often call for something called yellow rock sugar, too - though the broth made at Pho 27 doesn't include sugar because of the long simmer time for the bones, according to co-owner Lia Huynh.

"The sweetness comes from the bones," she said.

If sugar is used, it's important to use this and not plain white sugar, said Nguygen.

"Yellow rock sugar imparts a soft mouth feel without being cloying," she said. "It rounds out all the rough edges and brings the flavors together in many Vietnamese noodle soup broths. Many Viet cooks in the past used granulated sugar, and the flavor is just sweet and flat."

Rock sugar is made of white sugar, unrefined brown sugar and honey. Look for the golden-yellow sugar sold in plastic bags or paper boxes at Chinese and Vietnamese markets.

RECIPES

This recipe is from Thi Cao, the chef at Buckley's. He and his family came to this country from Vietnam in 1975. This is his mother's recipe for pho.

HANOI PHO
MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS

5 pounds beef bones with marrow

3 pounds beef brisket

For spice sachet: 5 star anise, 2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks, 8 cloves, 2 bay leaves

2 large onions (unpeeled)

1 piece of fresh ginger (6 ounces), unpeeled (about an ounce of ginger will be lost in charring)

½ cup rock sugar (available in Asian markets)

Vietnamese fish sauce (to taste)

1½ to 2 pounds of pho rice noodles (boiled and shocked in cold water)

2 pounds beef eye round steak, sliced thin

Sriracha sauce

Hoisin sauce

2 limes, sliced into wedges

½ pound bean sprouts

Rinse the beef bones with cold water and place in an 8-quart stockpot. Fill pot with water to cover, bring to a boil and boil 2 minutes. Dump the water and rinse the bones again.

Place the bones in the same pot with the brisket and fill with water to cover. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a lazy simmer. Allow stock to simmer, uncovered, 2 hours.

To make spice sachet, toast all the spices in a small, dry pan over medium heat, until fragrant, sweet aroma is released, tossing pan to evenly toast, about 2 to 3 minutes. Bundle tightly in a piece of cheesecloth. Add sachet and cook another 2 hours, until broth is reduced by half.

While pho cooks and liquid reduces, skim stock occasionally and make sure brisket is completely covered in liquid. When brisket is tender, after about 3 hours, remove from liquid and set aside to cool. When cool, remove any excess fat and slice.

While the broth is simmering, cut onions from stem to stem and remove root end. Heat grill or use gas. Place ginger and onion halves over flame to char, about 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until the ginger and onions are close to black. Remove from heat and allow to cool until just cool enough to handle. Peel away the charred areas from both the onion and ginger, and place them in the simmering stockpot.

When broth is finished cooking, remove the beef bones, ginger, onions and spice sachet and discard. Cook noodles. Strain the broth, then add rock sugar and fish sauce to taste.

To serve, place the cooked noodles, slices of eye round and sliced brisket in a deep soup bowl for each serving.

Pour the hot broth into the bowl (the heat of the broth will cook the eye round). Serve with the sauces and garnish with lime slices and bean sprouts as desired.

-----

Food writer and cooking teacher Nancie McDermott has written several cookbooks about Southeast Asian cuisine. She calls this recipe, from her cookbook "Quick & Easy Vietnamese: 75 Everyday Recipes," a "blueprint for a streamlined home version of pho." It has the classic elements - charred ginger and onions, cinnamon sticks, cloves and star anise - but starts with a ready-made broth.

PHO BO
MAKES 4 SERVINGS

8 cups chicken broth

1 pound round steak, sliced crosswise into 1-inch strips

3 cinnamon sticks

3 whole cloves

3 star anise

1 unpeeled medium onion, quartered lengthwise

½ cup peeled and very coarsely chopped fresh ginger

½ pound linguine-width dried rice noodles (often labeled banh pho)

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

3 cups bean sprouts

1 cup very thinly sliced onion or shallots

1 cup coarsely chopped fresh Asian basil, cilantro or mint, or a combination of the herbs

½ cup thinly sliced green onion

¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice

2 fresh jalapeño chiles, cut diagonally into thin ovals

1 ¼ pounds boneless rib-eye, strip or flank steak

Combine the chicken broth, sliced round steak, cinnamon sticks, cloves and star anise in a stockpot or large saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat.

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot, about 1 minute. Add the quartered onion and chopped ginger and allow them to cook on one side until browned but not burned.

Turn the onion and ginger to allow them to sear on another side. Continue cooking and turning until all pieces are well browned and fragrant. Add the charred onion and ginger to the broth, and let it all boil gently for 1 hour.

While the broth is cooking, soften the rice noodles by immersing them in a medium bowl of warm water until they become flexible and bright white, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well and set aside.

Remove broth from heat. Stir in the fish sauce, sugar and salt. Strain the broth into a large saucepan, discarding the solids. (The broth can be prepared up to this point and allowed to cool, then stored in an airtight container for up to two days.)

About 10 minutes before serving the dish, prepare the noodles, boneless beef and accompaniments. Place the bean sprouts, sliced onion, fresh herbs, green onion, lime juice and chiles near four big Asian-style noodle bowls, pasta plates or soup bowls.

For the noodles, bring a large saucepan of water to a rolling boil over high heat.

Meanwhile, pour the broth into a saucepan, bring it to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, and adjust heat to maintain a lively simmer.

Cut the steak in half crosswise. Put both pieces in the simmering broth, and cook for 10 minutes, or until medium-rare. Transfer the steak to a cutting board, slice into thin, bite-size strips, and set aside.

Shortly before serving, drop the softened noodles into the boiling water. Remove from the heat and let stand for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice to separate any clumps of noodles into strands.

Meanwhile, bring the simmering broth to a rolling boil.

Drain the noodles well and quickly divide them among the four bowls (about 1 cup of noodles for each bowl). Top each with one-fourth of the sliced steak, bean sprouts, onions, herbs, green onion, lime juice, and chiles. Ladle hot broth (about 1 ½ cups) over the noodles in each bowl, and serve at once.

-----

This recipe for chicken pho, or pho ga, is from Andrea Nguyen, author of "Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavor" (Ten Speed Press, $35, 2006), a finalist for a James Beard award. She also runs the Viet World Kitchen website: vietworldkitchen.com.

Among the garnishes is culantro, an herb that's also known as thorny coriander.

PHO GA
MAKES 8 SERVINGS

2 yellow onions (about 1 pound total), unpeeled

Chubby 4-inch section of fresh ginger, unpeeled

1 chicken (4 pounds), fat and tail removed

3 pounds chicken backs, necks or other bony parts

5 quarts water

1 ½ tablespoons salt

3 tablespoons fish sauce

1 (1-inch) chunk of rock sugar (about 1 ounce)

2 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted in a dry skillet about 1 minute until fragrant

4 whole cloves

1 small or ½ large bunch cilantro (bound stems about 1 inch in diameter)

1 ½ to 2 pounds small flat rice noodles (bánh pho), dried or fresh

1 yellow onion, sliced paper-thin, soaked in cold water 30 minutes and drained

3 or 4 green onions (green part only), thinly sliced

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (leafy tops only)

Black pepper

3 cups bean sprouts (about ½ pound)

Garnishes:

10 to 12 sprigs mint (húng) 10 to 12 sprigs Thai basil (húng que)

12 to 15 fresh culantro (ngò gai) leaves

2 or 3 Thai or serrano chiles, thinly sliced

2 or 3 limes, cut into wedges

Place the onions and ginger directly on the cooking grate of a medium-hot charcoal or gas grill, or a gas stove with a medium flame, or on a medium-hot burner of an electric stove. Let the skin burn, using tongs to rotate onion and ginger occasionally and to remove and discard any loose onion skin.

After 15 minutes, the onions and ginger will have softened slightly and become sweetly fragrant. When well-charred, remove from the heat and let cool.

Rinse the cooled onions under warm running water, rubbing off the charred skin. Trim off and discard the blackened root and stem ends. Use a vegetable peeler, paring knife or the edge of a teaspoon to remove the ginger skin. Hold it under warm water to wash off any blackened bits. Halve the ginger lengthwise and bruise lightly with the broad side of a cleaver or chef's knife. Set the onions and ginger aside.

Rinse the chicken under cool water. Detach each wing by bending it back and cutting it off at the shoulder joint. Add the wings and neck, if included, to the chicken parts. If the heart, gizzard and liver have been included, discard them or save for another use. (Some cooks like to simmer the heart and gizzard in water and slice them for adding to the noodle bowls.) Set the wingless chicken aside.

Remove and discard any loose pieces of fat from the chicken parts. Wielding a heavy cleaver designed for chopping bones, whack the bones to break them partway or all the way through, making the cuts at 1- to 2-inch intervals, depending on the size of the part. This exposes the marrow, which enriches the broth.

To achieve a clear broth, you must first parboil and rinse the chicken parts. Put them in a stockpot (about 12-quart capacity) and add cold water just to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil vigorously 2 to 3 minutes to release the impurities. Dump the chicken parts and water into the sink (make sure it is clean), and then rinse the parts with water to wash off any clinging residue. Quickly scrub the stockpot clean and return the chicken parts to the pot. Put the chicken into the pot, breast side up.

Pour in the 5 quarts of water and snuggle the chicken in between the parts so that it is covered with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and then lower the heat to a gentle simmer. Use a ladle or large, shallow spoon to skim off any scum that rises to the top. Add the onions, ginger, salt, fish sauce, rock sugar, coriander seeds, cloves and cilantro and cook, uncovered, 25 minutes, adjusting heat if needed to maintain a gentle simmer.

At this point, the chicken is cooked; its flesh should feel firm yet still yield a bit to the touch. Use a pair of tongs to grab the chicken and transfer it to a large bowl. Flush the chicken with cold water and drain well, then set aside for 15 to 20 minutes until it's cool enough to handle. Meanwhile, keep the broth at a steady simmer.

When chicken can be handled, use a knife to remove each breast half and the whole legs (thigh and drumstick). Don't cut these pieces further, or they'll lose their succulence. Set aside on a plate to cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate; bring to room temperature before assembling the bowls.

Return the leftover carcass to the stockpot and adjust the heat to simmer the broth gently for another 1 ½ hours. Avoid a hard boil, or the broth will turn cloudy.

Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve (or a coarse-mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth) positioned over a pot. Discard the solids. Use a ladle to skim as much fat from the top of the broth as you like. (To make this task easier, you can cool the broth, refrigerate overnight, lift off the solidified fat, and then reheat before continuing.) Taste and adjust the flavor with additional salt, fish sauce and rock sugar. There should be about 4 quarts (16 cups) broth.

If using dried noodles, cover them with hot tap water and let soak 15 to 20 minutes, or until they are pliable and opaque. Drain in a colander. If using fresh rice noodles, untangle them, place in a colander, and rinse briefly under cold running water.

Cut the cooked chicken into slices about ¼ inch thick, cutting the meat off the bone as necessary. If you don't want to eat the skin, discard it first. Set the chicken meat aside.

Prepare the yellow onion, green onions, cilantro and pepper for adding to the bowls. Arrange the garnishes on a plate and put on the table.

To ensure good timing, bring the broth to a simmer over medium heat as you are assembling the bowls. (For an extra treat, drop in any unused white green onion sections and let them poach in the broth. Add the poached white green onion sections - called hành chan - to a few lucky bowls when ladling out the broth.) At the same time, fill a large pot with water and bring to a rolling boil.

For each bowl, place a portion of the noodles on a vertical-handle strainer (or mesh sieve) and dunk the noodles in the boiling water. As soon as they have collapsed and lost their stiffness (10 to 20 seconds), pull the strainer from the water, letting the water drain back into the pot. Empty the noodles into a bowl. If you like, once you have finished blanching the noodles, you can blanch the bean sprouts for 30 seconds. They should wilt slightly but retain some crunch. Drain and add to the garnishes.

Top each bowl of noodles with chicken, arranging the slices flat. Place a mound of yellow onion in the center and then scatter some green onion and cilantro on top. Finish with a sprinkle of pepper.

Increase the heat and bring broth to a rolling boil. Ladle about 2 cups broth into each bowl, distributing the hot liquid evenly to warm all the ingredients. Serve immediately with garnishes.



MAKE PRO PHO

Here are some tips for making pho, from cookbook author Andrea Nguyen:

  • Buy good bones. That means knuckle and leg bones with marrow, she said. Avoid neck bones.
  • Toss the water. After parboiling the bones, discard the water and cover them with fresh water. This leads to a clear broth and cuts down on residue. You'll also want to skim frequently and simmer gently to help get a clear broth.
  • Char fresh ginger and onion. This imparts a deeper flavor and is a critical step.
  • Use the right sugar. Pho recipes usually call for yellow rock sugar or rock sugar, which can be found in Asian markets. "Avoid the insipid white version, which is like using regular sugar," she said. "Note that the sugar may be labeled 'rock candy.' One package lasts a long time. Wrap large chunks in a lint-free cloth and bang on them with a hammer to break them up."
  • Make it bubbling hot. In order to cook the raw beef that the broth is often poured over, and to warm the noodles, the broth must be boiling hot when ladled into bowls.

- Jan Uebelherr




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Rod Franklin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rod Franklin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 January 2014 at 10:59
I've tried to make Pho four times over the years and never could get it to taste correct to my palate anyway. This is getting me wanting to try again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 January 2014 at 21:54
I've never had it, and have never even had the opportunity to have it, but it sure sounds good. The first recipe (Hanoi pho) looks to be a good representation and should even be within reasonably-easy reach as far as availability of ingredients goes.

Great read, Dan - thank you for posting!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2014 at 01:55
Great info here Dan...as much as I love Asian cuisine, I have never tried to make pho.
Like Tas says...seems pretty straightforward, but it must be a labor of love with all those ingredients.
I just might give this a shot down the road a bit.
Go ahead...play with your food!
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Thanks for the info .
i will try it .
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2014 at 09:17
Pho is all about the broth, guys. If you can't find good bones, don't even bother. That's one reason I never make it at home.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AK1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2014 at 11:48
I tried making it once... didn't work so good.
Fortunately there is a Vietnamese restaurant close by that makes excellent Pho, and cheap too.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gonefishin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2014 at 11:55
   I remember the first time I had pho, I was blown away!  Luckily, in the Chicago area we not only have some good ethnic grocery stores...but we've also got the Vietnamese area, on Argyle Street.

   When sourcing the ingredients, try to take a look at some ethnic grocery stores, especially various Asian grocery store seem to have the best selection of bones, at least by me.  You may also find some tendons there as well, if you're so inclined to add them in as well.

   I am not an expert in pho at all, but good pho is a glorious treat.  But bad pho is very ho hum...plain...unexciting...etc...etc.  The unfortunate thing is...some pho restaurants make below average pho as well.  But when you find that nice bowl...make sure you remember the place Tongue
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 17 January 2014 at 13:30

Dan,

Excellent research and background on the dish.

Thank you for posting.
Margaux.
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.
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Beef Pho


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Clap I'm drooling.
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   I need a virtual spoon!


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote gracoman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 January 2015 at 08:24
Originally posted by gonefishin gonefishin wrote:

  
   I am not an expert in pho at all, but good pho is a glorious treat.  But bad pho is very ho hum...plain...unexciting...etc...etc.  The unfortunate thing is...some pho restaurants make below average pho as well.  But when you find that nice bowl...make sure you remember the place Tongue
Boy, ain't that the truth.  I would have to take 2 hours out of my life to chase down a bowl of great Pho.  But restaurants are businesses and cost cutting reigns supreme when necessary.  I find I can throw together a better quick Pho at home, with canned broth or stock, than I am able to sit down to locally.  Even at the restaurant named Pho.  Do it right and you may surprise yourself with what you have just made.
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Nice job on the pho, gMan!Thumbs Up
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