Pho to the rescue, are you in the same food dilemma? You’ve cooked all your old favorites, chicken and dumplings, roast chickens, tacos, lasagna, etc, the list goes on. Vietnamese Pho soup made with broth, rice noodles, herbs, acidity and meat is my new 2022 favorite recipe. During the pandemic, I exhausted all my recipes and then some. No seriously. I was up for an interview a few weeks ago, and they said what excites you about food? My response…anything I haven’t cooked before that makes me reread recipes.
About five I looked through the New York Times food section, Food Network, Food and Wine magazine and a few other hot spots for recipes. When I look at recipes, the first thing I have to do is find something that interests me, second, check the ingredient list to see what I do and don’t have, and number three google search substitutions.
In the case of the pho recipe I went to my go-to Jet Tila, Food Network Star for some tried and true recipes. I used his quick beefpho for my inspiration. Tila has a knack for creating easy Thai and Asian recipes that taste as good as they look. After years of writing recipes, an untested recipe is my nemesis, and is the one thing that prevents me from buying non-New York Times best seller cookbooks. If I am buying a cookbook, I want the recipes to be as good as they look in the photos.
I digress, back to the pho. Why is pho so delicious? The broth takes dedication like Ramen. Depending on where your pho is derived from, it could be sweeter or more savory. Generally the broth is light and aromatic that compliments the ingredients inside the bowl. Each ingredient plays off the others.
While my pho was made with chicken and bouillon rather than beef, it was still delicious. On some level it may not even considered pho, but for a tired mom who is burnt out on my tried and trues it was a welcome meal.
Until I get to Vietnam, this will have to do. My recipe to come!
Jet Tila’s Quickpho Recipe- https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/quick-beef-pho-7112948
Great article from BBC about Pho: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20210421-pho-the-humble-soup-that-caused-an-outrage
