On the second to last weekend in January, I was sick with my brother’s cold. (Thanks a lump!) The last thing you ever want to do in the kitchen is cross-contaminate especially if you’re Orthodox Jewish and everything is separated by meat and dairy. I don’t want to germ up the kitchen, so I was temporarily banned from the kitchen. One thing that everyone remembers at least once on a sick day is some kind of soup. Chicken, Beef, Bone broth and vegetable are favored in America. But since my mother was busy making pizzas for dinner, we ordered from our Vietnamese friends at Saigon Spring
They make excellent vegan pho (Pronounced fuh) filled with sweet snow peas, mushrooms, tofu and rice noodles.
I prefer the spicy lemongrass with steak, beef and pork. It’s truly aeromatic and full of flavor.Vietnam really knows how to make use of their agricultural roots.
Experts say it was originally created in the Nam Dinh/Hanoi area of the northern part of Vietnam back in 1887 when France was conquering the country. It was “Said” because elders passed down their traditions orally. There wasn’t anything written down about early pho. The French had beef stew. The Vietnamese learned it was okay to eat a cow and created their own version of beef stew. There was one thing though…”pot au feu” meaning “pot on fire” implying all-day cook time was mispronounced, giving the name “pho”. If anyone just calls it “noodle soup”, they simply don’t understand what it takes.
That’s right, Lauren. Pho is prepared in older fashions than most soups with variations depending on the region of origin and the chef himself/herself. “Pho Bac” is a northern Vietnamese dinner created in the Nguyen dynasty, while later southern styles like “Pho Nam” uses a rainbow of ingredients that the pho bac couldn’t afford during the time, like chicken and tripe. South Vietnam was way more abundant in food sources than the north.
Professional chefs don’t let their secrets slide unless you’re truly worthy to learn it. If you’re the impatient type, this is a challenge, especially since the broth alone takes at least 3-7 hours to cook. What can I say? A brisket, meat and bones need time to seep. Roasting ginger and onions on an open flame is long too. The taste of the broth should be beef and sweet. Tendons, tripe, beef flanks, beef balls and rare beef steak make for a very satisfying soup. The time and effort used in making pho is what makes the eating it so worth while and inspires such gratuity for everything it took to cook it.
Bean sprouts, basil leaves, lime and jalapeno are put to the side with some hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce served like a yin-yang sign next to your bowl for dipping. Never squirt it directly into the soup! It will ruin the flavor synchronization. Pouring hot sauce over anything just makes it all taste like the sauce, masking over the natural beauty of the ingredients. I know it’s weird for us to fish things out of our soup and dip it into a sauce, but it’s a clever compromise for when it isn’t sweet or spicy enough.
The jalapeno slices, basil leaves, sprouts and lime are on the side for you to add in as much as you like. I like 2 slices of jalapeno and a squeeze of lime for brightness. If you break the jalapeno up first, it makes it even spicier than just slipping the slice in the broth whole. Don’t ever try to rub your eyes after handling jalapenos without wiping your hands off first. The oil is there invisibly and it will sting and rash. We’ve both suffered the consequential pain and redness. If it happens, wash it out with water for 5 minutes and scrub your hands clean of any oils left from the pepper.
Jeremy, I’d rather fill the broth with bean sprouts and basil leaves with a squeeze of lime only if it needs more ‘zing’. They put these things on the side because basil turns black and bean sprouts wilt if they sits in the broth for too long.
There’s a really neat website dedicated to pho here if you want to read more about the history, cultural meaning and recipes we haven’t seen yet. https://www.lovingpho.com/pho-opinion-editorial/history-and-evolution-of-vietnamese-pho/
Do you have a pho recipe at home? If you try one from the website tell us! Show us! We’ll be lad to hear and maybe try it ourselves. Table PHO 2, YO!