Vietnamese Pho

Well, here it is, my Vietnamese Pho I promised to show you. I have a passion for Asian food, including Thai, Szechuan, Cantonese, Shanghai Chinese, Japanese and now Vietnamese food. I learned this recipe from a cookbook called The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking by Mai Pham. Mine is a variation but ultimately the same wonderful rich beef broth. The ingredients called for are:

Beef Chuck about 2-4 lbs. for 6 servings.

Star Anise 10

Cloves 10

Yellow onions 2 sliced in rings

Ginger Root 4 oz. sliced in 3 inch lengths

Fish Sauce 3 TBSP.

Sugar 3 TBSP.

Soy Sauce 2 TBSP.

Salt 1 TBSP.

I start by browning the meat in a large pot in 2 tbsp. oil. In a separate frying pan I dry roast the ginger and the onions.

Then I add water to an inch from the top of the pot (a six quart pot) and combine the ginger, onions and the meat. I let this come to a boil and also add the star anise, cloves, fish sauce, soy sauce, salt and sugar.

I let this simmer on medium for about one hour then I take out the spices before they get bitter, leaving a few pieces of the ginger and the onions to enhance the broth some more. I take out the meat to check for tenderness at this time, too.

The meat is just about falling apart! I add this back into the broth to simmer about twenty minutes. Then I start to soak my rice noodles (rice sticks) in warm water. After they have soaked, I drain them and prepare a pot of boiling water to dip them into for less than a minute and swirl one serving around then lift out with tongs and place directly into an individual bowl.

First I place a few pieces of the meat into the individual bowls with some bean sprouts, a few cilantro leaves, possibly thai basil or mint. The bowls are supposed to have a ladle of boiling water poured in then out, to "warm up" the bowl, but I usually skip that now and go straight to the noodles and a big ladle of wonderfully scented hot beef broth. Then I top with a few more sprigs of garnish and pieces of the tender beef.

You should use a bowl large enough to hold 4 parts broth to one part noodles like a saimin bowl, but sometimes I serve in smaller bowls and we replenish the broth as needed.

In Hawaii, ONO means GOOD, or delicious!

This Vietnamese PHO is so ONO!

Hope you try it soon and love it too! It's da best!

For many other recipes, vist me often here at The Artful Hawaii Girl but also visit www.amaryllisofhawaii.com

to see my cookbook Amaryllis of Hawaii Loves To Cook "Recipes For Life"

What is your favorite Hawaiian dish?

I'll prepare it for you!

Aloha,

Marilyn