Comments on: Fools for Pho http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/ Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:18:04 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on Fools for Pho by: lynh http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-63849 Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:58:53 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-63849 Hi - just wanted to say I am in awe of your pho recipe. I truly love how you respected this recipe and its ingredients and I also respect your dedication to producing a product that is completely true to the original. I am awestruck every time I go to a pho restaurant because now I truly know what has happened and I have the highest appreciation. Just a suggestion for your next vietnamese food post, and maybe this comment should go under the post about the Indian salmon curry you just made, but if I may suggest that you use the rest of the salmon to make canh chua canh? It is one of my favorite combinations of sweet and sour and so colorful with tomatoes, cilantro, squash, tamarind and bean sprouts. I have made this soup with chicken broth and it would be an interesting contrast to hear how you feel about a broth simmering for hours and a fairly classic sweet and clear broth that is relatively quick. (and I actually think this is how vietnamese restaurants make it so it's a little sweeter) You are amazing! Hi - just wanted to say I am in awe of your pho recipe. I truly love how you respected this recipe and its ingredients and I also respect your dedication to producing a product that is completely true to the original. I am awestruck every time I go to a pho restaurant because now I truly know what has happened and I have the highest appreciation.

Just a suggestion for your next vietnamese food post, and maybe this comment should go under the post about the Indian salmon curry you just made, but if I may suggest that you use the rest of the salmon to make canh chua canh? It is one of my favorite combinations of sweet and sour and so colorful with tomatoes, cilantro, squash, tamarind and bean sprouts. I have made this soup with chicken broth and it would be an interesting contrast to hear how you feel about a broth simmering for hours and a fairly classic sweet and clear broth that is relatively quick. (and I actually think this is how vietnamese restaurants make it so it’s a little sweeter) You are amazing!

]]> Comment on Fools for Pho by: Vera http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-57401 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:16:33 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-57401 There are many pho restaurants in my area, yet this does not mean I can find really good pho, nor by any means consistently good pho. For a while, I blissed out regularly at a place where the stock was so awesome, it's fragrance would waft to my table ahead of the steaming bowl. Sadly, that place closed; I was I was devastated. I have not found anything nearly as good since, tho not for lack of searching. My own one-time very expensive, loving, and time-consuming attempt at making pho (oxtails NOT cheap in my neck of woods) produced a stock which only tasted of soap. It was not edible, and I didn't know how to fix it. I haven't had the heart to try again ... all that effort and expense totally wasted. Yet still wish I could make my own pho. Sigh. 20 quarts is out of question right now, but I thank you for the recipe. Someday I may have to try again because pho is heavenly stuff with a good broth, no doubt about it. Till then, I dream. And plunk down my $8 for a big bowl, from which I usually get two meals, taking home enough broth for breakfast next day with my own noodles. By the way, the renown Vietnamese chef, Mai Pham, gives a recipe for a chicken broth pho (I've never tasted pho with chicken broth) in one of her cookbooks, but somewhere in that book, she also mentions that she and her husband regularly go out to pho shops for breakfast rather than make the broth at home. She too considers the purchased bowl of pho to be a bargain. There are many pho restaurants in my area, yet this does not mean I can find really good pho, nor by any means consistently good pho. For a while, I blissed out regularly at a place where the stock was so awesome, it’s fragrance would waft to my table ahead of the steaming bowl. Sadly, that place closed; I was I was devastated. I have not found anything nearly as good since, tho not for lack of searching. My own one-time very expensive, loving, and time-consuming attempt at making pho (oxtails NOT cheap in my neck of woods) produced a stock which only tasted of soap. It was not edible, and I didn’t know how to fix it. I haven’t had the heart to try again … all that effort and expense totally wasted. Yet still wish I could make my own pho. Sigh. 20 quarts is out of question right now, but I thank you for the recipe. Someday I may have to try again because pho is heavenly stuff with a good broth, no doubt about it. Till then, I dream. And plunk down my $8 for a big bowl, from which I usually get two meals, taking home enough broth for breakfast next day with my own noodles. By the way, the renown Vietnamese chef, Mai Pham, gives a recipe for a chicken broth pho (I’ve never tasted pho with chicken broth) in one of her cookbooks, but somewhere in that book, she also mentions that she and her husband regularly go out to pho shops for breakfast rather than make the broth at home. She too considers the purchased bowl of pho to be a bargain.

]]> Comment on Fools for Pho by: Aileen http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-51205 Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:29:48 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-51205 I loved this article and all the posts. Making pho is such an adventure. I think every pho lover should do it atleast once (or twice)--even if you can get to a pho joint. I loved this article and all the posts. Making pho is such an adventure. I think every pho lover should do it atleast once (or twice)–even if you can get to a pho joint.

]]> Comment on Fools for Pho by: Tran http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-34419 Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:48:43 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-34419 Hi Barbara, I have just recently come across your blog and I love it so much. Also, thanks for posting recipes of Vietnamese food. I am Vietnamese myself and find this particular post about Pho very informative. With regards to an "easier" way to make Pho, perhaps I can offer my two cents. I asked my mother for an "easy" way to make Pho myself just a while back and she gave me some pointers. At Asian supermarkets they will sell pre-made Pho spices all wrapped in a small bundle in a small box. They will be called "Pho Hoa" or something, but my mom prefers the "Pho Hoa Pasteur" kind. Anyway, so I just use dome oxtail and (just like you suggested) boil it first and wash the oxtail before making the stock. This part, apparently cannot be compromised. Then fill up the pot with the oxtail and throw in one of those spice bundles, a peeled yellow onion, and a few rock sugars and simmer for 4-5 hours (skimming the scum when needed). Then flavor with fish sauce afterwards. You can eat it the same day. This makes pretty good Pho though probably not as authentic, nor with as deep of flavor, as yours. I realize that 4-5 hours is not that easy to tend a stock for many people. But it does cut the time in half. If I had the time myself, I would make it your way, to simmer it for 10+ hours and add my own spices the day before. My mom says that the longer you cook it the better it tastes. Unfortunately for me I am living in New Zealand for a few months and there are no Pho restaurants anywhere! :( One of these days, when I am really craving it, I will have to make pho myself and follow your recipe exactly so I can have some authentic beefy goodness. Until then, I envy everyone who can just go to a Pho restaurant and pay 6 bucks for it... Thanks again for a wonderful food blog. Hi Barbara, I have just recently come across your blog and I love it so much. Also, thanks for posting recipes of Vietnamese food. I am Vietnamese myself and find this particular post about Pho very informative. With regards to an “easier” way to make Pho, perhaps I can offer my two cents. I asked my mother for an “easy” way to make Pho myself just a while back and she gave me some pointers.

At Asian supermarkets they will sell pre-made Pho spices all wrapped in a small bundle in a small box. They will be called “Pho Hoa” or something, but my mom prefers the “Pho Hoa Pasteur” kind. Anyway, so I just use dome oxtail and (just like you suggested) boil it first and wash the oxtail before making the stock. This part, apparently cannot be compromised. Then fill up the pot with the oxtail and throw in one of those spice bundles, a peeled yellow onion, and a few rock sugars and simmer for 4-5 hours (skimming the scum when needed). Then flavor with fish sauce afterwards. You can eat it the same day. This makes pretty good Pho though probably not as authentic, nor with as deep of flavor, as yours.

I realize that 4-5 hours is not that easy to tend a stock for many people. But it does cut the time in half. If I had the time myself, I would make it your way, to simmer it for 10+ hours and add my own spices the day before. My mom says that the longer you cook it the better it tastes. Unfortunately for me I am living in New Zealand for a few months and there are no Pho restaurants anywhere! :( One of these days, when I am really craving it, I will have to make pho myself and follow your recipe exactly so I can have some authentic beefy goodness. Until then, I envy everyone who can just go to a Pho restaurant and pay 6 bucks for it…

Thanks again for a wonderful food blog.

]]> Comment on Fools for Pho by: Maven http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-19362 Wed, 11 Apr 2007 22:18:35 +0000 http://www.tigersandstrawberries.com/2005/02/14/fools-for-pho/#comment-19362 I wonder if the pressure cooked stock couldn't be strained through a coffee filter to help clarify it a bit... I wonder if the pressure cooked stock couldn’t be strained through a coffee filter to help clarify it a bit…

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