Homemade Pho

I love pho!  No joke.  I always order the house special at pho places.  I'm not afraid of raw beef, tendons or tripe.  I love, love pho!  Ok, so a year ago, I suggested to my, then, assistant, "Let's have pho for lunch".  She is half Cambodian and half Thai, and her response was, "I'm really picky about pho, my mom makes it homemade".  All of the sudden, I did not feel like the authority on pho...insert sad face.  We ended up at a vegan Thai place and I never suggested pho to her again.
There are many recipes out their for pho, actually, I just saw a Martha Stewart episode where she featured pho.  The broth is key!  Water, meaty beef bones, the right spice mix and a lot of simmering. A couple other items that I noticed in several recipes, charred onion and ginger.
 
I followed the recipe at Steamy Kitchen, click here.  This recipe includes the authentic spices and you can use a slow cooker.

However, a super easy version is available at Martha Stewart, click here.
After straining out the beef bones, onions, ginger and beef bits, you are left with a great tasting broth. I did not add fish sauce to the broth until I was ready to serve.  To be honest, the smell can be a little overwhelming.
So I texted a picture of my finished product to my former assistant! she responded, "mmmmm. My mouth is watering. Looks delicious,". Yay, I feel much better now! Again I can proudly say, "I love pho!". Waiting patiently for the Super Bowl. Go Hawks!

Craving Pho

So, you don't know what you have until it goes away. I use to work near the Pike Place Market and complain about all the tourists, paying for parking, panhandlers and walking up hills to get away from the market. What I have been craving lately is good pho. I use to be able to take a walk and just a few steps away from the market, in Belltown, the best pho in Seattle is quietly hiding...Green Leaf Vietnamese Restaurant. Located on a quiet part of 1st Avenue, Green Leaf is in the basement of a historic building, kinda weird, but once you start smelling something yummy, you're there. I like the Combo Pho, mostly because I can never make a decision after looking at all the choices. Drink of choice, tea. I don't really over analyze pho, but I like the broth to taste homemade, not from a can or bouillon cube. The broth in broth in the pho here is clear, not too salty and flavorful. The serving is huge, unless you are starving and the condiments are plentiful. Slurp, slurp, enjoy!

I Love Pho!

What to get, what to get... Seriously, so many choices, so little time. Honestly, the menu at I Love Pho is so huge, I just stick to the same thing every time. Spring Rolls and Pho!

You've got to start with the shrimp spring rolls, YUMMY wrapped in rice paper. The basil, lettuce, shrimp and vermicelli are so refreshing and so good with the peanut dipping sauce.

This is the Small A, if you're not a big scaredy-cat, this is the pho to get! Well done beef, rare beef, tripe, tendon, and beef meatball...mmmm!Hmmm, what's that?

All right...my husband really doesn't like to eat here...seriously. He only agreed, because I was out of town for weeks and he was going out of town and, well, the things we do for love, right!

To my husbands surprise, I Love Pho now has baguette sandwiches on the menu. I can't give too many details on the baguette sandwich, pork, ham, not sure what else. I'm just glad my husband found something to eat while I slurped down my pho.

TGIF - A Bowl Full of Noodles

It's Friday and I had a lunch meeting at I Love Pho. Rice Noodles galore. Well, without making a big deal, I ordered the prawn & squid with extra veggies, no carrots. I was fine until I was left with a bowl full of noodles.

(B) 1/2 chicken breast, water
(S) sugarfree hard candy
(L) prawns, squid, veggies in broth, water
(S) cashews
(D) gravlax, whole grain bread, zucchini carpaccio, cheese, water

Workout: Spa Day. I got to the gym and marched right into the steam room.

I must say, I love Kalyn's Kitchen! I've been working a weekend project all day which took me all over the place. Tired.