Recently, we tackled the mission that is pho. Chad is really amazing at undertaking these uber-long culinary adventures - ones that immediately scare away amateurs, ones that leave you knee deep in the kitchen for hours, days even!
This happens to be one of them.
Pho was a two day adventure we took. We alternated lengthy turns stirring, filled our apartment hallway with consistently delicious aromas, and coordinated our other meals around the Vietnamese frenzy that was going down in the kitchen. Basically, it turned out to be really fun!
One aspect that definitely played into the fun of this recipe was compiling our first "spice bag." Star anise and cinnamon sticks were some personal favorites in there, and ginger always tastes (and looks) beautiful.
One thing this recipe called for was MEAT, and lotsss of it!
We had our broth beef here, some bones (with marrow still intact) to toss in later, and our rare steak to lay out atop our soup once it was all finished.
An intimate moment with bone marrow.
Scary, yet delicious stuff.
The final components that add to our richly seasoned broth: all kinds of complex meat and veggie combinations, complimented nicely by our delicious smelling spice bag and many, many hours of cooking.
The thin rice noodles begin cooking.
Slicing our meat and compiling some pretty impressive noodle bowls. The thinner the steak is sliced, the better. Obviously, ours was pretty thin and awesome.
And in a climactic crescendo of culinary anticipation, we ladle the boiling broth over the rice noodles and our thinly sliced rare steak immediately starts to cook in the broth, as demonstrated beautifully by the pictures above and below!
This had to be my favorite part of the entire process, by the way. Definitely tops the whole bone marrow experience.
As the meat and noodles finish the last of their cooking, each diner prepares their own fresh herb and spice concoction to taste.
They say it's rude to create conversation at the dinner table when eating pho, since you distract your companion during the most delicious part of their meal, and I pretty much agree. Its almost ritualistic how one adds their mint and cilantro, siracha and hoisin sauces, jalapenos and lime - and then eventually dives into their own dripping, slurping and sometimes all too spicy bowl of soup!
Overall, it was an entirely rewarding process that ended with a beautiful spread that made us both proud. I savored my big bowl of soup far longer than I probably should have, and devoured the entire thing in no time.
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