I’ve been eating pho for as long as I can remember. Although it’s not eaten all the time in my family, when do eat it, we’re usually all together helping each other get it ready. It takes time and lots of preparation, but the hard work definitely pays off in the end. It’s also a time for my family to get together which is oddly scarce even though I’m living with my parents and 2 younger brothers for now. This time, we made the pho broth the way my mother usually makes it, which is usually more fatty and hearty.
In the above image, you’ll see the plate of garnishes which includes: Thai basil, mint, cilantro, green onions, and lime slices. These are usually your normal garnishes, including bean sprouts which aren’t shown, that you’ll find at restaurants that serve pho with the exception being the mint. To me, the key garnish here is the Thai basil. It’s different from the Italian basil in that it’s more flowery, sweeter, and a stronger flavor. Every restaurant that I’ve been to that offers garnishes for their pho will bring out Thai basil.
Keeping things simple, my mother only wanted beef from beef bones and beef balls. The above are bits of beef that were a part of beef bones (chopped up beef ribs essentially) that we had boiled as a part of the pho broth for a few hours before taking them out and stripping the meat from the bones. The second image is of the beef balls. They’re not exactly like your meatballs used for Italian dishes. These beef balls are tightly compact together and are sold in the frozen food section of your local Asian store. You have to boil these first then either eat them whole, or cut them into small pieces like in the above image.
Above is the finished product before I started to dig in. What I didn’t show were the condiments that you would put into your pho because what is pho without making it taste the way YOU want it, right? Most people don’t leave their lime slices in but I do. Once I’m finished with the meats and noodles, I usually drink as much of the broth as possible. Then when I come across the lime slice, I’ll suck the juice of out it. Condiments that I put in my pho today include: fish sauce, hoisin sauce, fried garlic in chili oil (fire!), fried garlic, fried shallots, beef paste, and sriracha sauce.
This may actually be my last bowl of pho before I get back unto a diet and start hitting the gym again. Eating too good!