COLUMN: Be the king in your Vietnamese style kitchen
With the cross pollination of cultures that has come about in the past 200 years in the United States, Asian food has become common place in cities around the U.S.
Lucky for me, most of the Asian food I have experienced has been in the country of its origin. Having spent the latter 12 years of my life in Asia, I’ve eaten wild bore stew in the mountains of Japan, Indian food in Hong Kong (an even crazier experience than at a gas station) and had sketchy roasted chicken with sticky rice in a pseudo, back country, mountain restaurant in Thailand.
During my travels, and even in the U.S., I have often found the Asian food that tastes the best is the kind made by people from that country. I take that into my kitchen as well. If I want to learn how to make a good Asian or foreign dish of any kind, I ask someone from that country.
While on a recent excursion in Salt Lake City, I found myself with a hankering for Pho (pronounce fuh), a traditional Vietnamese soup made with beef broth, paper-thin slices of sirloin steak, rice noodles, bean sprouts, jalapeños, green onions and fresh herbs. If there is any food that can cure an ailment, it is pho. This soup is the ramen of Vietnam – easy, simple and delicious.
After my experience in Salt Lake, I thought it was about time I found a good recipe for it. When I found out my friend Mark Vuong is Vietnamese I asked him for his mom’s recipe. Phuong Ly, Mark’s mom, agreed to give me her recipe but, like most cultural cooking, there is not an accurate measurement for how much water, salt or beef broth should be used.
It all relies on what has been passed down from generation to generation and the desired taste that one wants. I came up with measurements that are semi accurate but really this recipe depends on what you want in your pho taste wise.
Easy and delicious, this recipe will challenge you to dominate your kitchen and be the pho king.
You will need:
One package banh pho, or Vietnamese rice noodles
1/2 to 1 pound paper-thin sirloin steak slices.
2 to 4 quarts instant beef broth (depending on how much pho you want to make)
1/2 pound bean sprouts
3 or 4 slices of jalapeños
1 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup minced cilantro
4 green onions
2 limes sliced into wedges
hoison sauce
fish sauce (if you can find it)
1 tablespoon cracked pepper
srirachi chili sauce
salt
– Fill a medium sized pot halfway with water, add the steak and bring to a boil. Boil the steak until it is cooked to your desired consistency. Drain the beef and set it aside.
– Heat the beef broth in a pot, add hoison sauce and fish sauce till you get the taste you want. It should be a little sweet and a little salty. If you want more salt, add in some salt.
–Add the pepper and green onions and simmer with a lid on the pot for 15 minutes.
– While the broth is simmering, take the desired amount of banh pho noodles from the package, place them in a colander in a bowl and pour boiling water on them. Allow them to steep for 10-15 minutes.
– Arrange the limes, bean sprouts, mint leaves and jalapeño slices on a plate. Everyone who is partaking in the pho experience will add the desired amount of each to their own bowl.
– When the noodles are done, drain them. Divide them up between the bowls and add the beef broth and sirloin steak slices.
– Serve hot with the plate of vegetables and a bottle of srirachi chili sauce.
C.Ann Jensen is a senior in print journalism and really isn’t as pretentious as she comes across as being. E-mail her with questions and comments at ch.jensen@aggiemail.usu.edu.