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VIET-NAM : Pho+? Vietnamese Beef / Chicken Soup for the Soul

© lana lebozec

Pho+? ( pronounced as in foe -your enemy not your friend, is the name given to the Vietnamese noodle soup. It is a concoction of chicken ( Pho+? Ga`) or beef ( Pho+? Bo`). flavored with spices such as star anises, cinnamon and cloves. Pho+? is served in the morning, at breakfast, at lunch and at dinner, When the weather turns chilly, it is a wonderful food that satisfies the soul and warms up the body. It is easy to make and it tastes delicious.

If you want to start the broth from scratch, it can take several hours but you can also start with canned broth and add the different aromatic spices to it. Simmer the soup for about an hour and strain the spices from the stock before you serve.

Very thin slices of raw beef ( flank steak or rib-eye cut, beef tenderloin, slightly frozen so that you can slice them razor blade thin ) are slightly cooked in the hot broth and added to the bowl of rice noodles ( soak them in water or cook them lightly before adding to the broth)

Personally in our house, I prefer to serve really cooked beef (Pho+? Chi'n) So instead of adding the thin slices of raw beef to the boiling hot broth, I would prepare my beef separately by cooking my piece of beef slowly in the broth the night before . I would simmer it for a very long time (sometimes four to six hours) and I would flavor the broth with a ready made paste sold in Oriental stores called Spices for Pho+?. It is very practical. I cook the meat for so long that it practically " melts " in your mouth.

Thin-sliced green onions, a few slices of white onions, fresh cilantro, a few slices of fresh ginger, a dash of fish sauce give the soup an extra taste. On a side plate, you also serve fresh bean sprouts, wedges of lime, basil and cilantro. These can be added to the broth according to the individual taste.

Every Sunday morning, I would serve our traditional Pho+? for brunch. For drinks, I serve hot jasmin or mint tea and my children agree that it is a very nice family tradition. They always look forward to Pho+? Time.

Barbara Kafka, in her cookbook, ``Soup, A Way of Life.'' (Artisan Publishing) presented a slightly different version of Pho+?

.Pho+? (Vietnamese beef noodle soup)

4 cups beef stock 1 small star anise, crushed with a mortar and pestle 1 1-inch piece cinnamon stick