[Magdalen] WTPho?

[Jay Weigel]

Leaves *should* include Thai basil and cilantro. Also there should be lime
wedges, bean sprouts, and assorted sauces on the table, most especially
fish sauce, hoisin and sriracha. Vietopia has 6 or 7 others of varying
strengths and heats. Properly made pho broth contains ginger, star anise,
garlic and some other spices, and simmers for a long time in a humongous
pot. Improperly made pho broth is, well, boring beef broth. Some people put
sugar in their pho. I don't. When it's done properly, the meat is sliced
very thin and the boiling broth is poured over it to cook it.

Slurping is not only allowed, it's encouraged. So is burping. I will spare
you a description of what Vietopia sounds like when it's crowded.

On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 7:51 PM, M J _Mike_ Logsdon <mjl at ix.netcom.com>
wrote:

> >>>I didn't think the pho had much taste and dumped a small bowl of leaves
> at the table into it which helped a little. I didn't notice any spices at
> the table but they might have been there.<<<
>
> Pho is pretty much what you do to it.  It can be made with flavor, and
> I've had it that way elsewhere from my now usual.  But by and large, it's
> the leaves (as you say, which are generally cilantro and mint), the bean
> sprouts (often brought with the leaves), and the myriad (in your case
> unfortunately missing, it seems) sauces.  I'm a sucker for a cocktail of
> fish sauce, hoisin sauce, and chili sauce.  And oh yeah:  tons of lemon
> juice, freshly squeezed from wedges.
>
> If I hadn't talked Everett into our favorite Mexican joint tonight, we'd
> be pho'ing it again.  Maybe tomorrow.
>
> (As for meat, I'm settling with flank steak, which they slice very
> nicely.  I tried the fried tofu appetizer last night -- never again.)
>