Spent

I don't know why fate plays cruel jokes on me. Being a total foodie, I eat anything. I have put the inner wall of my stomach through the worse of it. That is why I can practically eat anything. Sadly, the people in my life right now, they are not.

At breakfast, I learned that my sous-chef-of-the-week cannot eat raw greens because he has a sensitive digestive condition. My omelet stacked salad galore gave him a tummy ache.

For dinner tonight, I had to make a cook and marinate my sister's pork entirely differently because she can't her alcohol in it. It does not sound like much, but I condense all my sauces for an ENTIRE DAY so it was extremely tiring. On top of that, the latest addition to from Vietnam is a girl who is strangely picky about all things except for McDonald's. So before I serve dinner, I had to send out for backup cheeseburgers so that she would be able to sit down and eat with us.

It turns out that we did not need the MCD at all. :D

Kitchen Re-opened

Its been weeks since I have had a chance to cook!  Re-doing the kitchen is entirely exhausting.  Not that I did much of the actual work, but waiting and watching is entirely just as hard (well, not entirely).  I have been thinking of all the things I would make when I could use my oven and stove again.  And I knew i definitely miss bacon, eggs and breakfast food that I stuff myself with every Saturday morning.

And then for my first dinner since, fried salmon steaks with a sour cream sauce with baked squirrel bait (squash, grilled mushrooms, honey & nuts).

And when a kitchen is re-opened, there are guests! I am thrilled that my cousins and sister came home for the holidays. So for the next few days to come, I will be cooking up a storm.

Visiting for the moment is my sous-chef "Kido."  Both bitching at each other and cooking while spewing out hateful words for the one that is missing in this gathering and joking about the one that is going to be here for next year's bash.

Bon Apetit.

Pho Show!

My grandma is a Pho snob. There is only one place in all of Vietnam that she thinks befitting of her breakfast services. And they sell out fast and in some random nook that is impossible to find. Mornings in Ho Chi Minh would be all of us gathering around to eat with her while listening to Elvis Phuong and hearing her tell us stories of the old days of her journeys as a rice trader during the war.

There are many things that I try to resemble my grandmother. However, Pho snob I am not. I think I have decently low standards as long as its hot! This is probably because I have lived in the middle of America for the last decade where any Pho is better than none. Pho SHOW!

That is why, if you happen to be impossibly far from a Pho joint, I have created this amazingly simple way of making the noodle soup that is just like the stuff that we can all buy at our city's version of Pho### or Saigon/Vietnam/Mekong-cafe.

Ingredients:

1. 3 Cans Beef broth 
2. Banh Pho (Pho Noodles/Rice Sticks) 
3. 2 Cups of Water 
4. Salt + Pepper  
5. 2 lb. Beef  
6. 1/2 Onion Peeled  
7. 1 Chunk of Ginger  
8. Herbs:  
a. Bean Sprouts  
b. Mint  
c. Sweet Basil  
9. Spices:  
a. Rock Sugar  
b. Star Anise  
c. Cinnamon  
d. Cardamom  
e. Fennel Seeds  
f. Whole Coriander Seeds  
10. Coffee Filter or Tea Infuser  
11. Hoisin Sauce

A. Soup:  
1. Slice open ginger into 1/2 
2. Microwave ginger for 1 minute  
3. Boil 2 cups of water with 1/2 Onion & Microwaved Ginger.  
○ Leave boiling for about 5 minutes 
4. Add 1 Can of beef broth & bring to boil.  
5. Wrap & seal spices with Coffee filter (or place into tea infuser) 
6. Deposit package into broth.  
7. Leave heat on Medium and bring to boil.  
8. Add another can of beef broth.  
9. Repeat 7&8.  
10. Bring to boil and leave boiling for 20 minutes.

B. Beef: • Slice beef into thin slices

C. Herbs: Wash with cold water 3 times and plate for everyone to share.

D. Pho Noodles: 
1. Boil water.  
2. Drop into boiling water and stir.  
3. Should cook in about 4-5 minutes.  
4. Rise with cold water.

E. Serve:  
1. Bowl the noodles.  
2. Top with raw beef slices and bean sprouts.  
3. Pour boiling soup on top.  
4. Add herbs (done at table)  
5. Add Hoisin

And remember kids, don't be a snob and share it with your neighbors and share a few war stories. Cause you will probably be too tired to clean up after yourself and your friends are likely gracious and grateful enough to do the dishes.(If not, ditch them and replace with better ones. PHO REALZ!)