Pho not Pha

First my apologies, I’ve been out of the loop for the entire month of February. We’ve been traveling (to Arizona) and trying to get some household things in order. No excuses just facts. 

Coming off of Super Tuesday some of us are happy, some sad, some disgruntled and some - like me - looking for new recipes. That is not to say that I a not following what is going on politically or in the world, it means I’m invested in a lot of things. 

Our trip to Arizona was wonderful. We spent time with my cousin Gayle in Tucson and then time with friends Ann & Warren in Phoenix. I loved both cities, each has its own charm and sites. 

We loved the Air Museum (thanks to Ken Kauffman for recommending it), Taliesin West (Frank Lloyd Wright’s home), the Desert Botanical Garden, the Bryce Thomson Arboretum, the Phoenix Art Museum, and the Heard Museum - it was a busy holiday. The best time tho was spending time with friends and family. Dan had an opportunity to bond with my cousin, do some hiking and my friend Ann & I solved many of the world's problems with wine - so much fun!

We’re home now and back to cooking and anticipating Spring - the weather here has been amazing - today it was 40, sunny and a little wind, by Saturday we are looking at 55 and sunny - the snow could be gone! Good Times.

When we were in Phoenix we had lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant. The food was good but we missed the Pho. When we got home I was in the mood for a hot bowl of deliciousness so I search the trusty internet and found a recipe that had a miso broth, fresh vegetables (raw and cooked) and just the right amount of spice. We both agreed we would make it again and the best part about Pho is it can be different every time, depending on what you have in your fridge. 

I made a quick trip to the Asian grocery store for supplies and we created a Pho that suited our style and palette.  

Ingredients:

Broth

2 star anise

2 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

5 whole allspice

1 tablespoon whole coriander

3 sticks lemongrass

2 inch or 5 cm piece fresh ginger sliced

1 onion roughly chopped

3 cloves garlic roughly chopped

3 dry shiitake mushrooms

3 tablespoons miso paste

2 tablespoons soy sauce

6 cups of 1.5 l vegetable broth

4 cups or 1 l water

Pho

7 oz or 200 g rice noodles

7 oz or 200 g mushrooms (I used enoki and baby portabella

4 baby bok choy

3 carrots julienned

a handful of fresh spinach

a handful snow peas - cut on the bias

Garnishes

Hot chili peppers thinly sliced

Cilantro leaves

Bean Sprouts

Instructions:

Make the broth:

For the pho broth, dry toast the spices (star anise, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, and coriander) in a large pot under medium heat until fragrant. Add chopped lemongrass, sliced ginger, roughly chopped onion, and garlic. Cover with vegetable broth and water, add whole dried shiitake mushrooms and bring to a boil under medium heat. Reduce the heat and let the broth simmer for 30 minutes.

When the pho broth is done, strain it through a sieve, keeping the shiitake mushrooms. Slice them and add them to the soup. Add miso paste dissolved in a ladle of hot broth. Try the soup and add soy sauce to taste.

While the broth is on the stove, bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook your rice noodles as per package directions (usually about 3 minutes). Rinse them under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Clean them and chop mushrooms if needed. Separate out the large bok choy leaves and add them to the strained broth together with julienned carrots. Add spinach after about 4-5 minutes and cook for 2 more minutes.

Garnish:

Distribute snow peas and bean sprouts among the bowls and pour the soup over them. They don’t need to be cooked.

Choose any (or all) of the above-mentioned garnishes and add to the bowls. Add more soy sauce and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Thanks for stopping by!