Pho, pronounced “fuuh” is the national dish of Vietnam. It’s a highly-flavoured beef broth with noodles, garnished with a selection of fresh herbs and condiments. A typical pho is served with a platter containing slivered red chillis, fresh limes, onion, coriander and mint. The diner is also provided with a selection of condiments including nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce), soy bean paste, chilli sauce and white pepper. The idea is that the diner is able to adjust the dish according to their own taste. It’s usually a breakfast dish, but it is eaten at all hours of the day.
My first pho encounter was at a famous Saigon chain restaurant called Pho 24. It’s founders vision was to take street food indoors, offering diners a clean, air-conditioned environment to experience this great street food. We ordered two large bowls which comes with two types of beef: brisket and fillet, brisket offering lots more flavour and fillet practically melting into the soup. The beef is barely cooked, the chef dipping the meat into a ladle of hot broth, just before serving. This ensure the beef is still tender and slightly rare.
The star of the show is the dish of garnishes. Vietnamese red chillis are seriously hot! Vietnamese mint doesn’t taste like our common or garden mint; rather it tastes a little like liquorice. I exercised no restraint with my choice of garnishes. Everything went in; all the herbs and beansprouts pictured above, some chilli sauce and huge blob of soy bean paste. It was absolutely delicious, I’d recommend you visit Pho 24 if you find yourself in Saigon or Hanoi. Just be careful when you receive the bill; I ate here 3 times in two different cities and every time I ended up with ‘extras’ added to my bill. Not huge amounts, a dollar or two, but enough to irritate me. (I understand that most people in Vietnam earn very little money, but I’m the kind of tourist who’ll gladly tip if I see someone putting some effort into the service. Just don’t steal from me!)
I also visited a place called Pho 2000 near Ben Thanh market whose claim to fame is that they fed no less than Bill Clinton. It’s true, his photo (in fact, several!) is on the wall of the restaurant. The pho here is pretty good too, the broth is stronger and tastier, but the meat was tougher. Somehow this place felt a little more authentic than Pho 24. Nice friendly service.
Dublin City Business Improvement District and the Restaurants Association of Ireland are holding a “Restaurant Week” from Monday April 20th to Sunday April 26th. A three-course dinner will cost from 25-30 euro depending on the restuarant. Participants include Jaipur, Bleu and Saba.
Visit Dine in Dublin for booking information.
Found a cool link over at JustAddEggs. You make a copy of this list of foodstuffs, then you format the entries according to whether you’ve eaten them before. It’s muscle-flexing for foodies really. Like who can eat the hottest curry. I didn’t do so good.
Very Good Taste’s Omnivore’s 100 - Instructions
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frog’s legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
The results? I’ve eaten 38 of the above and there are 9 I wouldn’t touch in a million years. You might be wondering why I crossed ‘Lobster Thermidor’ off my list. The reason is that I’m allergic to shellfish!
I’m definitely going to attempt some of the other foods in the near future. In particular, I have my eye on snails, polenta and kobe beef. Why you’d want to eat a raw Scotch bonnet chili, I can’t say …
This is a great dinner for a cold evening, adjust the chilli flakes depending on how hot you like it. I like this dish as it is, but you could make a nice ‘dinner party’ dish by topping with a roasted fillet of white fish; just make sure you chop the chorizo finely to make the dish a little more refined.
Ingredients
- 200-250g chorizo, sliced
- 2 red onions, chopped
- 1 small courgette, finely chopped
- 3 sticks celery, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 500g tomato passata
- 400g can butter beans, rinsed and drained
- 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 4 tomatoes, quartered
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, coarsely ground
- 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
- fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Method
- Heat a little olive oil in a large non-stick pot or casserole. Fry the chorizo until it has coloured slightly, then add the onion and fry until it is also coloured.
- Fry the courgette, celery and garlic for 3 minutes then add the rest of the ingredients, apart from the parsley. Season with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Bring to the boil then cover and simmer very gently for 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Before serving, stir through the fresh parsley. Serve with some crusty bread to mop up the delicious sauce.
Notes
- Sometimes I like to make a rich version of this by adding 300ml of red wine I fry the chorizo and onion. Reduce the red wine to almost nothing before adding the vegetables.
Serves 4.
