Introduction to making Vietnamese Pho

Having just visited Vietnam and having appreciated the spectacular food from the country over the years I finally decided to make some pho. Pho is pronounced “Fuh” to rhyme with “duh.”

Vietnamese people eat pho for breakfast or dinner. They eat it the way Americans eat a sandwich regularly.  It’s simply the way it is. So, there is always a pot of stock being prepared.  Once there is stock it’s much easier to chop up some ingredients, get out some spices and herbs and prepare them in a wok at any time of day.  Sure, if you don’t have a wok you can use a skillet. Just make sure the skillet is big enough to handle the amount of stock or broth you would add to it.

The Thai and the Vietnamese both eat lots of soup. I asked my friend Paul from Bangkok what the difference is. He said, “Vietnamese soup adds herbs like fresh basil and also hot peppers as a garnish while Thai soups don’t add either basil or hot peppers ever.”

I’ve come to like both Thai and Vietnamese soups with noodles or rice a lot. Sure, you just make the stock separately and the rice in a different pot. You then assemble the soup in a bowl.  I like ordering pho in restaurants and it’s amazing how delicious and filling they are.

I know, I know. You want fried rice and chicken/pork or shrimp and egg rolls when you go out to an Asian restaurant.  I would like y’all to consider trying a pho/soup the next time you go to a Vietnamese or Thai restaurant.

Salmon  Pho

Ingredients : Serves 3 large bowls
4 cups 2 tablespoons ½ lb Splash of pinch to taste 2 sprigs 3 tablespoons 2 cloves 1 4-5 handful 1 tablespoon 1 tablespoon 1 medium 3 tablespoons 1 tablespoon	Shrimp stock (I used Knorr’s bouillion) Tamarind juice or lime juice Salmon fillet, cut into small cubes Dry white wine or sherry Salt Ground black pepper Coriander (cilantro) leaves, for garnishing Vegetable oil Garlic, finely chopped Shallot, finely chopped Mushrooms, sliced Bamboo shoots Chili sauce Tomato sauce Tomatoes, chopped Fish sauce Sugar
Method : Heat oil in a wok and pan. Lightly brown garlic and shallots. Add chili sauce, tomato sauce, chopped tomato, fish sauce and sugar. Blend well, then simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add stock with tamarind juice or lime juice. Bring to the boil. Just before serving, add salmon and wine or sherry to stock. Bring back to boil. Add Mushrooms. Cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes Taste soup and adjust seasoning, to your liking. Garnish with coriander (cilantro) sprigs and serve hot. Don’t chop the leaves. Garnish with bamboo shoots.

Dining in Bangkok, Thailand

My friend Kenney and I flew from Frankfurt, Germany to Bangkok.  Kenney’s friend, Paul, a Thailand native and a graduate of Ohio State in the USA picked us up at the airport.  Wow, I learned that he is a terrific, nice, and accommodating man.  He drove us to the Menam Riverside Hotel and in the next bunch of days drove us all over the city and elsewhere.  After we registered for our room, we went with Paul to the hotel’s The Terrace Lounge and Restaurant for an amazing and large variety buffet.  We were able to select from a huge variety of clams, oysters, crabs, lobster and other seafood. There was also a great variety of beautiful Thai, European and western style food.  The dessert table had a lot of fruit and beautiful cakes with frosting.

http://menamriverside-hotel.com/restaurants-and-bars/terrace72-restaurant-and-bar

I ordered a beer.  Strangely, my tall draft beer glass was mysteriously refilled while I went to the buffet for more food.  I brought it up to my companions.  I had ordered a beer not two or three.  I wondered what in the world was going on?  My new friend Paul explained it. He said, he did order one beer.  He had ordered a TOWER of beer.  What in the world is that? I asked.   Paul had ordered one TOWER of Singha Beer for me.  Sure, it was one beer but it was a TOWER of beer.  A Tower holds 1.5 liters of beer.  This was immediately amazing and belly laughing funny.   My friend Kenney and I started loudly laughing and then Paul was laughing and it was a terrific way to be welcomed to Bangkok.

Breakfast at the Terrace.  It was terrific again.  Why shouldn’t it be?  They had it all. They had several different areas for the different food.  There was the native Thai area for breakfast soups and such.  There was the seafood area, a western style eggs section where I had the chef prepare an omelet with 6 garnishes, I had European style coffee, juice, while KDC chose his favorite style of food namely sushi and soup for breakfast and fruit.

We met Paul early at the Terrace breakfast.  There was just no reason to go anywhere else. When you have an amazing variety of food and styles and the staff prepares everything with expertise then why go elsewhere.  It was Kenney’s birthday and Paul had sent a delicious and beautiful birthday cake to our room.  I was surprised and so was Kenney.  We brought it down to the restaurant and the ENTIRE kitchen staff came over to sing happy birthday. He blew out the candles and we had a piece of the very light and gourmet/delicious white cake with frosting. 

Note:  The Terrace restaurant boasts a large staff of people working there.  The quick, eager and courteous staff made me realize that this kind of service had all but vanished back in my home town of Chicago.  The Terrace wait staff was dressed well with suits and ties. Both men and women were dressed with suits and ties.  I appreciated this very much.  I felt that I was a special guest not just another diner at a food factory the way it has become at so many dining establishments in the USA.   It was apparent that in Bangkok they still felt that excellent service along with delicious food would create an atmosphere and satisfaction that would bring diners back over and over.

I had such a satisfying experience at the Terrace that I highly recommend it for anybody that travels to Bangkok.  Even if one does not spend the night at Riverside Menam Bangkok I strongly suggest that anyone visiting Bangkok for a couple of nights should consider dining at  The Terrace and see what I’m talking about.

Menam Riverside Hotel Bangkok is located at 2074 Charoenkrung Road – Bangkok, Thailand 10120

http://menamriverside-hotel.com/