Making traditional pho broth can take days... so I cheat mightily to get this recipe down to a more manageable time frame AND add more veggies than would be traditional because, well, it's healthier. Oh, and I pull the Japanese trick of adding a whisked egg to the soup at the end to add some richness :)
Ingredients:
4 cups low-salt chicken broth
3 cups water
1 cup dry sherry
1 package bonito flake, approx. 4 oz. (available in bulk in Asian markets)
2 tbsp. fish sauce
2 tbsp. chili/garlic paste
1 tbsp. minced ginger
2 tsp. ground corinader
2 star anise cloves
2 tsp. ground white pepper
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. sea salt
1 1/2 lbs. of pork butt, VERY thinly sliced (have your butcher do it)
1 1/2 cups of chopped spring onion or leeks
2 cups of fresh carrots, thinly sliced
1 whole Napa cabbage, cored and shredded
2 cups of chopped rapini (i.e. broccoli rabe)
1 cup chopped shitake mushrooms
1 cup chopped Tokyo turnips or other soft turnip
1 large package (20 - 24oz.) of thin rice noodles (Vietnamese vermicelli)
10 large eggs
Directions:
Prepare the rice noodles according to package directions, shocking with water at the end to chill.
In a large stock pot, combine chicken broth, water, sherry, and all spices and condiments. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes to allow the flavors to fully combine. Remove the star anise cloves with a slotted spoon before continuing.
Add the pork butt and onion. Simmer covered for 15 minutes. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and turnips. Raise heat to return to boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Add the cabbage and rapini, return to boil, then reduce heat to simmer again covered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place approx. 1 cup of cooked noodles into the bottom of a bowl. Ladle in 1 1/2 cups of the soup mixture. Crack an egg into a separate small bowl and whisk with chopsticks then pour into the hot soup bowl. Mix the egg into the soup with chopsticks thoroughly before eating (this will cook the egg).
Makes approx. 10 servings.
Showing posts with label pho. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pho. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Review: My Delivery Boys
You thought you were gonna get some pics of hottie delivery boys in this post, now didn't you? ;) Well, I hate to disappoint you, but this post is actually about the nearby places that I depend upon to save my evenings on a regular basis with their wonderful and prompt delivery. Even though they rarely send cute delivery boys (those only seem to come from crap places like Domino's), they do send a good dinner!
Jasmine Tea House
When I first left my place in the Sunset, I was concerned that I was going to have to revert back to crap Chinese food for delivery. I was a bit spoiled having the excellent San Tung so near to my place over there. I took a chance on Jasmine Tea House after finding their menu hooked to my door handle one evening. While it doesn't quite match the level of San Tung, it comes so darn close that I always have a good meal from here. I always order way more food than I could ever eat 'cause I love leftovers - especially leftover chow mein (and theirs is one of my favorites). All of their dishes are quite good, but when I'm treating myself, I tilt towards the vegetarian and seafood dishes on the menu - especially the Singapore Fish. They are the best things on the menu. Their dim sum items are kinda ho hum (I'll stick to Yank Sing or Canton for my dim sum fix), but they get props for having dim sum available at any hour. However, they had me at the hot and sour soup - my personal "litmus test" for Chinese restaurants. It's wonderfully spicy and definitely a bit more sour than most - and I LOVE it. Really solid Chinese food here.
Serrano's Pizza
OK... relative to the East Coast, most pizza here on the West Coast is only ho-hum - unless you're going to the fancy schmanzy places like Delfina. And delivery pizza is usually a lot worse. I found Serrano's on the recommendation of a friend. They have a lot of cool specialty pizzas but the main thing I like is they have tons of toppings from which to choose to make your own pizza - including one of my favorites, roasted eggplant!!! But the major winner - the crust is not too thick or thin (West Coast pizza tends to have WAY too much crust) and it always arrives piping hot. Any leftover slices get frozen to become a pizza dinner later. Is it the best? No... but with so many options, I can always get what I want, and it's always tastier than any other pizza I've ever gotten delivered.
Little Nepal
I have been here many times as an evening diner. It's a quaint little place on Cortland at the top of Bernal Hill, so very close to my house. And then I found out they delivered... and I knew I was doomed... doomed to goodness!!! :) If you know nothing about Nepalese cuisine, it's very similar to Indian cuisine although it has elements of other East Asian cuisines swirled in. Their chicken in spicy tomato cream sauce is one of my favorites. The little side dishes they serve with the entrees (dal, curried veggies, naan) are all excellent. I also think their seafood dishes are quite excellent. Given there's not really any good traditional Northern Indian cuisine available near my house, I'm so glad that I found out Little Nepal delivers!!!
Regent Thai
Three words: Spicy Red Snapper. Oh, my mercy - this dish is just pure heaven. They lightly bread and fry New Zealand red snapper filet and top it with a spicy/sweet red pepper sauce - it is by far one of my favorite dishes EVER. All of the standards are also spot on - pad thai, red or green curries, etc. But, I'm telling you - you MUST have the snapper. It is so, so good.
Lotus Garden
I almost fainted when I found out I could get yummy Vietnamese noodle soups (pho) and vermicelli dishes (bun) for delivery. I am a pho fanatic - all the beef versions, chicken, seafood - I've had them all. The delicious broth with rice noodles that put the meat, fresh mint leaves, cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and hot sauce into and then slop up. The portion they send me is so big it makes two meals - because I can't order anything from there without getting their Imperial Rolls and their BBQ Pork Rolls. The Imperial Rolls are stuffed with carrots, rice noodles, shrimp, and pork and then deep fried, that you wrap with lettuce leaves, mint, sprouts, carrots, and cucumbers that are served on the side and dip into fresh nuoc cham (fish sauce). So yummy! And the BBQ Pork Rolls are stuffed with BBQ'ed lemon grass pork loin meat, rice noodles, mint, and cilantro and served with nuoc cham. They are also lovely. I just found this place like a few weeks ago, so I'll explore more of the menu and let you know. But, this is one of my new favorites.
Jasmine Tea House
When I first left my place in the Sunset, I was concerned that I was going to have to revert back to crap Chinese food for delivery. I was a bit spoiled having the excellent San Tung so near to my place over there. I took a chance on Jasmine Tea House after finding their menu hooked to my door handle one evening. While it doesn't quite match the level of San Tung, it comes so darn close that I always have a good meal from here. I always order way more food than I could ever eat 'cause I love leftovers - especially leftover chow mein (and theirs is one of my favorites). All of their dishes are quite good, but when I'm treating myself, I tilt towards the vegetarian and seafood dishes on the menu - especially the Singapore Fish. They are the best things on the menu. Their dim sum items are kinda ho hum (I'll stick to Yank Sing or Canton for my dim sum fix), but they get props for having dim sum available at any hour. However, they had me at the hot and sour soup - my personal "litmus test" for Chinese restaurants. It's wonderfully spicy and definitely a bit more sour than most - and I LOVE it. Really solid Chinese food here.
Serrano's Pizza
OK... relative to the East Coast, most pizza here on the West Coast is only ho-hum - unless you're going to the fancy schmanzy places like Delfina. And delivery pizza is usually a lot worse. I found Serrano's on the recommendation of a friend. They have a lot of cool specialty pizzas but the main thing I like is they have tons of toppings from which to choose to make your own pizza - including one of my favorites, roasted eggplant!!! But the major winner - the crust is not too thick or thin (West Coast pizza tends to have WAY too much crust) and it always arrives piping hot. Any leftover slices get frozen to become a pizza dinner later. Is it the best? No... but with so many options, I can always get what I want, and it's always tastier than any other pizza I've ever gotten delivered.
Little Nepal
I have been here many times as an evening diner. It's a quaint little place on Cortland at the top of Bernal Hill, so very close to my house. And then I found out they delivered... and I knew I was doomed... doomed to goodness!!! :) If you know nothing about Nepalese cuisine, it's very similar to Indian cuisine although it has elements of other East Asian cuisines swirled in. Their chicken in spicy tomato cream sauce is one of my favorites. The little side dishes they serve with the entrees (dal, curried veggies, naan) are all excellent. I also think their seafood dishes are quite excellent. Given there's not really any good traditional Northern Indian cuisine available near my house, I'm so glad that I found out Little Nepal delivers!!!
Regent Thai
Three words: Spicy Red Snapper. Oh, my mercy - this dish is just pure heaven. They lightly bread and fry New Zealand red snapper filet and top it with a spicy/sweet red pepper sauce - it is by far one of my favorite dishes EVER. All of the standards are also spot on - pad thai, red or green curries, etc. But, I'm telling you - you MUST have the snapper. It is so, so good.
Lotus Garden
I almost fainted when I found out I could get yummy Vietnamese noodle soups (pho) and vermicelli dishes (bun) for delivery. I am a pho fanatic - all the beef versions, chicken, seafood - I've had them all. The delicious broth with rice noodles that put the meat, fresh mint leaves, cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and hot sauce into and then slop up. The portion they send me is so big it makes two meals - because I can't order anything from there without getting their Imperial Rolls and their BBQ Pork Rolls. The Imperial Rolls are stuffed with carrots, rice noodles, shrimp, and pork and then deep fried, that you wrap with lettuce leaves, mint, sprouts, carrots, and cucumbers that are served on the side and dip into fresh nuoc cham (fish sauce). So yummy! And the BBQ Pork Rolls are stuffed with BBQ'ed lemon grass pork loin meat, rice noodles, mint, and cilantro and served with nuoc cham. They are also lovely. I just found this place like a few weeks ago, so I'll explore more of the menu and let you know. But, this is one of my new favorites.
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