Has anyone ever made Pho soup?

[toledo13]

Hi all! DH wants me to make Pho soup for dinner this week. The recipes I see have some bizarre ingredients that I'll have to really look around for. Has anyone made this soup before? Is it hard to make?

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Pho is wonderful! It's not hard to make at all. Like you said, it's just a soup.

What specific ingredients are unfamiliar to you? I might be able to help.

 

[toledo13]

Pho is wonderful! It's not hard to make at all. Like you said, it's just a soup.

What specific ingredients are unfamiliar to you? I might be able to help.

The things like rice noodles, the special red hot sauce, anis, etc.

 

[Michelle67]

Where do you live? You may be able to find an Asian market, and all of those things will be commonly stocked. If not, some of the larger grocery store chains carry a good variety of Asian products. The rice noodles and red chili sauce are pretty common and you shouldn't have a hard time finding them. Anise shouldn't be hard to find either, just might be a little spendy. All that other stuff is very cheap. I bet they are in the stores you've shopped in before, and you just haven't noticed them. If you live someplace where it is possible that you will find an Asian market, go there instead of the supermarket. When I need stuff like that (Asian soup base packets for making lumpia, Mai Ploi sauce, etc) I get it at usually half or less of the price of buying it in the supermarket by going to the little Asian market. You may not be able to read the signs, but when I've had a hard time I've always gotten very gracious help.

 

[mamacatnv]

Love, Love, Love Vietnamese food! I am partial to the rice noodle bowls but DS loves Pho.

We make our own version
I use beef broth with green onions, some garlic and steak pieces.

Veggies:
Sliced cucumbers
bean sprouts
fresh mint
Sliced Jalapenos (fresh)

Noodles:
I like the MaiFun brand - they IMO get less mushy when in the broth.

Sauces:
The asian sections of most grocery stores usually carry a good chili oil, a peanut sauce and the red hot chili sauce along with the rice noodles.

In a large bowl layer:
Noodles
Bean Sprouts
Cucumbers
Mint and Jalapeno - optional
Meat
Pour the hot broth over the top and serve

Many of the vietnamese places we go serve the meat rare and it finishes cooking in the hot broth.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

The things like rice noodles, the special red hot sauce, anis, etc.

Rice noodles are extremely easy to come by. They should be either with the other noodles at your supermarket or in the ethnic food aisle. (For some reason here, they label it "Mexican Food Aisle." ) You don't really need special hot sauce. Any regular hot sauce will do. Anise is quite common. It's basically just fennel.

I hope this is helpful. Are their any other ingredients you need help with?