Pho

 

 

We didn't eat out very often in restaurants before the pandemic, so I don't miss it much, except for a few things like Pho. There's nothing like sitting in some local dive with a scary bathroom, watching the waiter set a big basin of steaming pho down in front of you. With the little plate of Thai basil stems, jalapeno slices and mung beans sprouts that we scooped up with our fingers. 

Oh, those were the days.  And Pho just wouldn't be the same in takeout, the whole mess lukewarm by the time you got it home. Like Dim Sum,  Pho is as much about the shared eating experience as the food.

Anyway, Pho has gone mainstream and now Safeway even has Pho flavored broth. I thought I'd give it a try with these rice noodles (honestly, what is a "Thai linguine?") Not the right shape for Pho, but what the heck.

These are tricky to cook because they go from rubbery to rice mush in a twinkling.

Anyway, the cooked noodles went into the bottoms of the bowls with grilled tofu.  

I put a few sliced vegetables in the broth and doctored it up with soy sauce, mirin etc. It didn't taste bad, just kind of flat, as you would expect from something out of box.

Then I poured the boiling broth over the noodles and tofu. It wasn't a bad soup, although nothing like a real Pho restaurant. How could it be?  Especially garnished with cilantro instead of basil. But at least it was something different. Even the people who love home cooking get sick and tired of it.